New fonts for Ford Motors


In close collaboration with the design, engineering and ergonomic teams at Ford, Typotheque has recently completed the design a range of new fonts for the company’s Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) and branding purposes, a project that had to be undertaken in strict compliance with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

From the outset, in 1903, Ford Motor Company has had a rich history of innovation and progress, constantly adapting and leading changes in the automotive industry. This has gained it a vast global presence and a strong connection to its many generations of customers. To this day, despite being one of the largest companies in the world, Ford is still family controlled.



In 2019, Typotheque and Ford began a conversation about the development of new fonts for the company and how type had the potential to bring clarity and consistency to Ford’s global expression. This was an important moment – the first time that Ford had commissioned custom fonts in its 121 years. As part of the project, Typotheque developed fonts to cover Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic and Thai scripts, and adapted Typotheque’s retail Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts to match the new Ford typefaces.



The new typefaces reflect the company’s history and heritage, and align with the iconic brand architecture. The intention was to create a set of practical, reliable, and highly accessible fonts for all company brands, which matched the legibility requirements of Ford’s Ergonomics team as well as the NHTSA, with global language coverage.



The process was led by John Gass, Ford’s global head of brand identity, Guthrie Dolin, global design director in charge of Design DNA across all digital products, and the design director Chelsea Davidson. Peter Biľak led the Typotheque team, and Nikola Djurek and Kevin King worked on the Latin and Greek typeface development, Anya Danilova on the Cyrillic, and Kristyan Sarkis (of TPTQ Arabic) on the Arabic, while Ekaluck Peanpanawate designed the Thai version. Liang Hai was the font engineer on the project.

The new fonts are now being used in Ford’s marketing in some regions and will be used inside vehicles from 2025-2026.