In global companies, the number of fonts used is growing rapidly: Every department, every agency, every country uses its own licenses or local alternatives. This results in a patchwork of font styles, licensing models, and responsibilities.
The consequences:
What initially looks like creative diversity quickly becomes a structural problem.
The solution lies not in standardization at any price, but in a strategic font architecture that creates a balance between brand consistency and independence.
That means:
A clear font strategy thus creates the framework within which brands can grow — while usually reducing the number of fonts used and thus also licensing costs.
The first step is to inventory: Which fonts are in use, where are they used, and under what conditions can they be used?
This is followed by a strategic evaluation — not only aesthetically, but also technically and economically. Relevant questions include:
This often shows that the corporate typeface once chosen no longer meets today's technical and market-specific requirements — the result is a hodgepodge of alternative solutions. Putting them to the test and evaluating up-to-date alternatives is then long overdue.
A clear font strategy provides measurable benefits:
Julia Schygulla and Patrick Marc Sommer combine brand strategy and typography with a clear, well-founded view of all touchpoints of a brand. Together with an international network of font developers and foundries, they support organizations in developing contemporary font architectures. They analyze, evaluate and structure font portfolios to make brands more consistent, reduce licensing risks and reduce costs in the long term.
authors:
Patrick Marc Sommer is a designer, systemic consultant and founder of Typoint. Building on his background in communication design and training in systemic transformation consulting, he now works at the interface of design, strategy and cultural change. With Typoint, he uses a clear approach: to think of design from the point of view of typography — for clear communication and strong brands. Co-organizer of “Ignite Talks — Inspiration and New Ideas for Tomorrow's Evolution.”
Julia Schygulla is a communication designer and works as a freelancer with her office for socially relevant design. Her work combines graphics with strategic thinking and a sense for sustainable transformation. She is committed to a responsible, inclusive design culture and currently teaches typography and corporate design at Trier University of Applied Sciences.
