Monotype has debuted its new branding and company typeface, 'Helvetica Now MT.' The new typeface will allow Monotype to pare its visual identity back to the absolute minimum. Thanks to its famed neutrality, the typeface lets the brand speak clearly and accessibly across everything it does - from marketing content to terms and conditions.
The change comes as Monotype acknowledges a need to address a growing family of products and services - as well as a multitude of customer journeys, platforms and technologies. Over the last decade, the company's continued growth and expansion into new global territories had made fresh demands on the existing typeface system - which no longer fit the needs of a brand this size. Having a suite of products with their own identities and brand equity had also contributed to a confused perception of what the company stood for, as well as a complicated customer journey.
"We were all over the map, and not really delivering what we champion for our own customers: consistency and brand integrity," explained Monotype's Senior Director of Creative James Fooks-Bale. "We needed to do more of what we were asking them to do. We needed to be the example."
By selecting some of Helvetica Now's alternate characters as defaults, such as the single-story lowercase a, the creative team gently softened Helvetica's no-nonsense approach. The square full stop has become a key design element, becoming shorthand for the simpler and more straightforward Monotype branding.
