Why the battle for brand distinctiveness starts with type
As brands fight to remain relevant and memorable in an AI-driven world, custom typography is no longer a luxury but a strategic necessity, says Tom Foley, creative type director at Studio Drama
It has always seemed obvious to me that typography is one of branding’s most valuable strategic assets. But even as a die-hard type champion, I couldn’t have predicted where we are now.
Early in my career, custom typefaces were largely the preserve of global brands with significant budgets. A distinctive brand font was a luxury, a nice-to-have add-on. Then came web fonts, vast retail font libraries, and later, open-source platforms that put thousands of free typefaces at designers’ fingertips. To be honest, at the time, I thought custom type would run out of steam. It seemed inevitable that it would become less important over time.
But today, we’re seeing a unique set of conditions in branding that have elevated custom type as a must-have. First, as brands have become increasingly systemised, and digital platforms continue to multiply, type has never had to work harder across touchpoints and applications. Then, AI tools are turbocharging a convergence of brands. As AI designs faster, easier and cheaper, it is inadvertently encouraging a default to sameness and blandness – to what’s practical, legible and ubiquitous.
