Fortnum & Mason reveals first ever bespoke typeface family
Two new typefaces promise a more digitally-friendly brand presence, visual cohesion, and legibility
For the first time in its 300-year history, the iconic London department store Fortnum & Mason has its own fully bespoke typeface family, designed by local agency Otherway in collaboration with Colophon Foundry to bring the store into a new visual era.
Having decided that their previous brand fonts – Gill Sans and Century – were now generic, overused and dated, the team at Fortnum & Mason looked to their long-standing collaborators Otherway to update their typographic offering. However, for a brand with such a rich history, and complex range of products and services, this would be no mean feat.
“There were two main challenges from the outset,” says Ben Lewin, partner at Otherway. “Firstly, bringing together a wide set of requirements and stakeholders from across Fortnum’s business, including packaging and digital; making sure all voices were heard and requirements captured to deliver a font that was agile and responsive to every situation needed across a modern brand world. Secondly, making sure the two fonts were true individuals and felt distinct from one another, yet worked in harmony when used together.”
Following an intensive research period, during which time Otherway and Colophon delved into Fortnum & Mason’s visual heritage, as well as Britain’s typographic history, the teams devised two new fonts to be used across all of the brand’s communications – FM Fortnum Serif, and FM Mason Sans – plus a condensed version of the serif.
FM Fortnum Serif, which takes inspiration from the penmanship of calligraphic letterforms, was created to “evoke a sense of heritage” and to effectively balance the elegance of contemporary type design with a more timeless quality, while FM Mason Sans, which nods to British typographic history, helps to do the heavy lifting across the brand, and offers plenty of character to boot.
“The ambition was to capture the essence of a contemporary British brand, honouring its past while embodying modern design principles and its vision for the future,” explains Brad Rose, design director at Otherway. “Ensuring the brand remained a symbol of British craft, design and innovation for a new generation.”
Interestingly, Otherway were keen for these two fonts to feel at once distinct and harmonious, not simply because of the requirements of their application, but also to mirror the relationship between Fortnum & Mason’s founders, William Fortnum and Hugh Mason.
The pair, who started the business in 1707, were reportedly like chalk and cheese, and yet for the company these differences ended up complementing each other perfectly. So much so, that three centuries later, their brand continues to push forward into the growing digital age.
