Inclusive Sans expands upon Penguin’s history with playfulness and curiosity

The result was looking past glyphs as pure aesthetics but symbols of curiosity and boldness. Rounding the forms of the ‘a’ and ‘g’, Olivia and her team designed the typeface to be friendly and approachable, echoing the accessible nature of Penguin’s books. Subtle flicks in other letters add a sense of movement and liveliness, meanwhile, small details in the glyph set offer observant readers moments of delight, such as curvy characters such as ‘2’, ‘G’ or ‘?’ following the same form as a penguin’s wings.

Committed to Penguin’s reader-first goals, the complete character set includes four weights in both roman and italic styles, comprising 530 glyphs that support over 600 languages, creating space for ultimate accessibility. “Type designers have a unique chance to make inclusivity part of the default approach rather than an exception. It’s another design consideration – one that can inspire better solutions,” says Olivia. “That was at the core of why Penguin wanted to customise Inclusive Sans. The brand was built on the idea of making books accessible to everyone, and that mission still feels relevant today.” Olivia’s high-spirited typeface sets the precedent for other designers to usher in a new age of accessible fonts and visual identities that represent all. The more people who have access to knowledge, stories and reading, the more of an impact they can have on the world.

“This project has been incredibly humbling and rewarding. Even now, it feels surreal to have contributed to a brand with such an important typographic and literary history,” says Olivia. From Penguin’s titanic archives to modern typeface applications, Olivia and her team have transformed the tried and true into the proud and new, offering the world new perspectives in the art of typography. “The most meaningful part was knowing that this typeface will help make reading more accessible and enjoyable for more people,” says Olivia. “It’s a rare opportunity to design something that can have a lasting, positive impact.”