Just Our Type: The Story of Creating Figma Sans | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma created Figma Sans as part of a broader brand refresh responding to its expanding audience and product ecosystem. Replacing Whyte, the new typeface was designed with Grilli Type to combine a distinctive, opinionated character with flexibility, legibility, and performance across many contexts. The process favored a bespoke solution over existing fonts and used exploratory concepts to define the final direction.

A Typeface for an Expanding Brand

• Figma’s visual identity was evolving across color, illustration, pattern, motion, and typography.
• Its previous typeface, Whyte—with its distinctive inktrap variation—had served the brand since 2019.
• The broader audience now included designers, developers, product managers, and newcomers, requiring a typeface that could communicate widely.
• Figma sought a contemporary grotesque: a sans serif style that could support varied weights, optical sizes, and applications.

Finding a Fresh Approach

• The Brand Studio prioritized:
  • Flexibility across display and text use
  • Strong legibility
  • Effective performance in places such as the Help Center
  • A visual personality aligned with Figma’s new, more complex brand language
• The team evaluated existing typefaces, including Marr Sans and Agipo, but found that none fully met the brief.
• They chose to commission a custom typeface so the collaboration itself could help clarify Figma’s typographic needs.
• Grilli Type was selected for its design expertise, narrative focus, and willingness to develop a concept rather than follow current trends or historical models.

Defining an “Opinionated” Typeface

• Grilli Type began by creating a mood board to identify the central tension in the brief.
• “Opinionated” became a guiding idea: the typeface should feel confident, purposeful, and free of unnecessary decoration.
• The design team explored references including:
  • Karl Gerstner’s work
  • 1920s German typography
  • Bell Centennial, designed for phone books by Matthew Carter
• Two initial directions were presented:
  • A more straightforward approach with simplified forms
  • A more unconventional and expressive direction
• Rather than choosing one option outright, Figma used the concepts to discuss the desired design space.
• Feedback favored the simpler shapes of the first direction while incorporating some of the distinctive character of the second.

Figma Sans emerged from treating typography as a central part of Figma’s evolving brand—not merely as a replacement font. Its recommended role is both expressive and practical: a recognizable voice for brand communication that remains readable and versatile throughout Figma’s products and content.