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.