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Airbnb's new typeface

airbnb.design

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Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#41

Post by haberman »

baal232 wrote: post #23

I liken this to a hotel that decides to make their own lightbulbs. Or a department store that produces it's own bespoke cash registers. You can't argue that typography is so vital to their business that this is a useful allocation of resources. Obviously, design is important to any company that markets itself in some way. But not every company designs their own typeface (although it seems like it, lately.) Some are s…

Why do you presume to say what AirBnB "should not" do? You get to run your business according to your priorities, as does AirBnB's CEO.

> Plenty of successful companies managed to create a distinct brand identity using helvetica.

You could use this logic to criticize basically any company expenditure as frivolous. Plenty of companies do things that probably aren't strictly necessary for their survival. I for one am grateful to live in a world where companies sometimes do interesting and creative things, even if it isn't an obvious and immediate win on the balance sheet.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#42

Post by manmal »

I‘m not at all a font expert or even geek, so forgive me if that’s dumb: Do all those new product fonts look like Circular [1]? It’s always struck me as a very unique font, but it’s becoming less unique every day it seems.

1: https://lineto.com/The+Fonts/Font+Categories/Text+Fonts/Circ...

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#43

Post by tomc1985 »

baal232 wrote: post #23

I liken this to a hotel that decides to make their own lightbulbs. Or a department store that produces it's own bespoke cash registers. You can't argue that typography is so vital to their business that this is a useful allocation of resources. Obviously, design is important to any company that markets itself in some way. But not every company designs their own typeface (although it seems like it, lately.) Some are s…

This is as much about designers and egoists jerking themselves off in the service of a new 'corporate identity' as it is about a meaningful evolution in image.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#44

Post by [deleted] »

baal232 wrote: post #23

I liken this to a hotel that decides to make their own lightbulbs. Or a department store that produces it's own bespoke cash registers. You can't argue that typography is so vital to their business that this is a useful allocation of resources. Obviously, design is important to any company that markets itself in some way. But not every company designs their own typeface (although it seems like it, lately.) Some are s…

[deleted]

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#45

Post by gregoire »

enra wrote: post #20

One of the people involved in the project and answering questions in the article. Happy to answer more questions. We talk about reasoning for Cereal in the article and in my case study too[1]. In large organizations, you often have tens or hundreds of designers, support multiple platforms (ios, android, web(mac, windows, linux) and do ad campaigns around the world. When it comes to typefaces, there really isn't any u…

Will this typeface be only used for the UI and marketing, or also for Airbnb's logo[1]?

[1]: https://press.atairbnb.com/media-assets/?categ=Logos

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#46

Post by tomc1985 »

enra wrote: post #20

One of the people involved in the project and answering questions in the article. Happy to answer more questions. We talk about reasoning for Cereal in the article and in my case study too[1]. In large organizations, you often have tens or hundreds of designers, support multiple platforms (ios, android, web(mac, windows, linux) and do ad campaigns around the world. When it comes to typefaces, there really isn't any u…

Someone else jumps on the "we need a new font!" bandwagon...

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#47

Post by jrs95 »

phailhaus wrote: post #11
iblo66 wrote: post #3

I find it profoundly stupid for Airbnb to have their own typeface. It's like they have lots of designers around and have to keep them busy with something. Well at least they did not give them the usual entertainment for bored designers: redesigning stuff that does not need a redesign.

Why do you think it's stupid? Having your own typeface makes your brand subconsciously recognizable at a glance.

Given how similar it is to Netflix Sans (and probably many other Sans fonts) I highly doubt that this is something you would prove if you were to test it.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#48

Post by jrs95 »

spdustin wrote: post #40

So... it seems like Netflix Sans plus more open apertures (angled terminals) on letters like "e" and "a" Was Netflix Sans the determined starting point?

Seems like it's essentially Netflix Sans with enough changes to be different IP

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#49

Post by jrs95 »

rhizome wrote: post #35
atanasb wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal take on this: Q: why do they use a screenshot with a typo. A: Maybe to bring attention to the font? To the letters that are missing or those that are present? Maybe just because they can. Q: Why are all these companies designing their own fonts. It's not needed... A: Many reasons. It can be cheaper than licensing other fonts. It makes their apps (and brand) stand out. Or people might find it more aestheti…

It can be cheaper than licensing other fonts Can it? How many people-hours went into this, and which fonts have higher licensing costs than that?

It's definitely not cheaper than using free fonts. Or even modifying an existing one -- it's not as if Airbnb's exclusive use of this font is going to benefit them in any measurable way. Even if that were necessary, it seems like they should have just paid Netflix to use their font, and maybe make some changes, rather than working with Dalton Maag to make damn near the same thing.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#50

Post by Alex3917 »

baal232 wrote: post #23

I liken this to a hotel that decides to make their own lightbulbs. Or a department store that produces it's own bespoke cash registers. You can't argue that typography is so vital to their business that this is a useful allocation of resources. Obviously, design is important to any company that markets itself in some way. But not every company designs their own typeface (although it seems like it, lately.) Some are s…

> I liken this to a hotel that decides to make their own lightbulbs.

The key differentiator between AirBnB and a hotel is the community. By adopting a more flippant variation of the well-known humanist sans-serif fonts, they're communicating that their experience is more about the people and the connections than just the physical infrastructure of a boring old Helvetica hotel.

Having their own typeface is good strategically because it helps to create a moat around the product experience.

It's similar to how Wal-Mart created their own typeface to double down on their American-as-apple-pie branding. Now every time you drive past a Wal-Mart, the font tells that story before you even walk into the store.

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