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Airbnb's new typeface

airbnb.design

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Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#81

Post by phkahler »

huac wrote: post #7
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.

Creating a typeface which you own is cheaper than licensing a third-party typeface, at scale.

>> Creating a typeface which you own is cheaper than licensing a third-party typeface, at scale.

The cheapest fonts are the ones installed on a users system. Web sites and apps do not need to include fonts at all. In fact it's easy to argue that the users should be selecting the fonts on their devices in most cases.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#82

Post by 6cd6beb »

hshehehjdjdjd wrote: post #75
6cd6beb wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the fact that this new font has an installed base of 0 counts against it's versatility. I think the fact that a negligible amount of the general public could pick the new font (knowingly, not by guessing) out of a group of 9 other sans fonts counts against it's ability to distinguish the airbnb brand from others.

Installed base is pretty meaningless in a world of web fonts and mobile apps. Everyone will need to download the font once. Not a big deal.

The installation process isn't the sum total of the point there. Known-good is better than unknown, all other things equal (and not to sound condescending but they basically are).

It's low risk but frankly it's even lower reward. If their goal was to distinguish themselves, perhaps they could do it more effectively through something people would notice.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#83

Post by shimms »

dawhizkid wrote: post #80

All I can gather from this is Airbnb has way too many engineers and designers for the amount of actual work there is to go around. At the end of the day, the day to day engineering problems Airbnb has are not very interesting. It’s a web app that can handle peak traffic with standard technologies (meaning nothing real time, live streaming, or millions of users at once). I have no clue what most engineers would be doi…

As an example of what some of the engineering people do, that wouldn't be an immediately obvious need if you haven't been involved in running global businesses at scale:

https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/tracking-the-money-sca...

A tiny part of what they need all these resources for.

Obviously running any sufficiently large business on a global basis is a tad more complicated than simply keeping a website up that can absorb usage spikes.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#84

Post by 6cd6beb »

huac wrote: post #7
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.

Creating a typeface which you own is cheaper than licensing a third-party typeface, at scale.

If they just said that I'd respect it more than I do after 1500 words of self aggrandizing nonsense about how no other typeface reflects "their brand's personality".

This is why people make fun of silicon valley. Your new font isn't changing the world and it's not adding value to anything. Certainly not adding value equal to its cost.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#85

Post by dawhizkid »

shimms wrote: post #83
dawhizkid wrote: post #80

All I can gather from this is Airbnb has way too many engineers and designers for the amount of actual work there is to go around. At the end of the day, the day to day engineering problems Airbnb has are not very interesting. It’s a web app that can handle peak traffic with standard technologies (meaning nothing real time, live streaming, or millions of users at once). I have no clue what most engineers would be doi…

As an example of what some of the engineering people do, that wouldn't be an immediately obvious need if you haven't been involved in running global businesses at scale: https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/tracking-the-money-sca... A tiny part of what they need all these resources for. Obviously running any sufficiently large business on a global basis is a tad more complicated than simply keeping a website up that…

I worked on payments at Uber for 2 years, so I know there is unavoidable complexity in operating at a global scale. I would argue payments is harder at Uber especially on the remittance side compared to Airbnb but obviously I’m biased.

I would agree that money engineering is probably the hardest problem they have. But unlike Uber they don’t have any realtime/streaming/GPS-dependent tech.

So outside of payments it’s not clear what “interesting” engineering problems they really have, which means throwing engineers and designers to work on pet projects they’ve convinced themselves is really important to the future of the company but are just...pet projects.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#86

Post by ovao »

dawhizkid wrote: post #85
shimms wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an example of what some of the engineering people do, that wouldn't be an immediately obvious need if you haven't been involved in running global businesses at scale: https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/tracking-the-money-sca... A tiny part of what they need all these resources for. Obviously running any sufficiently large business on a global basis is a tad more complicated than simply keeping a website up that…

I worked on payments at Uber for 2 years, so I know there is unavoidable complexity in operating at a global scale. I would argue payments is harder at Uber especially on the remittance side compared to Airbnb but obviously I’m biased. I would agree that money engineering is probably the hardest problem they have. But unlike Uber they don’t have any realtime/streaming/GPS-dependent tech. So outside of payments it’s n…

As any company grows, I’d argue that solidifying their identity becomes increasingly more important. Hence, a custom typeface they can use to distinguish the brand.

Whether it will be successful or worth the effort and expense is a different discussion. It seems like a well-designed and cohesive set of fonts, but otherwise unremarkable (in my opinion).

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#87

Post by welder »

dawhizkid wrote: post #80

All I can gather from this is Airbnb has way too many engineers and designers for the amount of actual work there is to go around. At the end of the day, the day to day engineering problems Airbnb has are not very interesting. It’s a web app that can handle peak traffic with standard technologies (meaning nothing real time, live streaming, or millions of users at once). I have no clue what most engineers would be doi…

I'll use an iceberg analogy: There are moving parts behind the scene making websites' wheels turn that you're not considering. I'm sure there are projects behind the scenes at Airbnb that are interesting but aren't apparent from an outside perspective. Don't judge a product's complexity by their landing page.

Since you worked for Uber, someone could say Uber only has a mobile presence so it's less complex and less interesting than a full website.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#88

Post by John_KZ »

dawhizkid wrote: post #80

All I can gather from this is Airbnb has way too many engineers and designers for the amount of actual work there is to go around. At the end of the day, the day to day engineering problems Airbnb has are not very interesting. It’s a web app that can handle peak traffic with standard technologies (meaning nothing real time, live streaming, or millions of users at once). I have no clue what most engineers would be doi…

Maybe they can use them to start complying with local laws.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#89

Post by jkFeiwi »

Alex3917 wrote: post #50
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 strate…

Typography doesn't feel like a moat to me. If a competitor offered better service than AirBnB, nobody would stick around solely because of the typeface. Best you can say is, good design could contribute to a moat, and typography is one part of that.

Also, Wal-Mart's logo is set in Myriad Bold. They made slight alterations to the W, A, and T characters.

Re: Airbnb's new typeface

#90

Post by woah »

dawhizkid wrote: post #85
shimms wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an example of what some of the engineering people do, that wouldn't be an immediately obvious need if you haven't been involved in running global businesses at scale: https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/tracking-the-money-sca... A tiny part of what they need all these resources for. Obviously running any sufficiently large business on a global basis is a tad more complicated than simply keeping a website up that…

I worked on payments at Uber for 2 years, so I know there is unavoidable complexity in operating at a global scale. I would argue payments is harder at Uber especially on the remittance side compared to Airbnb but obviously I’m biased. I would agree that money engineering is probably the hardest problem they have. But unlike Uber they don’t have any realtime/streaming/GPS-dependent tech. So outside of payments it’s n…

Brand is all they have, since the app is so simple. Saying that a typeface in an app is wasteful is like saying it’s wasteful for Starbucks to commission their own chairs.
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