“As a British brand, typography has always been at the heart of Fortnum’s design system,” Ben explains. “We delved into the Fortnum archive for inspiration – looking for details and quirks that would form a robust set of design principles to draw from.” The aim of the typeface design game then was to retain the brand’s “eccentric English personality” in its letterforms, while also creating something that was “readable, inclusive and accessible to all”.

When Otherway drew up the brief on this basis, the person assigned to the project was type specialist and design director at Otherway, Brad Rose, who worked closely with the design team at Fortnum’s to “distill 300 years of history into a clear and simple visual guide and set of design principles,” Ben explains. The agency then partnered with Colophon Foundry, starting with Gill and Century on their drawing board, to iteratively develop a more bespoke serif typeface.

The results were an entire family of typefaces that spans three collections: “a sans serif (FM Mason), its condensed counterpart, and a sans serif (FM Fortnum) with 12 styles in total,” says Brad. Designed to “evoke a sense of heritage” while still remaining fit for the brand’s future, all of the letterforms have been cut and cored to have a “timeless quality” that nods to craftsmanship. The family’s condensed collection channels the typeface’s style into more functional outputs like packaging, making the family flexible enough to adapt to a variety of touchpoints. The custom typeface is “a very agile and responsive typeface, whatever the demands placed on it,” concludes Ben.