Concept

Akira Kobayashi (left), a type director at Monotype, discusses design with Hiroshige Fukuhara (right), a chief art director at Sony Conceptual font initially presented by Sony

Solid, yet readable

In development, we sought a firm, sharp typeface that was highly readable. One inspiration was the Helvetica® design, because a typeface without the distinctive formal elements in much Sony packaging and other work to date would diverge too much from the familiar Sony image. We explored how to keep the new typeface as sharp and solid as Helvetica while ensuring it was very legible and reproducible at smaller sizes. As we examined the forms and structures of many typefaces, another inspiration was the Frutiger® design, a highly readable typeface originally created for airport signage. By deciding what makes Helvetica look solid and Frutiger readable, we defined our basic parameters and designed a typeface to demonstrate our thinking.

Designing a timeless, universal, and authentic corporate typeface would require familiarity with the traditions of typography. We also hoped to offer people around the world a similar user experience by adapting the typeface for many languages. These requirements led to joint development with a venerable type company that manages both Helvetica and Frutiger—Monotype. Building on our design concepts, we began working with Monotype Type Director Akira Kobayashi to develop authentic SST® fonts.