Founded in 2011, Glyphs has become the software of choice for novice and professional typophiles to explore font creation and customisation, and today is used by global brands ranging from Apple to Volkswagen. The beloved app’s own branding, however, has belied the industry that it serves up until now.

To coincide with the launch of its latest version, Glyphs 3, the app’s founders approached Mucca’s Matteo Bologna and designer and creative director Andrea Trabucco-Campos to create a new identity that felt more representative of the type community at large.

“I’ve worked with [founders] Georg Seifert and Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer since version 1.0 as an unofficial advisor,” says Bologna. “Andrea and I have always enjoyed participating in the big community of type designers around the world. So, being able to help reshape the brand’s voice and communicate its mission was a dream come true.”

The new logo comprises a stylish update of the Glyphs ‘G’ symbol, while the core brand colour of green has been reimagined to be more vibrant, dynamic and ownable.

An extended palette uses a combination of brights and darks to allow for more flexibility within the site and on social media, and the duo also designed and art directed abstractions of the app environment that were later animated by Abel Martins.

Alongside the new identity system, Bologna and Trabucco-Campos reimagined the Glyphs website as a tool for community learning. They worked with developer Chris Corby to simplify the site architecture and make it easier to navigate, and used a single, unreleased Variable font by ABC Dinamo called ABC Arizona, which was aptly drawn and developed entirely within Glyphs.

The revamped Learn section of the site (previously called Tutorials) features a more robust search function, giving the user access to a wide range of articles and tutorials. Each article is now bookmarkable as well, so that users can return to the lessons that they find most useful whenever they want.

Bologna and Trabucco-Campos say they hope that the fresh look will help to shine a light on the mission of the team behind the app: to democratise type design.

“I firmly believe that a typeface is a brand’s voice, so the power to customise that voice is key. Glyphs is a tool at the centre of this conversation, so this project was the perfect fit,” Bologna adds.

“The work done by Rainer to evangelise the product, making it into not only software for Western fonts but a tool for scripts from all over the world, is inspiring and we’re glad we could be a part of it.”

glyphsapp.com; trabuc.co; mucca.com