Meet Monotype’s New Modern Branding Typefaces: Madera and Unitext

Inspired by design trends and feedback from hundreds of brands, new typefaces offer a mix of modern design and timeless appeal

Jan Hendrik Weber of the Monotype Studio (Photo: Business Wire)

WOBURN, Mass.--()--Monotype (Nasdaq: TYPE) today took the wraps off two of its newest designs: the Unitext™ and Madera™ typefaces. Inspired by modern design trends and feedback from hundreds of brands, the two new sans serif typefaces offer a mix of contemporary flair and timeless appeal – and are designed with the intent to help brands carry their voice effectively and legibly, from small text to display sizes, in both print and digital environments. Monotype’s new Madera and Unitext typefaces were created with the intent to be easy to use by both designers and brands. The typefaces come in a variety of sizes and weights – as well as with a number of special characters and stylistic alternatives – that fit well within most companies’ brand guidelines. Both typefaces are designed to help ensure brand consistency and fidelity at every customer touchpoint.

The Madera Typeface – A Warm Geometric Sans Serif Design with a Sharp Edge
Described as clean, sharp, trendy, authentic and honest, the Madera typeface was designed by Malou Verlomme of the Monotype Studio. It offers a geometric sans design with a human feel, and is marked by its pointy apexes. Madera was built on the back of feedback from numerous brands and influenced by a variety of modern type design trends. The Madera typeface is a fresh alternative to popular sans serif typefaces commonly found in branding, and is well suited for high-tech and publishing, with an emphasis on logos, signage and text. Available in eight weights, plus italics, the Madera typeface also includes the special characters that graphic designers use frequently in their projects, like arrows and circled numbers.

“I’ve created quite a few custom typefaces for clients throughout my career, which gives me unique insight into what brands are looking for in their type designs. Madera is a synthesis of that experience,” said Verlomme. “While the design is geometric, clean and modern, it has some softer and more organic traits, which makes it a straightforward yet warm design.”

The Unitext Typeface – A Combination of Compact Spacing and Open Counters
The Unitext typeface can be described as clear, universal, progressive and authentic. It is a blend of grotesque and humanist styles and offers a unique balance of condensed spacing and open counters, which makes it a highly legible choice for logos as well as text. Designed by Jan Hendrik Weber, type director for the Monotype Studio, the Unitext typeface is simple and compact, but also friendly, to allow for a brand’s natural voice to come through. The design is available in seven weights, plus italics, offers fractions and case-sensitive forms, and is at home in travel and leisure, advertising, logos, text and wayfinding.

“We often hear from brands that they’d prefer to use a single typeface for both text and logos across all their touchpoints, but the traditional options rarely work the way they hope,” said Weber. “I set out to design the Unitext typeface to provide a unified voice for brands that want a dynamic, condensed design that is consistent no matter where or how a brand needs to reach its customers.”

Suggested Typeface Pairings
The modern and brand-focused sans serif styles of the Madera and Unitext typefaces mean that they pair well with other designs. The Madera typeface is a natural companion for the Cardamon™, Linotype® Didot, Frutiger® Serif, Joanna® Nova, Meta® Serif and Neue Swift® typefaces. The Unitext typeface pairs nicely with the Aptifer® Slab, Bembo® Book, ITC Berkeley Old Style™, PMN Caecilia®, Sabon® Next and Ysobel® typefaces.

Pricing and Availability
Single weights of the Madera and Unitext typefaces are available for $49/€49 or £42 each. The complete families are available for $199/€199 or £170.

The Madera and Unitext typefaces can be found in Mosaic™, a cloud-based font platform that provides enterprises with an easy way to discover, manage, share and deploy Monotype’s fonts. The typefaces are also included in the Monotype Library Subscription.

The typefaces can be licensed through MyFonts.com at a discounted price of 50 percent off through April 27, 2018.

To join the conversation about the Madera and Unitext typefaces on social media, search #MeetMadera and #MeetUnitext on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Monotype

Monotype provides the design assets, technology and expertise that help create beautiful, authentic and impactful brands that customers will engage with and value, wherever they experience the brand, now and in the future. Further information is available at www.monotype.com. Follow Monotype on TwitterInstagram and LinkedIn.

Monotype, Frutiger and Ysobel are trademarks of Monotype Imaging Inc. registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Mosaic, Madera, Unitext, Cardamon are trademarks of Monotype Imaging Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Aptifer, PMN Caecilia, Swift, Meta, Sabon and Linotype are trademarks of Monotype GmbH registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. Bembo and Joanna are trademarks of The Monotype Corporation registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. ITC Berkeley Old Style is a trademark of Monotype ITC Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. “Linotype Didot” is a trademark of Monotype GmbH and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. ©2018 Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.

Contacts

Monotype
Andy Rodger
andy.rodger@monotype.com

Contacts

Monotype
Andy Rodger
andy.rodger@monotype.com