Figma Sans: The Brilliant Backbone Of Figma's New Visual Identity
Has a font ever given you goosebumps?
It doesn't happen to me that often, but once in a while a rare gem comes along that just hits the spot. Today, that's Figma Sans by Grilli Type.
Shining at the core of new brand identity, Figma Sans manages to toe the line between type trendiness and classic workhorse. The display weights leverage barely-there ink-traps (very en-vogue), while the text weights land squarely in the neue-grotesk style. Ever-so-slightly condensed, the primary weights carry a family resemblance to the iconic F icon of the Figma logo.
An Unexpected Star: Figma Mono
And then comes my favorite part: the monospace. It's almost Humanist style, with more dramatic line weight variations than you'll find in most monospace fonts. I love a monospace font to begin with but it's obvious why it was necessary: balancing design and development. Development programs use monospaced fonts and Figma Mono provides a unique option both for marketing and practical uses.
Typeface As The Timbre Of The Brand
The font adds character to the voice of the Figma brand; confident, savvy, creative, and most of all functional. Everything you want from your favorite design and collaboration tool. As a brand creative director, I’ve faced the challenge of bringing a brand’s voice and strategy to life through design, and Grilli’s type-wizards have nailed it.
A Free Yet Functional Brand Refresh
All of this is perfectly supported by Figma’s recent brand refresh, which I’ve fallen for. They’ve drawn inspiration from their gridded logo, but then exploded that grid into a whimsical celebration of creativity. Though it's inspired by mid-century graphic shapes, the system is anything but retro. Grids underpin the designs but the shapes are not corralled by them. Instead, the shapes are the energy that bring the grids to life. Overall, the visuals are a feast that encapsulate a developer's need for function and a designer's desire for freedom.
Cap It Off With A Simple Tagline
Make. Believe. In any other context, I'd call this tagline trite. But here, it wraps up the brand’s entire message which is inspiring yet down-to-earth.