Inclusive Sans expands upon Penguin’s history with playfulness and curiosity

After designing Inclusive Sans, a research-driven typeface focused on accessibility and readability, the designer Olivia King revealed a gap in available typefaces that were both accessible and suitable for branding. Now, her open-source and variable font has been commissioned by Penguin Books in a slick, contemporary custom font called Penguin Inclusive Sans. For 90 years, Penguin has committed to making books for everyone. Staying true to this spirit of inclusion, Olivia has helped serve its primary brand font across its global publishing house. Searching for a way to create a consistent identity for the publishing giant, Olivia started with the beginnings of Penguin itself – the archives.

“I spent hours pouring over early book covers, advertising materials, original drawings, and notes from designers and typographers who have shaped Penguin’s visual identity,” says Olivia. Inspired by the humanist touches of Gill Sans’ typeface, Penguin’s Avant Garde in the ‘60s, and Helvetica in the ‘70s, the evolution of Penguin’s type choices tell a story that Olivia wanted to expand upon with the same playfulness seen in Penguin’s logo. “The goal was to create a typeface that felt both rooted in history and ready for today, able to sit confidently on the cover of a classic novel or a contemporary bestseller,” says Olivia.

The result was looking past glyphs as pure aesthetics but symbols of curiosity and boldness. Rounding the forms of the ‘a’ and ‘g’, Olivia and her team designed the typeface to be friendly and approachable, echoing the accessible nature of Penguin’s books. Subtle flicks in other letters add a sense of movement and liveliness, meanwhile, small details in the glyph set offer observant readers moments of delight, such as curvy characters such as ‘2’, ‘G’ or ‘?’ following the same form as a penguin’s wings.

Committed to Penguin’s reader-first goals, the complete character set includes four weights in both roman and italic styles, comprising 530 glyphs that support over 600 languages, creating space for ultimate accessibility. “Type designers have a unique chance to make inclusivity part of the default approach rather than an exception. It’s another design consideration – one that can inspire better solutions,” says Olivia. “That was at the core of why Penguin wanted to customise Inclusive Sans. The brand was built on the idea of making books accessible to everyone, and that mission still feels relevant today.” Olivia’s high-spirited typeface sets the precedent for other designers to usher in a new age of accessible fonts and visual identities that represent all. The more people who have access to knowledge, stories and reading, the more of an impact they can have on the world.

“This project has been incredibly humbling and rewarding. Even now, it feels surreal to have contributed to a brand with such an important typographic and literary history,” says Olivia. From Penguin’s titanic archives to modern typeface applications, Olivia and her team have transformed the tried and true into the proud and new, offering the world new perspectives in the art of typography. “The most meaningful part was knowing that this typeface will help make reading more accessible and enjoyable for more people,” says Olivia. “It’s a rare opportunity to design something that can have a lasting, positive impact.”