1. START WITH THE BASE

Welcome to Universal Sans, a variable typeface system that lets you customise a sans serif typeface. We'll guide you through four steps — customising the base, selecting alternates, adding additional weights then finally downloading a trial or purchasing a licence.

The first step is to customise the base of your typeface. This is determined by four aspects of the typeface geometry - weight, terminal endings, roundness & skew. Go ahead and adjust each to your personal preference - if at any stage you want more info just click on the question mark button above each option. You can come back and tweak your selection at any time.

BASIC
ADVANCED
WEIGHT
?
dre 450
300
900
TERMINALS
?
pac 50
0
100
ROUNDNESS
?
odb 50
0
100
SKEW
?
nas 50
0
100
INTERPOLATOR
00
00
00
00
  • Weight 00
  • Terminals 00
  • Roundness 00
  • Skew 00
2. SELECT ALTERNATES

Nice work. Now that you’ve customised the base for your typeface the next step is to choose character alternates. Go through each letter and select the character design you prefer. Remember to use the question mark button for a closer look and more information.

Choose your lowercase ‘a’
?
a 1 a 2
a 3 a 4
a 5 a 6
a 7 a 8
Choose your lowercase 'g'
?
g 1 g 2
Choose your lowercase 'y'
?
y 1 y 2
y 3
Alternates for 'tfrj'
?
tfrj 1
tfrj 2
Choose your lowercase 'l'
?
l 1 l 2
Choose your uppercase 'J'
?
J 1 J 2
Choose your uppercase 'Q'
?
Q 1 Q 2
Q 3
Choose your uppercase 'R'
?
R 1 R 2
R 3
Choose your uppercase 'G'
?
G 1 G 2
Choose your upper/lowercase 'K'
?
Kk 1
Kk 2
Choose your numerals
?
69 1
69 2
Choose round or square dots
?
.,i‘’ 1
.,i‘’ 2
3. ADD WEIGHTS

Additional weights can help add typographic hierarchy to your project. If you require additional weights go ahead and add them below.

n 450
300
900
4. ADD ITALICS

Choose to add accompanying italics to your typeface. These are set at an angle of 12° and feature the same selections as your upright variation.

Add italics
Choose to substitute a single
story 'a'?
?
a 1 a 2
5. REVIEW

All done. Below is an overview of the selections you’ve made for your custom typeface. You can go back and edit any of these options now or bookmark this page to come back to your design at any point.

Terminals Edit 120 pac
Roundness Edit 70 odb
Skew Edit 70 nas
Alternates Edit
a g y tfrj
l J Q R
G Kk 69 .,i‘’
Weights Edit
  • 450 abcde
Italics Edit Not Included
    6. DOWNLOAD YOUR FAMILY

    If you are happy with your selections then you can download a free trial version of your typeface below or select your licence requirements and purchase the full version of the typeface. If you need to save or share the selection then copy the URL which contains your unique BuildID. Please see the FAQ's more more information on licencing.

    Trial
    ?
    I agree to the EULA
    Select licence
    ?
    Order summary
    ?
    Weights
    Italics
    +50% £0.00
    Total £0.00
    I agree to the EULA
    CHECKOUT
    Billing details
    Payment details
    Review order
    licence
    • 450
    Weights
    Italics
    +50% £0.00
    Total £0.00
    ORDER #0000

    Thanks for your order! Please download your typeface below. A download link will also be sent to your email.

    Download your typeface
    Order items
    licence
    • 450
    Weights
    Italics
    +50% £0.00
    Total £0.00
    Return to editor
    TIP
    WEIGHT
    00
    n
    This controls the visual weight of all characters in the typeface. These correspond to commonly used weight categories however you can use any value. 300: Light, 400: Normal (Regular), 500: Medium, 700: Bold, 900: Black.
    TERMINALS
    00
    c
    This controls the angle of the terminal endings and the aperture of open letterforms. Together these aspects can play a large part in determining the attitude of the typeface as more feeling buttoned up or more relaxed.
    ROUNDNESS
    00
    o
    This controls the roundness of circular letterforms and overall character width which can make the typeface less or more geometric, human and/or suitable for setting body copy.
    SKEW
    00
    a
    This controls the amound of tapering and incisions at stroke joins as well as the length of terminals. Together these can make the typeface feel more characterful and off-kilter, but will also effect the legibility and suitability for setting text at different sizes.
    Lowercase ‘a’
    a
    a
    The lowercase a is an important character and therefore there are many alternate options. Some are classic, some more playful, while others are more organic and human.
    Lowercase ‘g’
    g
    g
    The lowercase g is another important character with two common alternates - either a single or double story g. If you've selected a single story lowercase a then it might make sense to also select a single story g for consistency.
    Lowercase ‘y’
    y
    y
    There are three options for the lowercase y - one classic, one more stripped back and one more characterful and playful.
    Lowercase ‘l’
    l
    l
    Choose from a lowercase l with or without a tail. If you select an l with a tail here it might make sense to also select a lowercase a with a tail too.
    Uppercase ‘J’
    J
    J
    There are two options to select from the lowercase J either with the vertical or horizontal terminal ending. You may choose to replicate the value you selected for the terminal endings here.
    Uppercase ‘Q’
    Q
    Q
    The uppercase Q has three alternates which differ in the form of the tail. You may choose to replicate the value you selected for the terminal endings here.
    Uppercase ‘R’
    R
    R
    There are three options presented for the uppercase R ranging from classic forms to something more modern. Choose an alternate that best suits your customised design.
    Uppercase ‘G’
    G
    G
    Select from an uppercase G with or without a spur. As with the uppercase R, choose an option that best fits your customised design.
    Upper/Lowercase ‘Kk’
    K
    K
    The uppercase K and lowercase k share the same construction. Choose from either a double jointed or single jointed design.
    Numerals
    69
    69
    There are two alternate styles of numerals with either curved or straight letterforms. This effects the 6 and the 9 to maintain visual consistency.
    Round or square dots
    .,i‘’
    .,i‘’
    Last but not least, select from round or square punctuation. This will also effect the dots of characters such as the lowercase i & j along with punctuation and diacritic marks.
    Alternate 'tfrj'
    tfrj
    tfrj
    This option effects the lowercase t, f, r & j. It also applies to a some alternates for the uppercase J, the lowercase g and lowercase a. This option is only available when Terminal is set to 0.
    Choose to substitute a
    single story 'a'
    a
    a
    You can choose the italicised version of the lowercase a you selected in section 2, or you can opt for a single story lowercase a which is often substituted in italics as it emulates handwriting. Both are acceptable options.
    Trial version
    If you would like to try out the typeface in your project before purchasing then you can download a free trial!

    The trial versions have a reduced character set and functionality and can not be used in any commercial or live project. Just enter your email address, agree to the EULA and then click download. Please be patient as it may take a few seconds for the gremlins to build your typeface!

    Bookmark or save your BuildID then you can come back to purchase the typeface when you are ready or share this with a client.

    Licencing
    There are fives types of licence that cover the most common usages. These are calculated as:

    Desktop | .TTF format
    The number of personnel at the company or organisation.

    Web | .TTF & .WOFF formats
    The number of monthly visitors to the website.

    Social | .TTF format
    The number of followers on a social media channel.

    App | .TTF format
    The number of downloads of the app.

    Broadcast | .TTF format
    The number of continents where the content will be broadcast or streamed.

    If you need to use the typeface in a category not listed here or you would like to discuss a unlimited licence please contact us.
    Please see the EULA for further information.
    Order Summary
    The price is calculated on the number of weights and the licence volumes you've provided. When you are ready tick the box agreeing to the EULA and proceed to the checkout where we will take your payment details then generate your typefaces. If you have selected multiple weights this may take a few seconds while each weight is generated. Please see the EULA for any further clarification of licence terms and conditions on the far right of the information panel.

    UNIVERSAL SANS ▢ 50.50.50.11111111111.450
    • Contextual Alternates
    • Case-Sensitive Forms
    • Denominators
    • Fractions
    • Localized Forms
    • Alternate Annotation Forms
    • Numerators
    • Ordinals
    • Scientific Inferiors
    • Subscript
    • Superscript
    • Tabular Figures
    • Slashed Zero
    UNIVERSAL SANS ▢
    Please view on desktop.