A type family that allows users to "flex in style while creating cohesion"
In a new positioning and visual identity program, RISD is calling themselves "A creative project that started in 1877". While they've updated their classic seal, the star of this visual ID program is an original family of typefaces. The whole effort is in support of a new guiding idea to “question to create, create to question”.
The creators say they wanted to make a type family that would “flex in style while creating cohesion". So they created a type system in two parts: RISD Serif, a headline typeface, and the very utilitarian RISD Sans, serving "as the system’s straightforward neutral backbone".
What gives the system its ability to flex in style is the fact that Serif is available in a whole range of "doneness", ranging from “complete” to “incomplete”. The word Sale in the retail setting above, for example, uses RISD Serif Semi-Complete, the same face that they are using right now for the bulk of their heavy lifting, including primary wordmark. But usage is not limited to this version of the face. From their ID Guide:
"Wordmark: Typeset in RISD custom fonts is always allowed
RISD Sans should be all caps, RISD Serif should be upper and lowercase."
Article: A New RISD Rebrand Places a Family of Custom Typefaces and a Redrawn Seal at its Centre