H & M typography

 H&M was working with a bespoke sans-serif typeface design called HM Ampersand – which was designed by Monotype.



The Swedish clothing brand – which is ranked as the second largest global clothing retailer – has over 3,000 shops in 61 countries around the world was in need of a custom typeface with a fashion expression for use in all contexts including advertising, editorial, catalogue, website, film, packaging, and in-store graphics.

It wanted to develop a fuller typographic language that it could use in a range of contexts around the world. The brand approached Monotype to commission a companion serif typeface. Toshi Omagari along with Monotype designed a new typeface that would contrast and complement the existing HM Ampersand design. .

Here I asked myself why if any would they need another design after the first one was already well established? My thinking was it was trying to fall in the same standardisation as maybe Vogue magazine or Elle..

I searched which company was ranked first to see it they was any connection or similarities in design!

 Ranked first is a company Inditex which has several brands – Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe. However, in terms of annual revenue, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) beat out Inditex by a few hundred million dollars in the most recent fiscal year for each company.

With the Inditex group all of the shop's have different typefaces so can't really be compared...What I did notice when researching was the difference in Zara and Zara Home.... Zara being a serif, which tells me goes with the ideal of fashion, high class and important. Whereas the Zara Home is a more softer, homely sans serif typeface.  This is something I'm becoming more aware of and will look into later.


 

 SO ENTER

The typeface HM Amperserif - which was developed in three different size variations allowing for versatility of use in all contexts from the smallest caption size to the largest headlines on billboards as well as use in digital media while still maintaining the recognisable geometry of the letterforms.



The development of HM Amperserif allowed the company to reduce the number of typefaces used for communication which would eliminate the cost and complexity of working with licensed typefaces. The character set was developed in multiple languages to cover H&M’s 60 markets.

So that really what it came down to I the end?  COST savings really surely not?

This is what they said

H&M’s position as an international brand, Monotype developed a multiple language character set that includes Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Thai and Arabic. The design team worked together closely to also develop Indic logos, for use in India, and Monotype actively updates the fonts with new currency signs and additional characters, as the business expands into new locations.

Expanding NEW LOCATIONS, defiantly about cost and investment to benefit its self......Think I'd buy shares now.....


 Kannada logo for H&M



  Devanagari logo for H&M

More information about the designers

Monotype is one of the world’s best-known providers of type-related products, technologies and expertise.  Having a library of over 20,000 typefaces, the product of the world's most celebrated and gifted type designers. They library includes some of the most famous and widely-used fonts, such as the Helvetica®, Univers® and Frutiger® typeface families.

Toshi Omagari studied typography and typeface design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, where he graduated in 2008, and went on to obtain an MA in typeface design at University of Reading in 2011. A staff typeface designer at Monotype UK, he has been involved in many aspects of multilingual typography and font development, including work on various scripts including Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and Mongolian.

The Studio -  combine marketing and design to help brands define their positions, create a unique voice and build sustainable value. Specialising in brand strategy, identity, packaging, digital design and retail environments, working with everything from small scale companies to global corporations.