Design System: Typography

What is it?

A typeface system for Yulu: one font, chosen through research and testing, to unify how the brand reads across the app, the web, and everything in between.

The challenge

For a mobility brand like Yulu, interacting with users across platforms, typography shapes perception. A redefined design language meant we needed a single typeface to unify our identity across every channel, one that reflected an evolving brand tone: modern, approachable, future-forward. And one that stayed consistent and scalable in a growth environment.

The approach

First, an audit of every typeface in use across Yulu’s ecosystem, which revealed a real lack of consistency. Then I reviewed research papers to build the case for why typography matters, and benchmarked the typefaces design leaders had adopted.

In parallel, I began evaluating fonts suggested by the team alongside those that met our criteria, a detailed audit and testing phase that ultimately led us to one typeface.

Audit & research

The audit surfaced five different fonts across various channels, with no consistency:

• Circular Standard: presentations and parts of the website.
• Avenir: the customer app.
• Open Sans: also in the customer app.
• Heebo: sections of the website.
• Mulish: scattered across some web components.

Then I reviewed research papers to build a strong case for why typography matters.

Research takeaways.

Evaluation methods

Circular Std was the team favourite, but Monotype’s licensing made it unviable long-term. So I widened the search, benchmarking typefaces from leading design teams like Airbnb’s Cereal and Netflix Sans, and scored candidates against a rubric:

• Suits Yulu’s tone.
• Legible, readable, contrasting.
• The Il1 test (capital I, lowercase l, number 1).
• The 8 and B test.
• Multi-language support.
• Contrast and weight range.

Measuring the existing typefaces.

Typefaces evaluated

Forty in all: Lexend, Atkinson Hyperlegible, Bitter, Raleway, Kulturista, Chap, Heebo, TT Commons, Greycliff, Visby Round, Lufga, Jeko, Haffer, GT Haptik, Gilroy, Aeonik, Averta, Poppins, Satoshi, Inter, Duplet Open, Suisse Int’l, and more.

Gilroy and Aeonik, in use.

The shortlist

The team voted across every candidate and finalised three to evaluate further:

• Greycliff
• Satoshi
• Duplet Open

Greycliff and Duplet Open.

The typeface: Satoshi

Satoshi across the app.