Typography
If you require any clarification on any of the points raised on this page, please contact us.
Introducing our typography
Using a consistent brand font allows us to build consistency across all our written communication — be it online or in print material. A consistent approach for font also allows readers to build an association with the brand and is an important measure in making sure consumers can trust that the material they are reading comes from Experian.
We have defined three typefaces for use in Experian material and this section continues information on what these fonts are and how they should be implemented.
Please watch this short video to find out more about our brand fonts.
Overview
We are using three typefaces:
- DIN Next as our primary brand typeface – both offline and in online assets which are not part of the web page (i.e. images and banners)
- Roboto as our primary typeface for use on web pages and other online applications that required a font to be loaded
- Arial as our system typeface
DIN Next is used for all our professionally designed offline material and applications, such as printed ads, brochures and stationery. We also use DIN Next for online assets such as banners where the banner font does not have to be loaded as part of the web page. Please note: DIN Next is a licensed font and is to only be used by design professionals. Any supporting agency will need to purchase the DIN Next font for use. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the Brand team.
Roboto is used for all our professionally designed online applications – this is the primary font for use on our webpages and digital aps where a font is required to be loaded as part of the page.
Please do not use DIN Next for these applications as the font will not render correctly.
The system font Arial on the other hand is used for Microsoft® Office® applications, such as PowerPoint® or Word®.
Note: We use the weights and styles listed on this section.
DIN Next
DIN Next is a clean, sharp, highly legible sans serif font. It is our primary font for all of our offline applications and has been chosen for both aesthetic and practical reasons. Please note: DIN Next is a licensed font and is to only be used by design professionals. Any supporting agency will need to purchase the DIN Next font for use. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the Brand team.
We use it for headings, subheadings and body text for all our professionally designed offline communications. We use four font weights plus their italics:
- Light
- Regular
- Medium
- Bold
Note: Italics are used to emphasise a word or short phrase within text and can be used elsewhere but sparingly, e.g. for a short pull-quote.
General principles
Shown here is an example of our typographic styling to help illustrate some basic principles. The majority of text is set in sentence case, with an initial capital letter and the rest in lower case, especially for headlines. However, sometimes a single word (or very short statements) can be typeset in all upper case. This can be useful for short descriptors within infographics or charts.
Text is usually ranged left, but for emphasis or for stylistic purposes such as a call-out, headline or quote, text can also be centred. (This is done sparingly.) Ranged left body text creates the most legible text, especially for greater amounts of text.
Longer paragraphs of text should be coloured in grey (80% tint of black). For text below 8pt we recommend a font weight of Regular or Medium to ensure legibility. Headings, introductions, text highlights and quotes can be set using Experian Dark Blue, Light Blue, Raspberry, Purple or Magenta. Colour should be applied in a consistent manner to similar elements throughout an application and the number of colours used should be minimised.
However, care should be taken to make sure that blue remains the main/dominant colour throughout the layout. For text, tints of our primary colours should be avoided to ensure legibility (with the exception of grey).
Hierarchy principles
Title headings and title subheads, as well as running titles and subheads, and text headings are set in Light weight (never Regular or Bold). The exception is when placing headings over darker parts of an image. Here you may need to use heavier weights to ensure legibility.
Body text is usually set in sentence case using the Light or Regular weight. Subheadings are typeset in Regular, Medium or Bold. Overall, text should look light and approachable. Introduction paragraphs can use Light or Regular. Text highlights in body text or quotes can use italics. Page numbers and footers should use Light or Regular.
Roboto
Roboto has been chosen as our brand typeface for all of our online applications, as it reflects the same characteristics as our offline brand typeface — DIN Next.
Roboto complements DIN Next and also has characteristics that make it feel precise, engineered, modern, distinctive and timeless.
We use it for headings, subheadings and body text for all our professionally designed online applications. We use four font weights plus their italics:
- Light
- Regular
- Medium
- Bold
Note: Italics are used to emphasise a word or short phrase within text and can be used elsewhere but sparingly, e.g. for a short pull-quote.
On our website, we use Roboto for maximum impact as it allows us to reproduce the exact look and feel we apply to any of our other applications.
Overall, we aim to keep the look and feel light and approachable. Therefore, we use typography in a considered and refined way.
On a primary level, we apply Roboto Regular where possible. For highlights or emphasis, we use Roboto Medium.
Navigation uses Roboto Regular.
On a secondary level, we use a similar approach. Subheadings are set in Regular, Medium or Bold.
Call-to-action buttons and links also use Roboto Light, but on a rollover, the text can turn Medium or Bold. Longer text is typeset using Light or Regular.
Arial
For Microsoft® Office® applications, such as PowerPoint® or Word®, and other on-screen applications the system font Arial is used in place of Roboto. Arial is a system font and is installed on most PCs and Macs, which ensures all users can view this font.
Arial is a highly legible on-screen font and retains good legibility at small sizes. Arial is the default font that will be used when a system font is required.
Arial can be used in Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold Italic. Arial Bold is used for headings and subheadings and Arial Regular for body text.
This typeface should never be used on materials designed exclusively for print and is used only in Microsoft Office applications.
Note: HTML emails should also use Arial so they are displayed correctly when viewed by the receiver.
To keep the appearance of copy the same when sharing documentssuch as presentations, only use our system font Arial.
Cover pages and divider slides use Arial Regular for the titles. Page headings on text slides are also set using Arial Regular.
Body text headings are typeset in Arial Bold, running page copy is set using Arial Regular. Italics can be used for text highlights and quotes.
Misuse
Here are a few typographic misuse examples. Please follow the guidance in this section.
Photography
Find out more about our defined photographic style for a more consistent visual approach