YouTube releases its first own-brand font, YouTube Sans, inspired by the play button

Date
19 May 2017

YouTube has released its first own-brand font, YouTube Sans, designed by branding agency Saffron in collaboration with Letterjuice, URW++ and YouTube’s UX team. Designed to “express a uniquely YouTube aesthetic”, the typeface includes a play button glyph, so the brand’s icon can be typed like any other letter or symbol.

According to Saffron, one of its first tasks was to redraw and refine the play button icon “to make sure its curves and angles were perfect” before making it into a glyph.

The letterforms are inspired by the play button, softly rounded to match the curves of the icon’s outer edges, with angled diagonal cuts into the ends, drawn from the central triangle. It comes in light, medium and bold weights.

YouTube Sans was launched with YouTube TV, the company’s new live streaming service, and is used in bold across the interface. The face is designed to be used in all product and marketing communications.

Saffron says: “It is slightly quirky and expressive, but also simple and bold, just like the platform it calls home.”

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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Saffron: YouTube Sans

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About the Author

Jenny Brewer

After five years as It’s Nice That’s news editor, Jenny became online editor in June 2021, overseeing the website’s daily editorial output.

Jenny is currently on maternity leave.

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