Typography.
General Sans is our main typeface: headlines, body, labels and data. Crimson Text supports it, for quotes, names and the moments that need a human voice.
Crimson Text · Regular
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General Sans · Regular, Medium
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Two typefaces
General Sans, Regular and Medium. Our main typeface. Headlines, body text, labels, slides, interfaces and data.
Crimson Text, in Regular only. The supporting face. Quotes, personal names, hero numbers and reflective prompts. Never body text.
ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklm
nopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklm
nopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789
Alternative fonts
When an app cannot load our fonts, use these, in this order. Never pick a substitute by eye, and never mix tiers in one piece. General Sans is free from Fontshare: install it on every TFI laptop first. The video tiers in 7.8 follow the same order.
| Where | Main (General Sans) | Support (Crimson Text) |
|---|---|---|
| Design tools with our fonts installed: Figma, InDesign, Adobe Express | General Sans | Crimson Text |
| Canva, Google Docs and Slides, CapCut | DM Sans | Crimson Text, free on Google Fonts; else EB Garamond |
| Word, PowerPoint, email and newsletters | Arial | Georgia |
| Instagram and TikTok text tools | ‘Classic’ | ‘Literature’ or ‘Serif’ |
Which face for the headline
General Sans is the default headline face. Crimson Text takes the headline only when the headline is a quote, a name or a deeply personal line. One headline face per layout, never both.
Onboarding checklist for Cohort 8
“Leadership is service, not power.”
Try it
Type your own headline. Our display setting is −40 tracking, the same as −40 in Figma.
Scale
Eight sizes, at 1920 wide. Scale them together for other formats; never invent sizes in between.
Display
200 / 176 · General Sans
Hero
120 / 112 · General Sans
Headline
72 / 72 · General Sans, or Crimson for a quote
Title
44 / 46 · General Sans
Lead
28 / 38 · General Sans
Large body
20 / 30 · General Sans
Body
15 / 24 · General Sans
Label
13 / 20 · General Sans Medium
Tracking and leading
Both faces tighten as they grow: General Sans −40 at display and hero sizes, −20 to −30 at headline and title; Crimson Text −30 to −35 for quotes and names. Body text sits at −10 to 0, with leading of 130 to 150%.
| Size | Tracking | Leading |
|---|---|---|
| Display, Hero (General Sans) | −40 | 88 to 94% |
| Headline, Title (General Sans) | −20 to −30 | 100% |
| Quotes and names (Crimson) | −30 to −35 | 100 to 106% |
| Lead, body | −10 to 0 | 130 to 150% |
| Labels | 0, in sentence case | 150% |
Names, numbers, French
Three details beginners get wrong.
Oluchi Okparaocha
Editor-in-chief · Keeper of The Fort
Every personal name is set in Crimson Text Regular, with the role beneath in General Sans Medium, in sentence case. No script faces anywhere.
87,000+
Hero numbers in General Sans by default, with “+” and “%” at 60% size. Use Crimson Text only in editorial or quote-led pieces. Tables and charts always use General Sans with tabular figures.
Posez-nous vos questions !
Design for the French length first. French punctuation: a space before : ; ? ! and guillemets « ». Never shrink type to make French fit; edit the copy.
Misuse
Keep the voice clean.
Leadership as an act
Happy Birthday
BOLD + serif
Leading far
too tight
Faux bold
Apply now.
Postulez.
Fonts for video
Many video apps cannot load our fonts. Use the highest tier the app allows, and never mix tiers in one video. The Video chapter has the ten-second check and a caption checker.
Tier 1 · Brand fonts
Wherever you can install fonts
Lead differently.
Lead differently.
General Sans · Crimson Text
Tier 2 · Video alternates
Canva free, CapCut, phone editors
Lead differently.
Lead differently.
DM Sans · EB Garamond
Tier 3 · In-app styles
Instagram and TikTok text tools
Lead differently.
Lead differently.
‘Classic’ · ‘Literature’ / ‘Serif’ (stand-ins shown)