Fonts and Typefaces

January 5, 2021

The update also includes a new “typographic identity” with four custom fonts — Eph Serif, Eph Slab, Eph Gothic, and Eph Octic — that come in three “volumes” (Light, Book, and Bold).

The adjectives describing each type of font correspond with adjectives used to describe aspects of the College. Photos courtesy of identity.williams.edu.

Kaan said the Eph Slab font, which they used for the College’s wordmark (its text-only logo), is rooted in styles from College history and is more “friendly, contemporary, playful, and simple” than fonts used by peer institutions.

Students’ criticism of the visual identity extended past the new Ephelia. Rosa Kirk-Davidoff ’21 posted a meme in the Facebook group that satirizes the attributes that each font is meant to embody by assigning them further personality traits and characteristics.

Kirk-Davidoff suggested, through the meme, that Eph Slab has the whiff of someone who “Thinks they’re more attractive than they actually are.” Photo courtesy of Rosa Kirk-Davidoff.

The “Eph Type Family,” as the set of fonts is called, is unique to the College, and Kaan said other colleges typically use just one font, rather than a school-specific font family.