3

Apple watch screenshot 1 Apple watch screenshot 2

Did Apple create an entirely new typeface for the Apple Watch? Did they customize something existing? To me it looks like it was inspired by DIN and given a very tall x-height, but I see influence from Roboto in there as well.

4
  • 3
    Should have been Comic Sans.
    – Scott
    Sep 9, 2014 at 19:25
  • @Scott Apple Watch "Children" Edition? Not too late!
    – Brendan
    Sep 9, 2014 at 19:27
  • The text looks pretty close to Helvetica. The numerals aren't, though.
    – DA01
    Sep 9, 2014 at 19:33
  • @DA01 Nah, I was watching the keynote and right away I noticed that the 'e' and 'c' glyphs didn't curve all the way around like Helvetica does. The 'R' and 'G' are very different too.
    – Brendan
    Sep 9, 2014 at 19:45

2 Answers 2

4

According to the Apple Watch HIGs, it's a new font called San Francisco, and it comes in two flavors:

Choose the San Francisco Text font for text that is 19 points or smaller. Choose the San Francisco Display font for text that is 20 points or larger.

Jon Gruber notes that it's not the first San Francisco font to appear on an Apple device, though this iteration is certainly a lot more practical!

3

Whatever it is, it’s grotesque.

Seriously though, DIN does look close but for its square tittles and punctuation marks and not getting the 9’s right.

I fancy Aktiv Grotesk for a closer match on the numbers, but it’s just not ‘square’ enough and again lacks round tittles, etc.

UPDATE: Apple did indeed create their own typeface for the font: http://www.apple.com/watch/technology/#familiar

We even developed a new typeface to maximize legibility.

1
  • Good catch on the website reference. I'll mark this as accepted until we get more details (I'd love to know about its name, the design process, etc.).
    – Brendan
    Sep 11, 2014 at 18:51

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.