The best new typefaces for May 2025 by leading foundries and designers

Need a fresh burst of typographic inspiration? Our latest monthly roundup of new and revived fonts is a must-read.

Ever feel like you’re drowning in a visual sea of AI slop? Fortunately, the world of type design seems to be sticking fast to the twin values of innovation and craftsmanship. And if you ever needed proof of that, just check out this month’s selection of new typeface releases.

From the first superfamily from Order Type Foundry to a groundbreaking system offering exclusive ownership of typographic variants, these fonts represent the cutting edge of contemporary type design.

So whether you’re seeking a versatile workhorse for editorial projects, a distinctive display font for branding, or something that embodies specific cultural references, you’ll find thoughtfully designed letterforms here to inspire your creativity.

In short, this May, font designers have once more demonstrated their ability to transform the fundamental building blocks of communication into instruments of purposeful expression. What better time to refresh your typographic palette?

1. Sita Collection by Order Type Foundry

Order Type Foundry’s first superfamily is a thoughtful homage to 19th-century Scottish typographic traditions, reimagined for contemporary design needs. The Sita Collection comprises Sita Serif and Sita Sans, with each style offering four weights and corresponding italics.

What makes this superfamily distinctive is its approach to the relationship between serif and sans forms. Rather than blurring the lines between classifications, designer Edouard Berard has created two interconnected families that preserve the distinctive characteristics of their respective genres—Scotch Roman and grotesque—while sharing the same underlying skeletal structure.

This approach ensures optimal form and weight harmony when the two styles are used together, making Sita an exceptionally versatile system for both digital and print use. Overall, Sita’s thoughtful balance of historical reference and modern functionality makes it a good choice for anyone seeking typographic cohesion with stylistic variation.

2. Unie by Big Fog Foundry

Unie is a delightfully playful unicase typeface that launched alongside West Virginia-based Big Fog Foundry in April. Designed by founder Brian Dove, this charmingly chunky font offers a single, robust style that balances loose organic qualities with blocky geometric forms.

The nearly square letterforms invite creative exploration and are perfect for stacking, smooshing, and squashing. As Brian explains, “We like to imagine it was sculpted from Play D’oh. It probably makes a cartoon “honk” sound when ya squeeze it.” This fun personality makes Unie
well placed for projects that require an immediate emotional connection.

Best used in large sizes and short bursts, Unie would work well in logos, candy packaging, comic-book sound effects and motivational posters. Testament to Big Fog Foundry’s mission of creating typefaces that are “equal parts fun and functional”, it’s perfect for any design that requires a vibe of unabashed cheerfulness.

3. Lamington by Rain Foundry

Lamington is a delightfully organic display typeface from Sydney-based designer Carl of Rain Foundry. Its inspiration came from an unexpected source—lettering on a t-shirt the designer spotted while enjoying the beloved Australian cake of the same name.

The typeface captures a carefree spirit through its square-like shapes, spongey texture and cushiony spacing, evoking the warm, delicious qualities of its namesake. Its bold, organic forms make it ideal for headlines that require liveliness and personality.

For its creator, Lamington represents more than just a new typeface; it marks a personal rekindling of passion for type design. “This font helped me learn that it’s the joy that is important in any creative endeavour,” Carl explains. This authentic enthusiasm shines through in every character, resulting in a typeface that balances playfulness with purposeful design.

4. Only Yours by Rosetta Type

In a bold innovation that challenges conventional ideas about typeface ownership and identity, Rosetta Type’s Only Yours introduces a unique business model. Each variant is available exclusively to a single customer. “Think of it as an NFT that’s actually useful,” they explain.

The system generates nine new variants daily, each featuring a different combination of characteristics from the extensive design space. Once purchased, that specific variant becomes unavailable to other customers, ensuring a truly unique typographic voice for each buyer.

This novel approach plays with notions of digital ownership and originality in type design, pushing the boundaries of how we think about visual identity. For designers seeking distinctive typography that no one else can use, Only Yours offers an intriguing new possibility.

5. Marsam Text by Typonym

Marsam Text represents a thoughtful evolution of designer Evan Deterling’s Marsam slab serif, meticulously optimised for editorial applications. Rather than simply scaling the original design, Deterling has redrawn the typeface with semi-condensed proportions that improve copyfit while providing more even rags and justification.

This is no mere mechanical adjustment: most glyphs have been completely reconceived to suit the narrower metrics without the distortions that often plague digitally scaled typefaces. The result maintains perfect harmony with the original Marsam family while offering enhanced performance in text settings.

With 14 fonts in the family, Marsam Text provides exceptional versatility for designers working with long-form content, particularly in newspaper and publishing contexts where space efficiency is crucial. However, its distinctive character also allows it to shine in display applications, making it a remarkably flexible addition to any typographic toolkit.

6. Intervention by Applied Systems Design Studio

Rooted in early 20th-century Eastern European Constructivist design, Intervention is a striking display font from Applied Systems Design Studio, a relatively new foundry launched in November 2024. The typeface was originally created for Taktiky Studio’s exhibition in Prague titled “Čekání Proměny,” which explored the impact of a new metro route through a series of site-specific interventions.

This cultural and contextual grounding gives Intervention a distinctive personality that balances historical reference with contemporary application. Initially designed for Czech, Slovak and English languages, the font has now been expanded and refined for commercial release.

As part of Applied Systems Design Studio’s small but growing catalogue, Intervention reflects the foundry’s commitment to creating type-led visual identities with unique character and purpose. Its distinctive aesthetic makes it particularly suitable for projects requiring a bold, conceptually driven typographic voice.

7. Indiana by 205TF

Indiana, designed by Malou Verlomme for 205TF, is a typeface built on fascinating contradictions—combining tight proportions with soft geometry and bold decisions with refined functionality. Its development emerged from seemingly irreconcilable constraints, yet the result is both highly practical and visually distinctive.

The philosophy behind Indiana mirrors modern pneumatic engineering, balancing flexibility with strength, comfort with energy and speed with calm. Its extremely short ascenders and descenders maximise vertical space efficiency, giving text a dense, impactful presence.

Available in six weights from Thin to Black, each with matching italics, Indiana offers exceptional versatility for contemporary design applications. Its extensive range of stylistic alternates further extends its expressive capabilities, allowing designers to fine-tune their typographic voice—from clean modernism to more experimental approaches.

8. FH Lecturis by Typografische

Part of Fatih’s recently renewed catalogue at Typografische, FH Lecturis is a neo-grotesque that draws inspiration from Wim Crouwel’s rational grid systems and the structural clarity of Akzidenz Grotesk. Its design philosophy balances mechanical precision with subtle human touches.

The typeface’s modular core is softened through rounded terminals and careful optical adjustments, creating a harmonious tension between rigid structure and organic warmth. This makes FH Lecturis particularly well-suited for editorial systems and institutional identities, where systematic order must coexist with approachable communication.

With its focus on visual clarity at scale, FH Lecturis exemplifies Typografische’s commitment to creating typefaces that serve practical needs while maintaining distinctive character. It’s a thoughtful addition to the neo-grotesque category that finds its own voice through careful attention to detail and nuanced design decisions.

9. ALT Nadrey by ALT.tf

ALT.tf, which evolved from the Femme Type initiative, continues its mission of increasing diversity in type design through the release of ALT Nadrey. Created by Ivorian Coast type designer O’Plérou in collaboration with artist Obou Gbais, this font makes an important contribution to a field where African designers remain underrepresented.

Described by its creator as a “typographical rendition of love,” ALT Nadrey draws inspiration from 90s poster fonts, combining narrow-ish, rounded letterforms with a contemporary sensibility. Its gentle curves and subtle serifs create a sophisticated softness while maintaining refined elegance.

The name “Nadrey” means “My heart” in Bété, O’Plérou’s mother tongue, reinforcing the typeface’s connection to personal and cultural identity. This release exemplifies ALT.tf’s commitment to amplifying voices historically underrepresented in type design while delivering a distinctive typographic tool with widespread practical application.

10. Sofia Pro by Mostardesign

Fifteen years after its initial release, Olivier Gourvat’s Mostardesign has launched an all-new version of Sofia Pro, one of the world’s most recognisable and widely used typefaces.

The revival of this modern classic represents an important moment for a font that has become truly ubiquitous. Sofia Pro’s adoption by global brands like Pepsi, TikTok and Unilever has cemented its place as a familiar presence in contemporary visual communication, even for those who can’t identify it by name.

This major update expands the family to 64 fonts across four distinct widths: Normal (100), Narrow (90), Condensed (80) and Compact (70). Available in variable font format, the new release offers unprecedented flexibility while maintaining the friendly personality and welcoming disposition that made Sofia Pro an international favourite. The expansion also includes support for additional scripts, including Cyrillic, Greek and Vietnamese, making it even more versatile for global brands.

Mostardesign is offering the Regular and Light styles for free to qualified non-profits fighting climate change, reflecting the foundry’s commitment to supporting environmental causes.