D&AD Pencil Gothic
A custom display typeface created for the 2025 D&AD Festival. Inspired by the iconic pencil award, it blends sharp geometry and legacy cues with bold, designer-first functionality.
Credits
- Chris Nott
- William Richardson
- Diego Aravena
- Oliver Dell
- Frankie Guzi
Client
- D&AD
- Jones Knowles Ritchie
Service
- Custom Typefaces
It starts with a pencil
At the heart of D&AD’s identity is the Pencil. Since 1962, it’s stood as a symbol of creative excellence: sharp, iconic, and instantly recognisable. Our challenge was to build a typographic system that didn’t just reference this legacy—but embodied it.
Distinctly D&AD.
From its name to its construction, Pencil Gothic is grounded in the physicality of the D&AD Pencil. Hexagonal letterforms, 30° terminals, and chiselled details echo the sharpness of the object itself. This design DNA runs deep—visible in every curve, every counter, every punctuation mark.
From Franklin to Festival.
Inspired by the enduring legacy of Franklin Gothic, Pencil Gothic channels the assertive, high-impact energy of advertising’s golden age. It’s bold and expressive at display sizes, but built with precision and clarity in mind. Legibility was never sacrificed for style—it’s a tool for designers, by designers.
Designed for Designers.
The Pencil Gothic family is uniwidth, allowing for seamless transitions across weights—each one named after a different pencil grade, from H to 8B. Whether on stage, online, or in print, Pencil Gothic gives D&AD a unified, ownable voice—scalable across every touchpoint, but unmistakably theirs.
Fluent by design.
With extended Latin support and optical refinements for multilingual use, Pencil Gothic ensures D&AD’s global voice comes through loud and clear—from London to Lagos to Los Angeles.
In Use. Everywhere.
From festival posters and keynote screens to wayfinding and merch, Pencil Gothic takes centre stage at the 2025 D&AD Festival. It doesn’t just brand the event—it draws you in.
Pencil Gothic
