The new Liebherr typeface is part of a comprehensive relaunch of its entire corporate design created by MetaDesign and Liebherr. Our task was to deliver a homogenous type system that is seamlessly integrated into Liebherr’s new visual identity, while also meeting today’s typographic and technological demands. Based on our own Fabrikat type family we created a custom version tailored for the complex challenges of the Liebherr universe.

Corporate designs grow organically over years. From time to time workarounds become necessary, especially when technology changes: if an existing typeface no longer works for emerging digital applications an entirely different typeface may be added to the system. This results in a patchwork that somehow handles day-to-day tasks, but consists of many different variables. When a new type system is put into place, it allows us as type designers to find solutions for those issues from scratch.

Liebherr has a very broad scope of different products and areas of application. Therefore the new typeface has to deal with a lot of challenges. We analysed which fonts are used in which field and worked out how one font system should be built up, that works for every requirement and looks homogenous.

As it turned out, the basic principles of our existing type family Fabrikat nearly matched the approach and the attitude of the Liebherr company: technology and precision. We then analysed Fabrikat in detail and explored every single character to consider possible adjustments that would make a perfect fit for a customized Liebherr typeface.

Some things need to be considered in the construction of a typeface that is based on geometric principles. In addition to its geometric appearance, we needed to make sure that it was legible and easy to handle. A mathematically constructed set of characters does not make a very legible typeface, therefore optical corrections are necessary. Specific adjustments need to be made to specific characters to find the path between pure geometry and functionality. However, we made sure that optical corrections remain as invisible as possible to maintain the illusion of pure geometry.

Unique characters are a must in a custom typeface. Characters that breath the air of the client and can be associated with the visual identity by simply seeing the typeface without any additions. When thinking about these rather unique characters we always keep functionality as the basic requirement — based on this precondition we can turn up the volume.

The heavy machines like construction machines, mining vehicles and cranes are captured in a specific code lettered on its metal body. The big engines call for a strong and self confident typeface!

At first we created an ultra black version based on the proportions of Liebherr Head, the headline style. While testing on the vehicles, it was clear that we need to go one step further: even more prominent with a wider and more self-confident appearance. The final solution was to use the principle of the Liebherr typeface anatomy and flip the horizontal and vertical strokes. This leads to a clearly horizontal emphasis, lending the big ones enough power.