Typography system
Typography for merch.am: typeface choice, weight system, type scale, line-height, accessibility, and multi-script (Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Armenian, Arabic) support.
Primary typeface
Inter (open-source, by Rasmus Andersson). Variable font; weights 100-900; full Latin, Cyrillic, Greek extended coverage. Excellent screen rendering at small sizes; high x-height; open apertures for legibility.
Multi-script support
For locales beyond Latin/Cyrillic/Greek, we use complementary open-source typefaces tuned to match Inter optical weight and x-height:
- Armenian — Noto Sans Armenian (Google), full weight range
- Arabic — Noto Sans Arabic, full weight range, RTL-tested
- Georgian — Noto Sans Georgian
- Türkçe (Latin) — Inter, full Latin extended
- Greek — Inter, Greek extended
- Cyrillic (Russian, Serbian) — Inter, Cyrillic extended
Weight system
- Inter 700 Bold — H1, H2, H3 headlines
- Inter 600 Semibold — H4, H5, H6 subheadings
- Inter 500 Medium — UI buttons, labels, callouts
- Inter 400 Regular — body text default
- Inter 400 Italic — emphasis within body, titles of works
- Inter 700 Bold — strong emphasis within body
Type scale (modular, 1.250 ratio)
| Element | Size | Line height |
|---|---|---|
| H1 / Display | 3.052rem (48.8px) | 1.1 |
| H2 | 2.441rem (39px) | 1.2 |
| H3 | 1.953rem (31.2px) | 1.25 |
| H4 | 1.563rem (25px) | 1.3 |
| H5 | 1.25rem (20px) | 1.4 |
| Body lead | 1.125rem (18px) | 1.6 |
| Body default | 1rem (16px) | 1.6 |
| Body small | 0.875rem (14px) | 1.5 |
| Caption | 0.75rem (12px) | 1.4 |
Letter-spacing
- Headlines (H1-H3): -0.02em (slightly tighter for optical balance)
- Body: 0 (default Inter)
- UPPERCASE labels: +0.05em (open up tracking)
- Buttons: +0.01em
Print typography
For print collateral, body text minimum 9pt with leading 1.4. Headlines may use a tighter leading (1.0-1.1). Avoid Inter Light (300) below 11pt — strokes too thin for print.
Accessibility
- Body text always at least 16px (1rem) on screens
- Line length 60-80 characters per line for body text
- Line height 1.5+ for body, 1.25+ for headings
- Avoid Light/Thin weights for body text
- Maintain WCAG contrast minimums (see color palette)
Decorated merch typography
For embroidery, minimum stroke 0.7mm; minimum text height 4mm. For screen-print, minimum stroke 0.3mm; minimum text height 2.5mm. For digital print, minimum stroke 0.15mm; minimum text height 1.5mm. Going below these limits causes legibility loss in production.
Download
Inter font files (open source via Google Fonts), Figma type-style library, full guideline .pdf: email brand@merch.am.