Great Wall Motor (GWM) says it has created a new car font, that is reminiscent of what we have heard from Volvo late last year.
Recall Volvo’s new proprietary typeface called “Volvo Centum“, which is set to appear first in the EX60.
In Great Wall Motor’s case, the font is called GWM Sans, and it is being offered online with a licence agreement that allows global commercial use, according to the carmaker’s download page.
The pitch is readability, not aesthetics. GWM described it as a system font tailored for in-car screens, where vibration, glance-based reading, odd viewing angles and big swings in ambient light can turn typography into a safety issue.
The company also claimed measurable gains.
On its site, GWM said GWM Sans cuts reading time by about 30%, and highlights support for 170-plus languages, alongside an expanded set of 22,000 less common Chinese characters.
The download package is broken into language families and weights.
GWM listed a Latin set of 961 characters in three weights, plus a Chinese library of 28,775 characters in three weights, including simplified and traditional forms, rare characters and punctuation, with compliance noted against GB18030-2022 (L2).
Other sets on the page included Arabic and Thai variants.
GWM Sans is already used in some GWM models in China and overseas markets. The font previously carried the name “Great Wall Heiti” and was developed with Monotype and designer Akira Kobayashi.
