What? What could be better than Arial or my beloved Helvetica you ask? FS Me, the new focus group approved custom typeface designed by the studio FontSmith. FS Me was created to fill the void of a beautiful yet easy to read typeface that would appeal to a general audience. So where did the name come from? Mencap, a British charity for the learning disabled.

“Mencap provide services, advice and support to meet people’s needs and choices throughout their lives, as well as fighting for equal rights, campaigning for greater opportunities and challenging attitudes and prejudices. They needed a bespoke font to reflect this, as well as having the opportunity to create a ‘benchmark’ in terms of design and legibility.”

The entire FS Me family costs around $300 USD and has been tested to be user-friendly with it’s larger, rounder letters which prove to be more accessible.

FS Me is not quirky or odd looking, doesn’t resemble the childlike design of fridge magnets or early learning tools and is set to challenge Arial as a new standard in legibility. This is a first by a designer in crafting and care which stands up as a typeface in its own right, as a benchmark in accessibility and is available now for people to use as an everyday tool to assist in the Mencap vision of a world where people with a learning disability are valued equally, listened to and included.

To have a more in depth look at the creation of FS Me visit the FontSmith website and while you’re there, take a look at their many other handsome typefaces.

This post is tagged