Helping Toyota Move People

Toyota is synonymous with engineering excellence and technological innovation, but as the company sought a unifying brand typeface, one key phrase guided the entire process: “We move people.” Capturing that sense of motion—both literal and emotional—required something more than a purely mechanical font. My job was to blend Toyota’s geometric identity with a human touch, ensuring the result felt as much about people as it did about precision.

When Toyota approached me, they already had a strong brand focus on reliability and advancement, but they also had a mission: “We move people.” That phrase stuck with me and became pivotal in shaping the typeface. Toyota wanted a geometric sans serif to reflect their well-known circular emblem. However, a purely rigid, mechanical approach risked feeling impersonal—contrary to the warmth implied by “moving people.”

Toyota’s brief emphasized a clean, modern look with high functionality. While they sought a purely geometric typeface, in order to stand out from other automotive brands we needed to balance a geometric foundation with subtle brand cues (like the oval form in their logo) and international versatility. The typeface would need to perform across brochures, websites, customer communications and more—so legibility, consistency, and scalability were crucial.

My guiding principle was to maintain geometric simplicity while infusing a sense of motion and humanity. It struck me that purely geometric shapes can feel static—for example, your eye loops around an “O” without progressing to the next letter. Geometry suggests mechanical refinement, which you want in a good, quality automobile, but you also want driving to been ergonomically satisfying.

By subtly adjusting the start and end points, I added a diagonal nuance that nudges the reader’s eye forward. For instance, the lowercase “c” begins slightly higher and ends at an angle at the bottom, pushing the reader's eye forward to the next letter.

Another subtle brand request involved the capital “G.” Toyota’s marketing team wanted a stylized arrow in that letter—an homage to their “Go Places” slogan. I tested several iterations to preserve geometric integrity while also forming a recognizable arrowhead. Balancing that literal shape with the font’s overall flow was a fun design puzzle.

Once Toyota saw that this approach humanized their geometric sans, there wasn’t any pushback. They quietly launched the typeface across various brand materials, including their sponsorship spots for the Olympics. For me, it was a rewarding process: I got to merge their technology-driven identity with the friendly, people-first idea contained in “We move people.”

The Next Project

If you need a custom typeface that balances brand personality with top-notch engineering, I am ready to help. Reach out and start a conversation.