Blasting Off: Custom type for Rocket Morgage

Rocket Mortgage came to me with a clear starting point: they wanted a geometric sans serif to reflect their tech-forward brand and to harmonize with their existing logo. But that logo contained a distinctive twist—literally. The “C” in Rocket had been rotated to form the “O” in Mortgage. It was a clever gesture, but one that placed a unique design constraint on the custom typeface.

The design needed to reflect the clarity and confidence of a modern financial tech company while carrying a sense of warmth and accessibility. After all, Rocket Mortgage isn’t just about numbers and automation—it’s about helping real people navigate one of the most stressful financial decisions of their lives. A cold, sterile font wouldn’t do.

From a structural perspective, my first task was to harmonize the forms in the logo with a full alphabet. The rotation of the “C” into an “O” created an unusual but intentional shape, and that shape informed the design of the other letters. For example, I drew the uppercase “R,” “K,” and “M” with angles that mirrored the rotation in the logo. It was a way of embedding visual consistency while still allowing the rest of the alphabet to feel natural and versatile.

The core of the design is geometric, but not rigid. The counters are open, and the curves carry just enough modulation to avoid feeling clinical. My aim was to give the typeface structure without sacrificing tone—to make it modern, but with an underlying friendliness that matched the brand’s promise of simplicity and transparency.

I also paid close attention to the taglines or slogans their marketing departments would eventually set in the typeface, specifically how these strings of text would appear next to the full “ROCKET MORTGAGE” wordmark. By designing with those combinations in mind, I could fine-tune letterforms to balance well side-by-side. For instance, the lowercase “t” ends in a shallow curve that is still pointing downwards, reflecting the bowl of the “g.”

The final typeface was rolled out across Rocket Mortgage’s marketing, web platform, and other brand materials. Seeing their ads—especially those which run during major events like NFL games—the typeface holds up across a variety of media.

This was a relatively smooth process from beginning to end. The brief was focused, but they gave me room to interpret it with nuance. They had seen some of my previous work with Toyota and Unilever and came in with a sense of trust that made the project a real pleasure. It’s a strong example of how small typographic choices—like matching a rotated “C” or echoing logo geometry—can build consistency across a brand ecosystem.

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.