UX/UI design
Volvo reveals custom typeface designed with safety in mind
Volvo Centum has been designed to make reading faster and, therefore, attention sharper
In collaboration with the London-based type studio Dalton Maag, founded in 1991 by Swiss typeface designer Bruno Maag, Volvo has created a bespoke typeface engineered to reduce visual noise and help drivers focus on the road.
The new typeface, Volvo Centum, has been developed for use across all platforms and driving conditions, while supporting 35 languages – including those using the script alphabet such as Chinese, Arabic, Japanese and Korean. This signals Volvo’s ambition to create a globally unified brand experience across its digital touchpoints.
The Centum name is a reference to Volvo’s upcoming centennial in 2027 – marking 100 years since the Volvo ÖV4 rolled off the production line in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1927. This adds to the brands celebrations, which started with the opening of the World of Volvo in Gothenburg in 2024.
Volvo Centum will make its debut in the upcoming Volvo EX60, with the wider rollout to follow, although no dates have been specified.
Matthew Hall, UX creative director at Volvo Cars said: “Every detail in our interface is an opportunity to support safer driving. Typography is one of the most powerful, yet underappreciated, tools we have.”
In a video released on Volvo’s YouTube channel, Zeynep Akay, creative director at Dalton Maag, offered further insight into the brief behind the new typeface. “When we approach a typeface, we always want to make sure that it is purpose built. Every creative brief is unique, a Volvo’s was certainly very unique.
“We knew it had to work in the car, on the dashboard in the UI/UX environment, but it also had to speak loudly of Volvo personality and brand visual identity. We wanted it to be easily readable and legible but also to be unmistakably Volvo.”
Dalton Maag’s font developer Pablo Bosch expanded on the technical considerations involved in type design for automotive use: “Every design choice – form, weight, proportion – is made to help people read faster, understand better and stay focussed in the car.”
Hall concluded by reflecting on the wider design context: “I think design has moved into a space where users are craving simplicity and that’s been our approach to interface design.”
