Fonts & Typography
Typography is a powerful brand tool that can add visual meaning to what is communicated.
Northwestern’s typography is flexible enough to meet a wide range of situations and requirements. Campton and Akkurat Pro are our sans-serif fonts. Campton works well for large, expressive headlines, while Akkurat Pro functions well in situations with small text or large lists. Periodico Display and Text is our serif font, appropriate for use at any size. Substitute fonts can be used when the brand fonts are unavailable.
Our Fonts
Our brand fonts are unique and embody the essence of our communications goals.
We have purchased the rights to use them for University purposes on the web and in print. Global Marketing works with communications leaders in each school/unit to ensure the graphic design staffs have access to these fonts.
Campton
Campton works best for headlines and subheads, at 17 points or larger It is not recommended for subheads smaller than 17 points, body copy, or captions.
Note: This font is licensed for print. It is licenced for web (through January 1, 2025).
Periódico Display
Best suited for use at 17 points or larger. The exaggerated thicks and thins of the characters make it a more dynamic option for headlines.
Note: This font is only licensed for print.
Periódico Text
Periódico Text is meant to be used for longer chunks of copy at smaller sizes. Its more balanced construction allows for greater legibility, even at smaller sizes. Use Periódico Text for body copy from 5 points up, and for subhead and captions up to 15 points.
Note: This font is only licensed for print.
Akkurat Pro
Akkurat Pro is our typographic workhorse. We can use it in a variety of ways: for headlines, body copy, and captions — it even works well for charts, graphs, and displaying all sorts of data. It is a highly legible, cleanly constructed face that is suitable at sizes from 5 points to 19 points.
Note: This font is licensed for print and web.
For the Web
Akkurat Pro is licensed for web usage and must reside on a northwestern.edu domain. It is not licensed for use in applications (e.g. iOS, Android). No self-hosting allowed.
Campton is licensed for web use through January 1, 2025. The web substitute is Poppins (Google Fonts).
Peridico is not licensed for web use effective February 2022. The web substitute is Noto Serif (Google Fonts).
For help adding Poppins and/or Noto Serif to your website, please email webmaster@northwestern.edu.
Obtain Fonts
To obtain any of our fonts, specify whether it's for print or web (include the website URL if applicable) and please contact webmaster@northwestern.edu.