Global creative studio Koto has launched CcType, a brand new type foundry built for the contemporary design world. Leveraging years of experience designing bespoke type systems for iconic brands, Koto's latest venture is defined by versatility and high craft – a response to the ever-evolving demands of modern branding.
Koto isn't new to the game, having already created custom fonts like Polkadot, Faculty, and Stack Overflow for past projects, with responses from the design community proving creatives are hungry for more. A careful blend of emotional and practical design, CcType debuts as the solution to contemporary design's hunger for flexible typography that can hold up in today's branding world.
Throughout their work, Koto began noticing a problem with today's typefaces – the balance of practicality and emotion. While some performed outstandingly in one context, it seemed many lacked the adaptability to keep up with the demands of brand, broadcast and digital branding.
On top of this, the looming influence of AI has presented a new issue. The process of building brands is evolving rapidly, increasing the number of surfaces typefaces need to perform across. Despite this, font licensing remains pricey, restrictive and unnecessarily confusing, so in a bid to make quality typography more accessible, CcType operates on a one-time purchase model.
CcType's debut is marked by the release of a single typeface, focusing on quality over quantity. CcTimeline is a display serif built around flexibility and control, designed for bold branding that needs dynamism and presence. Inspired by "British metal type, modernist Swiss and German photo-typesetting, and contemporary digital typography," the typeface is customisable through its adjustable axes and OpenType features, allowing designers to fine-tune and adapt the personality without sacrificing consistency.
“For this first release, we wanted to make the most robust and useful typeface we could,” said Dylan Young, senior type designer at Koto. “CcTimeline is designed to move across a huge emotional range. Rigorous when it needs to be. Loud when it needs to be. Functional in product, expressive in campaigns. That flexibility became the defining idea behind the system.”
“CcType occupies the same space Koto does as an agency: boutique craft at scale,” said Jowey Roden, chief creative officer at Koto. “There’s incredible experimentation happening in independent typography, but sometimes less confidence around scale and execution. At the other end, some of the largest players feel increasingly standardised. We saw an opportunity in the middle: highly considered, contemporary type systems built to perform in the real world.”
For more typographical inspiration, take a look at the best type foundries for designers or check out this new typeface that's perfect for a society that's done with shouting.
Have you created some stunning typography in branding? The Brand Impact Awards 2026 are now open for entries! If you have a standout branding project from the last year that you think deserves recognition, you need to enter the BIAs. You have until July 9 to enter and you can do so on the Brand Impact Awards website.
