The Font Hermès Uses on Its Official Logo and Branding Materials
Hermès International S.A., simply known as Hermès, is a French luxury house specializing in a wide range of designer goods. Some of the company’s offerings include leather products, accessories, jewelry, watches, perfumes, and ready-to-wear.
Hermès was established in 1837 by Thierry Hermès. It’s headquartered in 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré – 75008 Paris – France.
Hermès is ranked among the world’s most successful fashion brands. It’s also among the wealthiest family-owned fashion houses in the world. Although the company has been owned by numerous entities over the years, Hermès remains its majority stakeholder.
Hermes Font
The font appearing on the Hermes logo is Memphis Bold, a bold variation of the popular Memphis typeface.
Memphis is a geometric slab-serif typeface designed by Dr. Rudolf Wolf and initially released by the Stempel Type Foundry in 1929. The font is published by Linotype GmbH.
Memphis was developed to mimic the designs of German geometric sans-serifs which were reasonably popular around the same period. The typeface looks particularly similar to Futura.
However, Wolf adapted Memphis to the slab-serif structure. This was in an apparent effort to make the typeface stand out from most Germanic geometric sans-serifs it was modeled after.
Memphis’ structure is strictly monoline. The font sports a single-story letter “a,” which bears a striking similarity to blackletter or handwriting. Another notable geometric feature that distinguishes Memphis from similar fonts like Futura is a near-perfect circle.
Memphis was released in several weights and styles. Subsequent upgrades have given rise to even more styles. In addition to the basic weights, you also get alternative characters like swashes.
Some weights also come in soft, rounded versions. However, note that many of these fancy elements are lacking in Memphis’ digital versions.
Memphis Usage
Due to its simple geometric characters, Memphis is commonly used as the main font while working on technical or scientific projects.
The font’s geometric features allow it to create a formal and rational impression. Its incredible legibility and even weight values also make it highly effective in both brand and display use.
That said, Memphis can suit just about any design project where the objective is to achieve a clear, neutral visual appeal. Examples include print and digital advertising, product packaging, business cards, campaign flyers, blog and e-commerce design, etc.
Where to Download the Memphis Font
There’s a plethora of websites to download the Memphis typeface. Notable mentions include Free Fonts Vault and Fonts.com. You can also download Memphis from My Fonts or Bold Fonts.
Most of these websites allow you to access Memphis free of charge. All you require to download the font is stable internet connection.
While there are no restrictions for applying Memphis on personal design works, you may need to purchase a special license if you’re planning to use the font commercially or for official branding projects. The license can be readily obtained from the Linotype website.