When Ogilvy & Mather was asked to create the Sphere™ design, a custom typeface for AT&T Wireless, they enlisted the help of Monotype Imaging. The objective was to breathe new life into the Monotype Grotesque™ design - the client’s corporate typeface and a staple of the Monotype® Library for nearly a century. Working together, the group would update the original Grotesque design to reflect the unique voice and identity of the client.

To fully capture the client’s personality, the typeface needed to articulate a sense of clarity, dependability and simplicity. The team reviewed the design and saw an opportunity to enhance the typeface. Since the Grotesque family was drawn around 1905, its letter spacing and character proportions were set for use as a hot metal font. The team made the letter fit more consistent and modified the character proportions to give the typeface a more contemporary look. Further adjustments were made to provide more consistent “color” between the weight of the capital and lowercase characters. The light weight was made lighter, giving it a more modern look that would better contrast the regular weight. Several other new features and revisions were introduced to improve the family’s performance in a corporate environment without disturbing its beautiful - and sometimes quirky - characteristics.

The Sphere™ design is a graceful and versatile typeface family with a distinctively powerful voice. Monotype Imaging delivered eight typefaces in all. The family includes Light, Regular and Bold, each with complementary italics and a condensed design in Regular and Bold weights.