On Uses ABC Diatype

Most brand typefaces are licensed. A few are commissioned. On's is neither, quite — it is an existing typeface bent toward a specific physical sensation.

On is a Swiss running brand built on one claim: that its cushioning makes running feel like floating. The whole product line, the marketing, the name of the CloudTec sole — everything routes back to that single idea. So when the brand needed a typeface, the question wasn't "what looks Swiss" but "what does floating look like as a letterform."

From Diatype to On Diatype

ABC Diatype is a neo-grotesque released by Dinamo in 2019, drawn by Erkin Karamemet. It began as a student exploration of the Swiss neo-grotesque tradition, and its name refers to the clunky pre-digital typesetting machines whose mechanical constraints shaped its forms.

That origin matters, because a neo-grotesque is not obviously a floating typeface. Akzidenz-Grotesk, Helvetica and their descendants are rational, tightly-fitted, slightly industrial. They are engineered, not buoyant.

Dinamo describes the commission in its own words:

On got in touch with us to create a bespoke font customization of Diatype for its new branding. Given the sport brand's goal to revolutionize the experience of running to make it feel like you're floating on clouds, we tweaked Diatype's characters to make them feel ultra smooth, airy, and extra round.

Three adjustments, and all three are visible on the homepage: smooth, airy, round.

What actually changed

Look at the headline — "Fresh drops designed to keep you cool" — and compare it mentally to Helvetica.

The bowls are rounder. Where a strict neo-grotesque squares off the curve of a d or an o as it meets the stem, On Diatype keeps the curve continuous. The counters read as circles rather than as compressed ovals.

The terminals are softer. The cuts on the s, c and e are less abrupt, which removes the slight severity that makes Helvetica feel institutional.

And the fit is looser than a classic grotesque. That is the "airy" part, and it is the change that does the most work. Neo-grotesques are traditionally set tight — it is part of why they feel dense and corporate. Opening the spacing lets the line breathe without changing a single letterform, and it is why On's navigation reads as calm rather than efficient.

The wordmark takes the logic furthest. The two letters of "On" are reduced to a circle and a rounded arch — barely letters at all, closer to a pictogram of the cushioning itself.

Why not just use a rounded sans?

Because the result would have been friendly rather than precise, and On is a Swiss engineering brand as much as a lifestyle one. It sells a patented sole structure.

A fully rounded typeface — the Comfortaa, VAG Rounded end of the spectrum — reads as approachable, playful, soft in a way that undercuts a technical claim. Starting from a neo-grotesque and softening it keeps the Swiss rigour underneath. The type is still rational; it has just had its edges taken off.

That is the whole trick, and it is a genuinely elegant piece of brand typography: the structure says engineered, the treatment says weightless, and both claims are things the product actually makes.

Free Alternative: Inter

Inter is the closest free starting point, and the gap is smaller than you'd expect. It is a neo-grotesque with a tall x-height and open apertures, drawn for screens, with a full 100–900 variable range.

To move it toward On Diatype's register, the adjustment is mostly spacing rather than shape:

.hero {
  font-family: "Inter", sans-serif;
  font-weight: 500;
  letter-spacing: 0.005em;  /* open it up — this is the "airy" part */
  line-height: 1.15;
}

For rounder forms out of the box, Manrope is the better match — a semi-geometric sans with noticeably circular bowls and softer joins, variable 200–800. It gives you more of the "extra round" quality at the cost of some neo-grotesque discipline.

Hubot Sans is worth a look for a different reason: it carries a wdth axis (75–125) alongside weight, so a brand system built on it can flex between condensed navigation and wide display settings from one file — the kind of range a bespoke commission would otherwise buy you.

What none of them replicate is the wordmark. That is custom drawing, not a font, and it should be.