PANGEA TRANSFORMS INTO DUCK SANS

From small start-ups and individuals to global branding giants, it’s always a delight to see our typefaces in action, helping brands to stand out from the crowd.

Back in Spring 2025, we were approached by one of our favorite brands, DuckDuckGo, as they wanted a customized version of Pangea to use as the default font for their search engine.

As long-time admirers of DuckDuckGo values, we leapt at the chance to work them. Unlike other search engines, DuckDuckGo doesn’t collect personal information and it displays the same results for everyone.

Designer Christoph Koeberlin and project manager Ivo Gabrowitsch worked closely with the DuckDuckGo team to turn Pangea into the semi-custom font ‘Duck Sans’. Over the course of the collaboration, numerous adjustments and stylistic changes were made. The size of all glyphs were reduced by 3% and all the file sizes were compressed as much as possible. An array of unique tweaks were made to a number of characters, including making the ‘G’ more distinct, the ‘&’ closed and creating heavier dots on the I. Extra characters were also added, including a ‘Duck Ampersand’, an extra M, a special G and matching k for the logo and the numerals were redrawn and tweaked to make them more ‘grotesque’.

Team work really makes the dream work and Duck Sans is an excellent example of how we can tweak and adjust an existing Fontwerk design to the needs of the client. As the project came to a conclusion, we were happy to receive this feedback from Nirzar Pangarkar, Director Product Design for DuckDuckGo.

“The team at Fontwerk operate at the unique intersection of Art, Design, and more importantly, Engineering—a combination that’s rare to find. They have a nuanced understanding of what it means to design modern typography at scale for consumer products with countless use case scenarios across a wide gamut of mediums—from niche browser specs to overhead billboards. In my experience, working with passionate type nerds who genuinely love what they do made the entire collaboration that much more enjoyable.”

Keen to find out more about ‘Semi-Custom Fonts’? Do get in touch with us. We highly recommend them as a time- and cost-efficient alternative to Custom Fonts.

It took quite a bit of patience to finally get our hands on the award sent from China, but that doesn’t dampen our joy. Christine Gertsch’s Push family won silver at the Hiiibrand Design Awards 2024 in the Latin Type Design category.

The significance of this award is demonstrated by the numbers: out of 1,951 entries from over 40 countries or regions, 396 finalists were selected (including 232 from the professional sector) following a rigorous selection process.

Christine Gertsch commented on the award: “I'm delighted to win the Hiiibrand Silver Award and gain recognition for the work that went into it. What began as a manageable display typeface evolved into a variable font family with eight weights and seven widths. Throughout the process, I was constantly faced with visual and technical challenges.

When designing a variable typeface, you have to control every instance within the design space. It’s more about designing a system than individual weights. I had to figure out how many masters I needed and where to place them on the axes. The entire family has to function as a system, but every style and every character in that style also has to be drawn accurately. So it was a constant zooming in and out between different aspects.

Added to this was the challenge of implementing the typeface design as a side project alongside client work—and within a predictable timeframe. Once the typeface was visually finished, I just needed a good name! I am very happy with the release and how the agency Rocket & Wink presented the typeface family. A big thank you goes to my fantastic team: Ivo Gabrowitsch for marketing and naming, Anja Meiners and Andreas Frohloff for their support with the design, and Olli Meier for the mastering.”

From all of us at Fontwerk, we just want to say an enormous thank you for your trust, Christine, and congratulations on the Hiiibrand Award.