AO

Founded in 2000, AO is a large, high-profile online-only retailer specialising in white goods and electricals. Headquartered in Bolton, Lancashire, it runs multiple businesses in the UK and Germany, and is known for its commitment to fridge recycling.

Livery

“

When we approached F37, we were looking to create distinction and consistency in our visual language and we recognised that our typeface was going to play a big part in delivering that. We couldn’t be happier with the solution that the team delivered.

We love our new typeface; our creative teams really enjoy working with it and the rest of the business couldn’t wait to get their hands on it! It’s a key ingredient of our new identity and it’s helped to transform how we look and feel. F37 are a great partner, very easy to work with, making quality deliveries on time, regardless of the challenges we threw at them.

Simon Vaughan — Head of Brand Creative, AO

Type Anatomy

Background

With a diverse range of subsidiaries working under the AO umbrella, the team wanted the brand to work harder and more consistently across the company. DesignStudio travelled up to Bolton and duly won the pitch to revamp everything from photography to tone of voice.

Typography was set to play a major role in the rebrand. AO were looking for a font that enabled a distinctive and consistent brand personality/look and feel. It needed to be fun, friendly and distinctively AO.

Ligatures

Website

Display vs Functional

Delivery

Working alongside DesignStudio, we created a family of fonts called Smiley Face that managed to strike a fine balance by being characterful without slipping into childishness. Taking its cue from the AO logo, it features curved crossbars, slightly smiley descenders and a series of subtle, quirky touches.

Smiley Face comes in nine different weights, including a playful headline version. This is packed with coded OpenType ‘smiley’ discretionary ligatures to enhance the warm, fun feel of the brand. It’s been carefully considered and designed to fit with the rest of the visual language of the brand.

In true AO-style, the internal team are buzzed and ready to go. The company now has the tools to really express their fun personality, within a modern, digitally focussed brand.