Free Font Friday: Radio Canada

by Taylor Slattery | July 21, 2022

Radio Canada is the official typeface of the Canadian national public broadcaster by the same name. The bespoke typeface family was created for the broadcaster by Charles Daoud alongside Alexandre Saumier Demers in 2017. Inspired by humanistic typefaces, Radio Canada features angles and geometry distinctive to the style. As a public service aimed at both informing and entertaining Canadian audiences across multiple mediums, the system needed to be flexible and approachable.

The team of Daoud and Saumier Demers paid special attention to ensure the legibility of the font both on and off the screen by utilizing a generous x-height and conforming to accessibility standards. The result is a subtly stylish utilitarian family equally at home in both display and body copy usage. After its completion and adoption, the family began to grab the attention of those in the design world, winning awards at Communication Arts Typography, Applied Arts Design Annual, and Grand Prix Grafika.