Eredivisie

The Brief

When GraphicHunters approached Blaze Type to support the new Eredivisie identity, the brand’s primary mark had already been established. Our role was to extend its visual language through a custom typeface, one capable of performing across the many platforms and formats used by a major sports league.

From the first control characters to final font engineering, Eredivisie Display shows how custom type can give a brand a coherent, distinctive, and durable voice.

The Solution

Finding the right typographic partner

GraphicHunters was looking for a specialist partner who could address both the visual and technical dimensions of the project. The agency was already familiar with the work we had created for Borussia Dortmund, and saw a connection between that project and the requirements of the Eredivisie identity.

This previous experience demonstrated our ability to work within the complex ecosystem of a major sports organization: translating a broader art direction into a recognizable typographic language while delivering fonts robust enough for extensive day-to-day use.

Our role was not to replace the agency’s creative direction, but to complement it with a specific field of expertise. GraphicHunters defined and managed the broader identity; Blaze Type developed the custom typographic system required to make that identity speak.

“GraphicHunters needed a partner who could respond to both the visual and technical demands of the project. Our work for Borussia Dortmund had shown that we could operate on both levels.”

Turning a logo into a typographic language

“The logo had already established a grammar: a rounded ‘e,’ a bevel, and a set of strong geometric forms. Our job was to push that language further and extend it across an entire alphabet.”

The objective, however, was not simply to copy isolated features from the trademark and insert them into a handful of letters. We first had to identify which characteristics could become repeatable principles, then push them further until they formed a complete typographic grammar.

Circular constructions, elementary geometric shapes, diagonal cuts, and distinctive openings became part of a broader visual vocabulary. These principles were extended across the alphabet, numerals, punctuation, and diacritics, allowing the identity to express itself through much more than its logo alone.

Working from an existing mark can provide a particularly productive framework. When the central visual ideas are already clearly defined, the custom typeface can reinforce them, develop them, and make them usable across a much wider range of communications.

Drawing Eredivisie Display from scratch

Eredivisie Display was not adapted from an existing retail font. It was drawn from scratch to answer the specific requirements of the identity.

Its structure is based on deliberately simple geometry. Circles, squares, and triangles inform much of the underlying construction, while more distinctive characters prevent the system from becoming overly neutral. The lowercase e, g, and y, as well as the Q, r, and t, introduce recognizable details while remaining part of the same coherent system.

The result may recall historical geometric sans serifs, including Futura and other modernist experiments. The resemblance comes instead from a shared interest in elementary shapes, reinterpreted here through the existing geometry of the Eredivisie logo.

A custom typeface does not need to rely on spectacular gestures in every glyph. Its identity can emerge from a limited number of carefully defined decisions, repeated consistently across the character set.

One typeface can be enough to set the tone

The project did not require an extensive superfamily with numerous weights, multiple italics, and a dedicated text companion. Eredivisie Display was designed for the moments when the league needed to speak with the greatest immediacy and impact: headlines, club and player names, campaign messages, scores, schedules, and other prominent brand communications.

For longer texts, it could be paired with a more neutral secondary typeface. This focused scope was a strategic choice rather than a limitation. A single display weight, when it is distinctive enough and used in the right places, can establish the tone of an entire identity. The family was designed around the client’s actual needs instead of expanding into styles that would rarely be used.

“A custom typeface does not necessarily have to do everything. Its first task is to give the brand a recognizable voice and perform precisely in the situations for which it was designed.”

This approach also makes custom type more adaptable to different project scales. The scope of a family can be defined according to the brand’s communication needs, production environment, and budget.

Two attitudes, one voice

Eredivisie Display was developed in both Upright and Slanted styles.

Rather than designing a true italic with substantially different letterforms, we chose to preserve an immediate relationship between the two versions. The Slanted style retains the underlying construction of the Upright while introducing a stronger sense of motion and urgency.

Its 12-degree angle sits at the more assertive end of the conventional range for an oblique. It is pronounced enough to create speed and tension, while remaining typographic rather than becoming a purely graphic distortion.

The Slanted was not produced through a simple automated skew. While some primarily rectilinear forms could retain a direct relationship with the Upright, curved and more complex glyphs required optical corrections and targeted redrawing. This ensured that the rhythm, proportions, and weight remained consistent throughout the character set.

“We wanted a second attitude, not a second personality: a 12-degree slant, strong enough to create movement but controlled enough to preserve the unity of the typeface.”

Together, the two styles allow the identity to shift pace without changing its voice.

From First Proposal to Operational Font

The overall direction of Eredivisie Display was approved with the first trial version.

“We had spent enough time understanding the project for the first proposal to be the right one.”

The following phases focused on refinement rather than reinvention: adjusting proportions, angles, spacing, x-height, and individual letterforms until the complete system felt stable and consistent.

Once the design direction had been validated, the project entered a less visible but equally important stage: font engineering.

A typeface created for a large organization must work independently of the user, operating system, software, device, or production method. It must remain reliable in print and on screen, including in lower-resolution environments where outlines and spacing may be tested more severely.

Hinting, file construction, naming, character mapping, and compatibility are therefore not secondary technical matters. They are part of the design process itself.

“Clients are not always aware of the full extent of their technical needs. Part of our role is to anticipate them, so the typeface works everywhere without users having to think about it.”

From Mark to Working Tool

A logo makes a brand recognizable. A typeface allows it to speak.

With Eredivisie Display, an existing mark became a grammar, then a complete working tool: distinctive in its design, reliable in its construction, and straightforward to deploy.

The project reflects what custom type design actually involves. It is not simply the drawing of letterforms. It requires understanding an identity, collaborating closely with an agency, anticipating technical and linguistic requirements, and defining the conditions under which the fonts will live.

A custom typeface does not decorate an identity. It makes that identity work.