A 2,000% cost increase, that lead to the creation of Edward Jones' Proprietary Typeface
'Whitney', a typeface first designed for the Whitney Museum, was deeply embedded in the organization.
For years, Edward Jones paid a modest annual licensing fee to use the typeface across Edward Jones’ digital products, marketing materials, financial reports, and internal systems. Then, something unexpected happened.
Following the acquisition of the font vendor by a new organization, our renewal proposal increased by approximately 2,000%, with projections showing continued escalation in subsequent years. When the renewal came due, it wasn't a routine renewal discussion, it quickly became a strategic risk conversation. Executives were furious at the new millions dollar cost increase.
But what could we do?
Whitney was everywhere:
- Digital products
- Marketing campaigns
- Printed financial reports
- Direct mail
- Vendor tools
- Internal platforms
Updating the font came with it's own costs to consider. In either case, we were staring at a huge bill we didn't expect, and no self-evident path of resistance. Frankly, it felt like a couple mobsters were holding guns to our heads, telling us to empty our pockets.
Do we bite the bullet? Take the 2000% increase, and move on? Do we replace the font for one with lower fees, and how much will that migration cost? What trade off should we make?
As the Design System lead, I initiated a conversation with our Executive Brand Director to explore an alternative path: instead of paying dramatically increased licensing fees for a font not designed for the Edward Jones brand.
I explained why 'Whitney' wasn’t right for us.
As stated previously, Whitney was originally designed for a museum. It was optimized primarily for print, and large wall banners, but it introduced friction in digital sizing and scaling, and did not fully reflect the warmth, trustworthiness, and humility central to the Edward Jones brand.
An Edward Jones typeface needed to feel:
- Genuine and trustworthy
- Approachable and familiar
- Geometric with a human touch
- Legible, readable, and accessible
- Distinct from competitors
Could we invest into building something we own?
She liked the idea.
I started working collaboratively with Brand, Agency, Legal, and Sourcing, to outlined a straightforward cost-benefit case:
- Negotiate a short-term extension to reduce immediate risk.
- Commission a proprietary typeface.
- Eliminate recurring vendor dependency.
- Align typography more closely with Edward Jones’ brand and digital needs.
The economics were compelling. The upfront investment in a proprietary typeface was comparable to a two-year period of escalated licensing costs. Beyond that point, the firm would avoid recurring annual fees entirely — representing substantial long-term savings over the next decade.
Partner Selection and Collaboration
Among my collaborators, I recommended engaging XYZ Type, who's founder Ben Kiel I had previously known to be a stand-up character, and someone who produced great work. After a collaborative vendor review process, Ben and his team were selected to design what would become EJ Sans.
From concept exploration through final production, XYZ type were strong partners and advocates for clearly articulating Edward Jones brand voice. In addition to XYZ, this was a deeply cross-functional internal effort involving:
- Brand & Agency
- DesignOps
- Engineering
- Legal
- Executive leadership
- Marketing
- Vendor Partnership
Deadline Pressure and Enterprise Scale
Our existing enterprise license had a firm expiration date.
Once a short-term extension was secured, a one-year clock began. We needed to design, build, test, distribute, and implement a new proprietary typeface across the organization before the license expired.
Although I nudged the glyph design from time to time, primarily the relationship between XYZ and Edward Jones landed with Brand, Marketing, Agency. My primary focus was ensuring that EJ Sans integrated seamlessly into AXIOM, Edward Jones’ design system, and building trust in DesignOps' 'ability to handle a rollout of this scale.
Considerations that impacted DesignOps & AXIOM
As a financial services firm, numerical clarity is essential. EJ Sans was engineered to handle financial data cleanly and consistently across reports, dashboards, and client materials through use of tabular numerals.
We also wanted to implement EJ Sans as a variable font, enabling:
- Fine-tuned weight adjustments
- Dark mode optimization
- Improved performance efficiency
- Greater flexibility without file bloat
Finally, my focus was on solving for distribution, and support. This included:
- Redesigning type scales and type styles
- Updating AXIOM Figma libraries
- Deprecating legacy typography
- Educating the design community
- Writing new documentation
- Releasing updates to React component libraries
- Coordinating CDN distribution
- Supporting vendor integrations (Salesforce, Tableau, MoneyGuide, and others)
- Facilitating OS-level deployment across Mac and Windows environments
Despite the complexity:
- EJ Sans shipped enterprise-wide.
- It became the official brand typeface.
- Digital systems transitioned within the required window.
- Vendor dependency risk was eliminated.
In this initiative, I:
- Identified emerging financial and vendor risk
- Initiated executive dialogue
- Advocated for long-term investment over reactive spending
- Influenced partner selection
- Led system-level implementation within AXIOM
- Collaborated across Brand, Legal, Engineering, and Operations
- Drove enterprise transition under deadline pressure
This was a strategic, cross-functional intervention that strengthened brand identity, reduced vendor dependency, and modernized the foundation of our design system.