As cars become screen-dense digital environments, Volvo is reframing typography as critical safety infrastructure. Volvo Centum is a custom font designed to improve glance-based comprehension while driving.
The Swedish automaker partnered with type studio Dalton Maag to engineer a font that minimizes cognitive load and maximizes clarity across digital interfaces. Every letterform was calibrated for split-second readability, with adjustments made for different lighting conditions, screen sizes and reading distances. The typeface supports over 800 languages, including complex scripts like Chinese and Arabic, ensuring consistent performance whether displayed on a dashboard in Stockholm or Shanghai. It debuts in the upcoming EX60 model before rolling out across Volvo's ecosystem.
The design process involved testing legibility at speed, evaluating how quickly drivers could process information while keeping their eyes on the road. Dalton Maag optimized character spacing, stroke weight and terminal shapes specifically for glance-based reading — the kind that happens when you're checking your speed or navigation prompts without losing focus on traffic. It's a shift from treating typography as decoration to using it as a functional safety tool, one that quietly reduces the mental effort required to interpret information while driving.
TREND BITE
Vehicles have become rolling interfaces packed with screens and data, which turns clarity into critical infrastructure. Volvo Centum demonstrates how brands can engineer design elements that most consumers never consciously notice yet fundamentally improve their experience. By treating typography as a safety mechanism rather than just aesthetic polish, Volvo addresses growing concerns about digital distraction without adding restrictions or warnings.
Volvo Centum is a textbook example of technology working harder so humans don't have to. Could your brand identify overlooked design details that, when optimized, create measurable improvements in how people interact with your products?