On January 27, 2021, Twitter’s Executive Creative Director Derrit DeRouen announced Twitter’s new typeface “Chirp,” the company’s first custom typeface.
I want to give a bit more depth to Chirp, our new typeface.
— Derrit DeRouen (@DerritDeRouen) January 27, 2021
Type, in 280 character doses, is the foundation of Twitter. In the history of the company we’ve either relied on someone else’s typeface, from SF Pro and Roboto, to Helvetica Neue in our brand. pic.twitter.com/OrvlYsxF9g
“Chirp” was designed by the well-known Swiss type studio Grilli Type. The typeface aims to create a “beautiful balance between American Gothics and European Grotesques,” adding personality and distinctiveness to the Twitter brand. Despite the emphasis on legibility during the design process, Twitter users complained about the change:
Screenshot of complaints about the new typeface from Twitter thread above