When we audit an existing brand, the first thing we count is typefaces. The average is four. The number most brands actually need is one, plus a second for a very specific job.

What a single family can do

A well-drawn family with a full range of weights, an italic and good figures can carry headlines, body copy, captions and data. Hierarchy comes from size, weight and space — not from switching voices.

The two exceptions

We allow a second face when it does something the first one can’t: a mono for metadata and numbers, or a display serif for a handful of moments where the brand needs to slow down and speak quietly.

Anything beyond that tends to be decoration. Decoration is fine — but it should be a choice, not an accident of five different designers over five years.