Great Wall Motor (GWM) announced today that its self-developed in-car font, previously known as “Great Wall Heiti,” has been officially rebranded as “GWM Sans”. In a significant move for the automotive and design industries, GWM is making this specialized font freely available for commercial use to global designers, developers, and enterprises, accessible via the company’s website.
According to GWM, unlike traditional static fonts, in-car fonts demand stable and instant recognition efficiency in complex dynamic environments, including vehicle vibration, varying viewing angles, and drastic changes in ambient light. These unique challenges directly impact driver safety and the overall user experience.
To meet these requirements, Great Wall Motor collaborated with renowned font company Monotype and celebrated font designer Akira Kobayashi. This partnership marks GWM as the first Chinese automotive brand to independently design a Chinese in-car font specifically tailored for vehicle environments. The design team’s core philosophy centered on “reducing recognition burden and ensuring driving safety”, employing extensive testing to guarantee optimal readability under extreme conditions.
According to GWM, test data reveal that the “GWM Sans” enhances user experience, reducing reading time by approximately 30% compared to standard fonts. This improvement is helpful for minimizing driver distraction and enhancing overall road safety.
Initially, the font library includes around 3,500 commonly used Chinese characters and Latin fonts. GWM has ambitious plans for a second phase rollout, aiming for global coverage. This expansion will incorporate approximately 22,000 less common Chinese characters and extend to over 170 language versions, including about 137 languages such as Russian, Arabic, and Thai. Each language will offer multiple font weights to cater to diverse display needs. The design team has also meticulously optimized multi-language character combinations and the adaptation of lengthy texts for in-car interfaces.
The “GWM Sans” is already integrated into several Great Wall Motor models, both in China and international markets.
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