Skip to main content

Your submission was sent successfully! Close

Thank you for signing up for our newsletter!
In these regular emails you will find the latest updates from Canonical and upcoming events where you can meet our team.Close

Thank you for contacting us. A member of our team will be in touch shortly. Close

  1. Blog
  2. Article

Marcus Haslam
on 20 May 2010


At the recent Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS), we invited Type Designer Bruno Maag from Dalton Maag to talk about the new open-source font design development for the Ubuntu operating system (name yet to be finalised but there’s a good chance it could be called Ubuntu : )).

Bruno gave two talks – the first, an intro session just after lunch. A mere fifteen minutes to excite the audience about type (and that, my friends, is no mean feat!) and also to entice people to come to the workshop straight afterwards.

In the second session (which I saw people actually running to), Bruno revealed the processes involved in creating a design that underpins the new Graphical User Interface design and extensive language support. His presentation went from sketches of initial designs to a live hinting demo. Hinting is a technical process that allows character shapes to adapt to the resolution and abilities of the device on which they’re being displayed.

A great way to explain how the art and science work so brilliantly together.

We look forward to seeing the font in all its glory.

Related posts


Lyubomir Popov
23 June 2025

Revolutionizing Web Page Creation: How Structured Content is Slashing Design and Development Time

Ubuntu Article

Co-authored with Julie Muzina A year ago, during our Madrid Engineering Sprint, we challenged ourselves to dramatically reduce, or even eliminate, the need for constant design involvement in the day-to-day creation of web pages. Our strategy for achieving this is based on a smarter, more structured approach to content. The Challenge: Brid ...


Leia Ruffini
14 April 2025

How we ran an effective sprint to refresh our website, Part 1

Design Article

Part 1 of how we ran a design sprint to refresh our website. Sharing what worked, what didn’t, and lessons from designing for open source in mind. ...


Lyubomir Popov
17 February 2025

A deep dive into our grid system and typography for the A4 format

Ubuntu Article

We recently redesigned our whitepapers as part of our broader rebranding project. Let’s look at some of the ideas behind our approach to layout and typography. The goal? A reliable, accessible modular system that communicates with clarity, purpose and precision across mediums — qualities that tie directly back to our brand values. Context ...