GE Inspira

Infobox font


name = GE Inspira
style = sans-serif
commissioned_by = General Electric
date = circa 2004
creator = Michael Abbink
foundry = Wolff Olins for General Electric
sample = |

GE Inspira is a typeface developed by Michael Abbink around 2002 for the new visual identity system of the General Electric Company. Since it is a proprietary typeface of GE, not much is known about it. According to the GE Brand Manual, the typeface is at the forefront of GE's brand expression and is recognized as being "Clear, Precise, and Modern". The typeface comes in three styles, "GE Inspira Book", "GE Inspira Regular" and "GE Inspira Small Caps".

Differences within the Inspira font family

As noted above, GE Inspira comes in three styles: GE Inspira Book, GE Inspira Regular and GE Inspira Small Caps. There are some major differences between these fonts, and while GE Inspira Book and GE Inspira Regular are similar in many ways, their "a"s are the most significant difference between the two. GE Inspira Book was created, as the name hints, in order to provide clear, readable text for small-texted literature, like the company's Annual Report.

Availability

GE Inspira is available for download from [http://www.gebrandcentral.com/brand/design_library/ GE Brand Central] , but it requires a GE single sign-on account, which requires employment at General Electric or employment as a contractor for General Electric. The fonts are as well included in Infini8 Modern Age hostet at [http://bozidar.deviantart.com/art/Infini8-Modern-Age-BETA-11272710 Deviantart] .

Similarities to other fonts

GE Inspira is very similar to VAG Rounded, the typeface formerly used for Volkswagen, especially noting similarities between many of the typefaces' lower-cased letters.

External links

* [http://www.gebrandcentral.com/brand/design_library/ GE Brand Central]
* [http://users.ncrvnet.nl/mstol/ge.html Corporate Identity: General Electric (GE)] —basic information about GE's new brand
* [http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/002021.html "GE: The Great Escape"] by David Weinberger on July 222004