lla, a ‘wayfinding’ font for london luton airport

lla (london luton airport) is a bespoke typeface developed for the london luton airport (the fifth busiest airport in the uk) commissioned by the londoner brand agency ico design.

in early 2014 ico design contacted us to tell us about the luton airport rebranding project they were designing and they ask us about our readiness to develop a custom font. as there was not enough time among several options we proposed a font in progress which, by its nature, could suit in the project. we provide a beta version for testing and finally they decided that the font was perfect.

lla was created with ‘classic’ typefaces in mind, such as din, helvetica or frutiger and with the spirit of contemporary fonts as neo or simple. we try to pick the best of each and find a balance between functionality and personality. lla was finally used both for the graphic identity and signage programme.

lla font has a slightly condensed structure, which allows space saving; a large x-height that makes it more readable at any given size and open shapes, as can be seen in lowercase letters (a, e, g, s) which facilitates the distinction of closer letters as ‘o’. the font has a technical air but with a humanist beat which, together with rounded ends, make it friendly; with personality without being strident.

besides typeface design, we also develop the icon set as part of the signage programme. ico design wanted them to be drawn in line and with a ‘friendly’ look, as can be seen in toilets, passport control or first aid icons. we want to create them similar to the structure of the font and for this we rely on the form of the ‘o’ letter.