Starting in January 2023, UW–Madison began to transition its official brand fonts from Verlag and Vitesse to Red Hat Display and Red Hat Text. See below for a brief timeline of updates and a detailed Q&A with guidance and resources.
Timeline of updates
January 2023
- The start of the transition from Verlag and Vitesse to Red Hat Display and Red Hat Text. Visit the Typography overview page for how to download and install the new fonts.
- Use Red Hat Display and Red Hat Text in new printed materials. In general, keep using any materials already printed with the existing fonts (e.g., promo items, handouts, banners) until you run out of supply or it’s time to replace them; then update them with the new fonts. See more guidance on what materials should or must be updated. And see what resources we have already updated for you.
- New HTML templates and detailed guidance on how to update the fonts on your website were made available. HTML templates are specific to campus websites and web applications that have adopted UW fonts/design hierarchy but don’t use the UW WordPress Theme.
February 16, 2023
- All campus websites hosted on WiscWeb were automatically updated with the new fonts on this date.
- New versions of the UW Theme and UW Theme Lite were made available with the new fonts on this date. If your website uses one of the UW Themes but isn’t hosted on WiscWeb, you will need to manually download the new version to refresh the fonts.
June 30, 2023
- This is the end of the font transition. The campuswide web license for Verlag and Vitesse expires on this date.
- All campus sites using Verlag and Vitesse for web copy must transition from those fonts by this date. (Note: PDFs and other digital files hosted on your site don’t need to be updated by this date, though it’s recommended.)
- You should no longer use Verlag and Vitesse for new printed materials or for other uses after this date.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Strategic Communication. We’re here to help you in this transition at every step.