Should I use previously recommended fonts like Lato?

No. We have retired Lato along with Verlag and Vitesse. Lato will continue to be used for departmental logos, but it is no longer recommended for any other use. (This same guidance has long held true for Friz Quadrata, which is used for the primary UW logo but is not recommended for any other use.)

Lato, as an open-source font, was previously recommended as a cost-free alternative to Verlag, which required paid licenses for campus users. The new brand fonts, Red Hat Display and Red Hat Text (as well as Crimson Pro for long texts), are all open-source fonts and available for free for all campus users. In addition, the Red Hat typeface family is extremely flexible and can handle virtually all uses — from large headlines to small body copy, and from print applications to digital ones. For these reasons, we are no longer recommending alternative fonts such as Lato.

Visit our Typography page to find the current brand fonts and usage guidance.