Emerging Communities Africa

Typography System

Our typographic voice is set in Proxima Nova — a geometric humanist sans-serif that balances warmth with authority, making it ideal for both editorial storytelling and bold impact communications.

Primary typeface

Aa
Proxima Nova
Designed by Mark Simonson, Proxima Nova sits between geometric sans-serifs like Futura and humanist faces like Gill Sans. It is precise without being cold, and expressive without being informal — exactly the balance Emerging Communities needs to speak across financial empowerment, digital skills, community research, and institutional partnerships.
Geometric Humanist 7 weights Italic variants Condensed variants Adobe Fonts / Typekit
Production note: Proxima Nova requires a licence. It is available via Adobe Fonts (Typekit) for web and desktop use, or as a self-hosted webfont from Mark Simonson Studio. For email and offline documents where Proxima Nova is unavailable, use Nunito Sans (Google Fonts) as the fallback — it shares the same geometric-humanist DNA.

Character specimen

Light 300
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Regular 400
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Italic 400
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Semibold 600
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Bold 700
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Extrabold 800
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Black 900
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz

Weight system — 6 weights in use

Light
Light
font-weight: 300
Long-form body copy, captions, supporting text. Use when the design needs to breathe.
Regular
Regular
font-weight: 400
Default body text for articles, reports, descriptions. The workhorse of the system.
Semibold
Semibold
font-weight: 600
Subheadings, card titles, UI labels, table headers. Adds hierarchy without aggression.
Bold
Bold
font-weight: 700
Section headings, callouts, pillar names. Clear and assertive.
Extrabold
Extrabold
font-weight: 800
Hero headings, impact stats, campaign headlines. High visual energy.
Black
Black
font-weight: 900
Display-only. Cover titles, large pull quotes, social graphics. Use sparingly.

Type scale

Role Size Weight Line Height Letter Spacing Used for
Display
display
 56–72px 900 Black 1.1 -0.03em Campaign covers, hero banners, large social graphics
Heading 1
h1
 40–48px 800 Extrabold 1.15 -0.02em Page titles, report section openers, pillar headers
Heading 2
h2
 28–32px 700 Bold 1.25 -0.01em Content section titles, card headlines, social post titles
Heading 3
h3
 22–24px 700 Bold 1.3 0 Sub-section titles, feature headings, callout titles
Heading 4
h4
 18–20px 600 Semibold 1.4 0 Card titles, sidebar headings, table titles
Lead / Intro
lead
 17–18px 400 Regular 1.65 0 Introductory paragraphs, mission statements, summary text
Body
body
 15–16px 400 Regular 1.7 0 Main editorial copy, reports, descriptions, articles
UI / Label
label
 13–14px 600 Semibold 1.4 0 Buttons, navigation, form labels, badge text
Caption
caption
 11–12px 400 Regular 1.5 0 Image captions, footnotes, metadata, timestamps
Eyebrow
eyebrow
 10–11px 700 Bold 1.4 0.10em Pillar labels, content family tags, section markers — UPPERCASE

Typography in context

Social / Editorial Post
Women's Enterprise · Hertisan
Building resilience, one enterprise at a time.
Across Lagos and beyond, women entrepreneurs are transforming their communities through practical financial skills and collective support systems.
Read the story
Report / Cover
Community Insights · 2025
Voices From The Ground: Economic Participation in Emerging Communities
A synthesis of community research across four regions, examining how women and young people navigate economic systems.
Emerging Communities Africa  ·  Q2 2025
Impact Statistic
4,200+
Women reached through Hertisan enterprise programs in 2024
Across financial literacy, enterprise development, and peer-to-peer mentorship programs in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano.
Pull Quote / Testimonial
"
The training didn't just teach me how to manage money. It taught me how to believe in what I was building.
Amina K.  ·  Hertisan Participant, Lagos

Spacing & line height rules

Display & Headlines
Tight leading for large text. Negative letter-spacing prevents spacing from looking too loose at large sizes.
line-height: 1.1–1.25  ·  letter-spacing: -0.01 to -0.03em
Body & Long-form
Generous leading for comfortable reading across reports, articles, and editorial content.
line-height: 1.65–1.75  ·  letter-spacing: 0
Eyebrows & Labels
Always uppercase with generous letter-spacing. Creates clear visual separation from body content.
text-transform: uppercase  ·  letter-spacing: 0.08–0.12em
Paragraph spacing
Space between paragraphs should equal one full line of body text to maintain rhythm without large gaps.
margin-bottom: 1em (body)  ·  0.5em (captions)
Minimum body size
Never go below 13px for any reading copy. Digital or print — legibility is non-negotiable at small sizes.
min body: 13px  ·  min caption: 11px
Line length
Ideal reading measure for body copy. Too wide causes eye fatigue; too narrow disrupts flow.
45–75 characters per line  ·  max-width: ~650px

Do's and don'ts

✓ Do
Expanding Opportunity.
Use bold weight for headlines paired with regular weight for body. The contrast creates hierarchy.
Strong weight contrast = clear hierarchy = easier to read.
✗ Don't
Expanding Opportunity.
Don't use similar weights for headline and body. The lack of contrast flattens the hierarchy.
Weak weight contrast = no clear hierarchy = hard to scan.
✓ Do
PILLAR 1 · FINANCIAL CAPABILITY
Women Entrepreneurs in Focus
Use uppercase eyebrows with letter-spacing to label content families and pillars.
✗ Don't
PILLAR 1 · FINANCIAL CAPABILITY
Women Entrepreneurs in Focus
Don't use Black weight for eyebrows — they overpower the headline they're meant to support.
✓ Do
3,800
Learners trained in 2024
Use Black / 900 for impact numbers — they earn the weight.
✗ Don't
3,800 Learners trained in 2024
Don't mix Black weight with body-level font sizes — it looks heavy and cluttered at small sizes.

Fallback font stack

For environments where Proxima Nova is unavailable (email clients, Microsoft Office, third-party platforms):

'Proxima Nova', 'Nunito Sans', 'Gill Sans', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', sans-serif

Emerging Communities Africa  ·  Typography System  ·  Primary Typeface: Proxima Nova