The Economist, Economist.com and CFO Europe are trading names of:
The Economist Newspaper Limited
Registered in England and Wales. No.236383
VAT no: GB 340 436 876
Registered office: 25 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1HG
Economist.com is the premier online source for the analysis of world business and current affairs, providing authoritative insight and opinion through carefully considered visual design principles that have remained consistent since 1843.
The visual language of The Economist is not mere tradition but a deliberate strategy to convey authority, clarity and analytical rigor through typography, layout and color. This page demonstrates these principles in action:
The choice of Officina Sans reflects The Economist's analytical character. Clean, geometric letterforms convey precision and objectivity—essential qualities for economic analysis. Weight variations create hierarchy without visual chaos:
Unlike publications that rely on imagery for engagement, The Economist achieves visual interest through typographic hierarchy and careful information layering. This creates what designers call "visual authority"—readers learn to trust the presentation format, allowing complex ideas to take precedence over decorative elements.
The transition to digital platforms has preserved The Economist's core design principles while adapting to screen reading requirements. This approach has influenced business publications worldwide, establishing the template for serious analytical journalism in the digital age.
It is not only The Economist's name that people find baffling. First, why does it call itself a newspaper? Even when The Economist incorporated the Bankers' Gazette and Railway Monitor from 1845 to 1932, it also described itself as "a political, literary and general newspaper".
It still does so because, in addition to offering analysis and opinion, it tries in each issue to cover the main events—business and political—of the week. The visual consistency that supports this editorial mission has remained remarkably stable since 1843.
The corporate logotype of The Economist has evolved from the gothic lettering used on the cover of the first issue, published in 1843, to the box device designed in 1959 by Reynolds Stone, a British engraver and typographer. It now incorporates a font from The Economist Typefamily, a typeface created specifically for our use.
The Economist has used a specially designed family of typefaces since May 1991. In our recent re-design a new typeface, Officina, was introduced for cover headlines and all navigational information. Ecotype, The Economist's main typeface, was also redrawn to make it easier to read.