The readers—donors in their 50s and 60s, many of whom wore reading glasses—found the report effortless to read. One donor wrote back: "I don't know what font you used, but for the first time, I read a 20-page report without eye strain."
She applied it to the report's body text—10.5 point, 1.4 line height. And something remarkable happened.
Named after the former capital of Siam (now part of Bangkok), Thonburi was designed for clarity in both Latin and Thai scripts. But Maya was only using the Latin characters for English text. font thonburi
Maya learned something useful that day:
A few years ago, a small non-profit organization called "Read for All" was designing an annual report. Their goal was to show donors how many children in rural Thailand had gained basic literacy skills. The readers—donors in their 50s and 60s, many
At first glance, Thonburi looks simple. Its strokes have a gentle, hand-drawn quality—slightly rounded terminals, a subtle unevenness in thickness. It is not perfectly geometric like Helvetica. It breathes.
The graphic designer, a young woman named Maya, chose a clean, modern sans-serif font for the headings. For the body text, she wanted something that felt rooted, trustworthy, and slightly humanist—but not distracting. Named after the former capital of Siam (now
And sometimes, the most useful tool is the one that never asks for applause.