Pentagram brings Chaos to Sega's Total War: a dark, bespoke font family unveiled

Pentagram partners Jody Hudson-Powell and Luke Powell have revealed their typeface, logo and supporting visual elements for game developer Creative Assembly and Sega’s Total War: Warhammer III.

Inspired by the vernacular of fantasy war, Pentagram created a bespoke font family titled ‘Chaos’ alongside Luke Prowse of NaN Foundry.

The glyphic base style, with its blade-like serifs and tapered strokes, belies a more geometric and modern character proportion. The typeface has the visual hallmarks of engraving, which is exaggerated further through decorative diagonal compressions added to strokes and angled, constructed joins. The style feels solid and dominant whilst also creating a dynamic mass of diagonal rhythm mirroring the aggressive tone of the Chaos Mass. 

The family consists of three optical weights optimised for display and text usage at either end by scaling the amount and presence of the sharp detailing. This allows the full extent of the characterful personality and unique flourishes to be seen at large-scale campaign level whilst maintaining the style’s ability to functionally work at smaller sizes and ensure it was possible for the typeface to be used in-game.

Pentagram’s created the ‘Chaos Mass’, a procedurally generated 3D texture that can be visually read as the fray of battle, armies colliding, or even as a large Chaos entity engulfing the scene and stretching off into the distance. The pattern-like texture produces horizons and backdrops to frame content.

Chaos Mass ephemera adorns the new title-logo, constructed in cold, war-worn steel featuring a framing shield and Roman numerals bevelled like axe blades notes Pentagram.