We’re introducing the first release in a series of updates that pave the way for flexible, self-serve font management in Knak. This initial release brings important improvements to how fonts are handled across your emails and landing pages.
These changes are designed to support visual consistency across all workspaces, even as your brand evolves. As part of this release, we’re enhancing how system fonts are delivered, which may result in slight visual differences for some fonts.
Below, you’ll find a summary of what’s changing, what to expect, and how you can prepare your content to ensure it continues to reflect your brand accurately.
What’s changing
If your brand currently uses one or more of the following fonts, you might notice slight visual differences (see below) in how text renders going forward:
Arial Light
Avenir
Calibri
Century Gothic
Helvetica Neue
Helvetica Neue Light
What to expect
You may notice minor spacing or weight changes in modules/emails/landing pages that use the fonts listed above. This is due to the improved method we’re using to serve fonts, which ensures better long-term consistency.
Changes for font in each affected context -> | Building in Knak + Landing Page rendering
On Mac | Building in Knak + Landing Page rendering
On Windows | Email Rendering
iOS Mail 18+ | Email Rendering
iOS Mail 17 and lower | Email Rendering
Apple Mail on macOS |
Arial Light | Will change to Arial (standard weight) | Will change to Arial (standard weight) | Will change to Arial (standard weight) | Will change to Arial (standard weight) | Will change to Arial (standard weight) |
Avenir | No change | Will change to Arial | No change | No change | No change |
Calibri | Will change to Helvetica | No change | Will change to Helvetica | Will change to Helvetica | Will change to Helvetica |
Century Gothic | Will change to Arial | Will change to Arial | Will change to Arial | Will change to Arial | Will change to Arial |
Helvetica Neue | No change | Will change to Arial | No change | No change | No change |
Helvetica Neue Light | No change | Will change to Arial | No change | Bold, italic and bold italic all slightly heavier | Bold, italic and bold italic all slightly heavier |
Do I need to do anything?
Using web-safe fonts is the industry standard. Since they’re supported across all major browsers, devices, and email clients, all created content renders consistently and as expected.
If you're okay with these changes, no action is required.
If you're concerned about how your brand might be impacted, please send the font files (.ttf, .woff) to your Knak representative.
FAQ
What are web-safe fonts?
Web-safe fonts are typefaces that are universally available across most operating systems, browsers, and email clients. They ensure consistent text display on websites and emails without requiring recipients to download additional fonts.
Why are web-safe fonts preferred?
They are preferred because they display consistently across devices and platforms, ensuring reliable rendering in emails and web views.
Why are the following fonts not considered web-safe?
Avenir, Arial Light, Calibri, Century Gothic, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica Neue Thin
These fonts are not guaranteed to be available on all systems. If the recipient doesn’t have them installed, their device will substitute a fallback font.
What happens if a selected font is not available on a recipient's device or email client?
If the selected font isn’t available, the recipient's system will fall back to the next font in the font-family stack. Eventually, it defaults to the system’s generic font (e.g., "Helvetica", "Arial")
What exactly is a fallback font?
A fallback font is a backup that the system uses if your preferred font isn’t available.
Font fallback behaviour in Knak:
All users
Arial Light → Arial
Mac users
Calibri → Helvetica
Century Gothic → Arial
Windows users
Helvetica → Arial
Helvetica Neue (all variants) → Arial
Avenir → Arial
What if I have a license for a font?
If you have the appropriate license for a font, you can send the font files (.ttf, .woff) to your Knak representative. Knak will upload them to your instance, so you can maintain consistent branding across all devices and platforms. You are solely responsible for ensuring that you have the appropriate licensing arrangement in place for such fonts.
What if I want to continue using one of these non-web-safe fonts?
You can, but it will only render correctly for recipients who have that font installed. Everyone else will see a fallback font, which might cause minor design inconsistencies. To use Avenir, Arial Light, Calibri, Century Gothic, Helvetica Neue, or Helvetica Neue Thin, please send the font files (.ttf, .woff) to your Knak representative.
What is the impact of the changes to fonts used?
The impact varies depending on which font is used. You may notice slight shifts (see font comparison above) in letter spacing, weight, or line height in emails using these fonts.
What happens to previously created emails?
Older emails using these fonts may look slightly different (see font comparison above) across email clients or devices due to fallback rendering behavior.
Can I update old emails to use a new custom font?
Yes. You can update older emails to use a new custom font and re-sync them to maintain consistent rendering. If you don’t update, they’ll simply fall back to a web-safe font.