Democracy in Default?

Using the widely publicised example of Google’s multi - script typeface Noto as a central example, this paper explores how democracy might be represented through typographic form. The legacy of the 'universal typographic form’, first dreamed up by modernist designers in Europe in the 1920s, is identified as a precursor for Google’s attempt to provide ‘beautiful and free fonts for all languages’ through Noto. The paper draws on Victor Papanek’s ‘function - complex’ as a means of criticising Google’s objectives, and questions whether the Noto designs, which are likely to become default for languages that have previously lacked typographic representation, are ill-founded in their attempt to visually harmonise the world’s typographic script.