Founded in 1993, Beijing Hanyi Innovation Technology (hereinafter referred to as “Hanyi Fonts”) is an IT-enabled cultural products supplier specializing in typeface design, typeface development, research on Chinese information processing and solutions for Chinese character applications with ownership of several major IPs. The company was listed on the SZSE ChiNext market in August 2022 (Stock code: 301270).

With a capable and efficient design team, Hanyi Fonts has produced thousands of fonts for enterprises and the consumer market. Classic Hanyi fonts such as HYLingXin, HYXiuYingTi, HYZhongHei, HYXiDengXian and HYZhongSong have been popular for more than 20 years. With its precise design language, sophisticated structure and superior visual performance, the latest HYQiHei family has been extensively used in graphic design, manufacturing, wayfinding signage design, operating systems and other design sectors as one of the most sought-after typefaces in China. With insight into changes in cultural trends and customer perception of quality, the company keeps fostering emerging font designers and have developed popular fonts such as HYRunYuan, HYYaKuHei and HYXiaoMaiTi, which are widely applied in marketing materials of Internet products. Moreover, Hanyi has developed custom typefaces for many prestige brands with its excellent capabilities on font design, including HarmonyOS Sans for Huawei, MiSans for Xiaomi, Alibaba Sans for Alibaba, PingAnNuanChengTi for Ping An Bank, IM Sans for IM Motors, Tencent Peacekeeper Elite for Peacekeeper Elite, and Arita Heiti for Amore Pacific.

Upgraded successfully from a traditional cultural products manufacturer, Hanyi has revolutionized the way fonts are licensed with a new application model for public use of fonts.  In 2015, the company introduced the FullType small font technology to enable the application of third-party typefaces in Tencent’s QQ for mobile devices, thus creating the first ever domestic consumer market for fonts. Through continuous innovation in custom fonts, Hanyi has solved the bottleneck of too few font choices in social media apps and satisfied the personalized user demand for online chatting and socializing.

Besides developing typefaces for commercial use, Hanyi keeps expanding its footprint in application of Chinese characters, design and innovation, as well as aesthetic living through its diversified Chinese fonts, in a bid to explore the endless possibilities and undiscovered values of Chinese characters. In 2017, Hanyi worked with Professor Chen Nan from the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University to develop HYChenTiJiaGuWen, which proposes the philosophy of “Chinese characters as culture” through a focus on the rhythm in design. As a modern tool for revitalizing traditional Chinese culture, the font has pioneered the re-introduction of Oracle Bone Script, which was once the focus of academic circles, into the view of contemporary youth. In the same year, the company collaborated with McGarryBowen to introduce the HYAlzheimer, a representative of Hanyi’s public service projects that has won more than 20 awards at home and abroad, including a Silver Lion prize at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. As the first typeface establishing a dialogue with users, it has raised 200 million people’s awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2018, Hanyi released HYDunHuangXieJing and HYTangMeiRen to pay tribute to the diverse traditional Chinese culture. Through open-mindedness in design and a variety of derivatives, the fonts draw young people’s attention to the glorious culture of China with an emphasis on tradition-based innovation. In 2019, Hanyi developed HYSongYangTi and HYBaManTi based on its insights into the relations between Chinese characters and society and modern life. Filling the gaps in urban-themed fonts, the typefaces have inspired the public’s emotion for their hometown, facilitated the development of urban cultural tourism and boosted cultural and ethical advancement. In 2021, Hanyi launched the Hanyi National Treasures project, which injects new vitality into Chinese characters with typefaces characterized by the development of Chinese script.

Beyond Fonts
In 2017, Hanyi Innovation Media (Beijing) co.,ltd. was established as a solution provider of design, marketing and derivatives development for media and entertainment industry based on Chinese characters. The company has established comprehensive capabilities on commercial design and franchised derivatives service.

More than a Business
Hanyi Fonts initiated the Hanyi FontStar Design Competition in 2012. With a typeface-oriented criteria, the competition clarifies the difference between font design competitions and graphic design competitions. The past several FontStar competitions have witnessed the emergence of outstanding font designers and excellent typefaces such as HYYuanLongHei and HYYaKuHei; it also incorporated forums, exhibitions, lectures, and workshops for font design education to cultivate a talent pool for the industry.

Aim for Better Solutions
In 2017, Hanyi entered into a partnership with e-commerce giant JD (internationally known as Joybuy) to enhance users’ awareness of copyrighted fonts. The two sides provide convenient and efficient font services for e-commerce merchants through JD and related service platforms.

Stay Innovative
Technological innovation is a relentless pursuit of Hanyi.
In 2017, the company launched HelloFont (www.hellofont.cn), a comprehensive tool online capable of font preview and font management. HelloFont enables one-click font application on popular design software such as Adobe and Sketch as well as on office software, greatly enhancing designers’ work efficiency.
In 2018, Hanyi released HYAlibabaSmartHeiti in collaboration with Alibaba, opening an era of transformation for the industry. The project aims to reduce repetitive work for designers through AI technology and enable them to gain greater innovative ability with a return to creativity. On top of the practice, Hanyi released four other AI-enabled products with excellent maturity for merchants on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms. From 2020 to 2022, Hanyi entered into strategic cooperation with JD and Alibaba to assist e-commerce merchants in managing and monitoring copyrighted materials through an industry-leading AI-enabled font recognizer and to provide them with cutting-edge font solutions.

A New Departure
On August 31, 2022, Beijing Hanyi Innovation Technology went public on the SZSE ChiNext market.

Hanyi will insist on technological innovation, create more cultural products with Chinese characters as a focus, and tell well the story of Chinese characters to show the outside world the unique and fascinating Chinese culture.

Hanyi will never stop its exploration of the infinite potential of characters.