Essentials is the centralized space in Frontify for managing your brand’s most important elements, all in one place.
Instead of handling fonts, colors, and other assets separately in each guideline or template, you will be able to manage them at the brand level and have them available everywhere.
We are building Essentials step by step, starting with fonts, Monotype font management, and now colors.
Why Essentials matters
Your brand’s visual identity depends on consistent use of its core elements. Until now, managing those elements.
With Essentials, you can:
Save time by uploading once and using everywhere
Stay consistent to keep your brand’s look and feel unified across every guideline and template
Simplify workflows without needing ZIP files for self-hosted fonts
Protect your brand by controlling access and ensuring licensing compliance from one central place
Essentials now supports fonts and colors, with more elements to follow.
What you can do today – Fonts
1. Add fonts at the brand level
a. Go to Brand → Essentials → Add fonts
Choose from:
Google fonts
Adobe fonts
System fonts
Self-hosted fonts
Monotype Fonts
b. Upload and manage them centrally without re-adding fonts to every guideline
c. Using Monotype fonts:
Click Add Fonts in Essentials
Log in to your Monotype account
Select fonts from your Monotype library
Use them instantly across your Brand Guidelines
This integration allows you to manage your Monotype fonts and licenses directly, while using those same fonts seamlessly across all Frontify portals.
2. Delete fonts at the brand level
Click the trash icon next to a font
Confirm deletion
Remove single fonts or entire font families
3. Use fonts in guidelines
Works with Classic, Muse, or Custom themes
Go to your Guideline → Themes (PowerBar) → Typography → Main font → select your Essentials font
Not supported for legacy theme guidelines
4. Use fonts in templates
Currently supported for Figma templates
What you can do today – Colors
Add and organize colors at the brand level
Go to Brand → Essentials → Colors
Add palettes and colors
Include names and descriptions for each
Manage palettes
Group colors into palettes
Edit or delete palettes and individual colors
Search and sort palettes or colors by name
Use colors in guidelines
Works across any guideline in the brand
Access Essentials colors directly in the color picker
Click to copy color codes instantly for use in design tools
Benefits
Save time by managing colors once at the brand level
Improve color consistency across all guidelines
Maintain structured, machine-readable color data
Enjoy a familiar UI aligned with Essentials: Fonts
Access and permissions
Available to all Frontify customers
Manage permissions under Account → Required permissions → Create essentials
Roles include: Viewers (default), Editors, Owners, and Account admins
Current limitations
Colors currently work in Guidelines only (not Templates)
No global color updates or linking
No import/export (Figma, Adobe, etc.)
No custom color spaces
No new color block or updated color picker
No bulk selection
Coming soon
Global color updates and linking
New color block and updated picker
Import/export (Figma, Adobe, etc.)
Support for Templates and custom color spaces
Planned enhancements for fonts:
Enhanced type styles menu
Ligature support
Best practices
Manage all brand colors and fonts in Essentials
Use Essentials colors directly in guideline color pickers
Upload core brand elements at the brand level for consistency
Assign permissions carefully to protect brand governance
Keep your library clean by removing unused or outdated elements
Essentials is your central hub for managing the core elements that define your brand.
Now with fonts, Monotype integration, and colors, Essentials helps you work faster, stay consistent, and maintain full control over your brand identity.