Grilli Type was founded in Switzerland in late 2009 by Noël Leu and Thierry Blancpain as a collaborative platform for working with other designers. Although the foundry is based in Lucerne, it operates on a global scale. Thierry Blancpain is now based in New York City, while Noël Leu travels extensively between East Asia, North America, and Europe. Today, the studio consists of eight members, with collaborators distributed across different parts of the world.

Despite its Swiss origins, Grilli Type does not position itself as neutral. The studio creates typefaces with a distinct point of view—designs that convey meaning beyond the words they spell. Technical performance is treated as a given; the typefaces are expected to function reliably across a wide range of demanding contexts. Instead, the focus lies on more qualitative questions: what story a typeface tells, and what kind of personality it embodies.

While type design is at the core of the practice, it is not its only focus. The team approaches its work from a background in graphic design, shaping its perspective as both designers and type makers. Collaborations with other designers play a central role and are considered fundamental to the studio's mission. This collaborative mindset informs their approach to creating useful typefaces and extends to how they present them. Through dedicated minisites, Grilli Type showcases its typefaces in use and in context, allowing them to communicate their character and tell their own stories.