New SharePoint Custom Fonts and Background Images
Big news for SharePoint designers: Microsoft has finally introduced custom fonts and section background images to SharePoint Online through the new Brand Center! 🎉 In this post, I’ll walk you through a real-life site I built to test these features—a bold, vibrant homage to the Ben & Jerry’s website—and show you exactly how to use these tools in your own SharePoint projects.
🎨 Why This Matters
Let’s be honest: SharePoint has had a… consistent look for years. Now, with custom fonts and section backgrounds, you can break out of the standard SharePoint mold and build visually rich, brand-aligned experiences.
No more relying on stock theme fonts. No more boxed-in section colors. This is modern SharePoint’s glow-up.
🧰 Step 1: Upload and Use Custom Fonts via Brand Center
The new Brand Center (currently in preview) lets you upload your own font files and create reusable font packages for SharePoint and Viva Connections sites.
How It Works:
Open the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Go to Settings > Org Settings > Brand Center
Follow the setup wizard
Upload fonts (e.g.,
.woff,.ttf) into the Brand Center library-
Create a font package:
Choose display fonts (e.g., Tariff Arabic Extra Bold)
Assign body fonts (e.g., Cera Pro Medium)
Set styles for titles, headings, body, and navigation
Once saved and published, your custom font package becomes available in the Change the Look > Fonts menu of your site.
🎉 Result: Massive style upgrade. SharePoint pages suddenly feel fresh, fun, and unique.
🌅 Step 2: Add Custom Section Background Images
Want a full-width image behind your hero section or a seamless color band across two columns? You can now upload custom section backgrounds to achieve that polished, professional look.
Tips:
Use Photoshop or Figma to prep wide-format images (2,560px+ recommended)
AI tools in Photoshop can extend background images to fill horizontal space
For solid color sections, take a small screenshot swatch and tile it
Use the Overlay setting to switch between light/dark text for contrast
👨🎨 Want gradient overlays or texture effects? You can fake those too with creative background image design.
🧪 Case Study: Rebuilding the Ben & Jerry’s Homepage in SharePoint
To put these features to the test, I recreated the vibrant Ben & Jerry’s homepage using:
Custom fonts for titles, navigation, and body text
Hero sections with full-width image backgrounds
Color-blocked sections using image swatches
Playful fonts to mimic the original brand tone
Each section was carefully designed using:
Two-column layouts
Spacer web parts for fine-tuned alignment
Text web parts with manual styling
Button web parts for CTAs
Even the footer was matched with a transparent logo, full-width section, and layered color swatches.
🐮 Yes, we even recreated the floating cow. Because why not?
💡 Key Tricks and Pro Tips
Overlay Trick: Use black overlays (with low opacity) to force white text for dark images
Figma Power: Use Figma to create color swatches, crop background tiles, and match brand palettes
Header Customization: Upload transparent logos to the compact header for a clean look
Fake It Till You Make It: Many visuals are cleverly faked using spacing, layering, and simple images
📦 Who Should Use This?
These features are perfect for:
Comms & Marketing Teams looking to brand intranet pages
UX Designers creating interactive landing experiences
Department Owners making their sites less boring
You don’t need dev skills. Just some creativity and a little prep.
🎯 Final Thoughts
The combination of custom fonts and custom section backgrounds opens up a whole new world of design flexibility in SharePoint Online. This is the first time you can:
Match your brand's visual identity
Break from the standard SharePoint aesthetic
Deliver genuinely engaging site experiences
🚨 This is the glow-up SharePoint needed. And it’s only the beginning.
🎥 Watch the Full Build in Action
Want to see every step? Watch me build the entire Ben & Jerry’s-style site in SharePoint—including tips, gotchas, and Photoshop hacks.