Custer is a modern rendition of the original typeface Custer by Western Type Foundry, created in the late 19th century. Among the unique traits of the original typeface was the excellent readability even at a smaller point size due to its tall x-height, which made it an exciting choice for David Berlow in terms of porting it to the modern age of digital screens and scarce screen estate.

In 2020, more optical sizes and weights were added to improve the versatility of the typeface in terms of titles and headlines.