

For layouts which require a more traditional, formal or conservative style, this sort of font pairing is the perfect choice. The success of this sort of pairing rests on the shared similarities between the chosen fonts, rather than contrast, which has a calming effect on the eye. Pairing two fonts taken from either the same family or superfamily is a quick route to creating a design that feels pulled-together and elegant. These larger font families are known as ‘superfamilies’. Some font families contain as few as three fonts, while others might extend to include dozens of fonts. A family may also include more stylised variations of the original roman weight, such as condensed, outlined and expanded.

bold, italic, book etc) but ultimately have the same base design. Most fonts belong to a typeface family-a group of fonts which vary in weight (e.g. A sub-heading set in Adobe Caslon Pro Italic adds the perfect finishing touch.Ģ. Headline + Body Text Fonts From the Same Font Family One of our favourite font pairings is headlines set in Bebas Neue, with body text set in Caslon. A good starting point is to decide on a headline sans serif that you really love, and then rotate the serif body text through several options until you find the font that looks just right. Within this font pairing style, you’ll find that certain sans serifs look better teamed with particular serifs. Finally, bookish serifs tend to be easy to read, while sans serifs add a more modern, sophisticated flourish, making it a pairing that’s both functional and stylish. Secondly, this pairing feels at once both classic and contemporary, which makes it suitable for all sorts of layouts.

Why does this font pairing work so well? Firstly, the pairing has high contrast, which creates interest and stimulates the eye. This is the most common font pairing style designers will use when they want to make their typography look instantly more polished and professional. If you want to add sub-headings or pull-out quotes setting text in an italic weight is always a wise move, or try using a bold or condensed version of your body text font to add contrast while keeping the typography looking polished. * These five font pairings are based on using one font for the headline (the main title on your page) and another font for the body text (the longer paragraphs which make up the bulk of content on your page).
