CSS Great Font Pairings

Great font pairings are essential to great design.

Font Pairing Rules

Here are some basic rules to create great font pairings:

1. Complement

It is always safe to find font pairings that complement one another.

A great font combination should harmonize, without being too similar or too different.

2. Use Font Superfamilies

A font superfamily is a set of fonts designed to work well together. So, using different fonts within the same superfamily is safe.

For example, the Lucida superfamily contains the following fonts: Lucida Sans, Lucida Serif, Lucida Typewriter Sans, Lucida Typewriter Serif and Lucida Math.

3. Contrast is King

Two fonts that are too similar will often conflict. However, contrasts, done the right way, brings out the best in each font.

Example: Combining serif with sans serif is a well known combination.

A strong superfamily includes both serif and sans serif variations of the same font (e.g. Lucida and Lucida Sans).

4. Choose Only One Boss

One font should be the boss. This establishes a hierarchy for the fonts on your page. This can be achieved by varying the size, weight and color.

Example

No doubt "Georgia" is the boss here:

body {
background-color: black;
font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;
font-size: 16px;
color: gray;
}

h1 {
font-family: Georgia, serif;
font-size: 60px;
color: white;
}

Try it Yourself »

Below, we have shown some popular font pairings that will suit many brands and contexts.

Georgia and Verdana

Georgia and Verdana is a classic combination. It also sticks to the web safe font standards:

Example

Use the "Georgia" font for headings, and "Verdana" for text:

Beautiful Norway

Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometers and a population of 5,438,657 (December 2020). Norway is bordered by Sweden, Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak to the south, with Denmark on the other side.

Norway has beautiful mountains, glaciers and stunning fjords. Oslo, the capital, is a city of green spaces and museums. Bergen, with colorful wooden houses, is the starting point for cruises to the dramatic Sognefjord. Norway is also known for fishing, hiking and skiing.

Try it Yourself »

Helvetica and Garamond

Helvetica and Garamond is another classic combination that uses web safe fonts:

Example

Use the "Helvetica" font for headings, and "Garamond" for text:

Beautiful Norway

Try it Yourself »

Example

Use the "Oswald" font for headings, and "Noto Sans" for text:

Beautiful Norway

Try it Yourself »

For a list of all free Google Fonts, visit our How To - Google Fonts Tutorial.

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