Baskerville: history, who uses it, and a free version

A Birmingham printer’s sharper, lighter serif from the 1750s.

In use, with Source Sans 3

Edit the words to try your own. The pairing tool has more body fonts.

History

• John Baskerville (1706 to 1775) designed it in Birmingham, England, in 1757.[1]
• He became printer to Cambridge University in 1758 and printed his folio Bible there in 1763.[1]
• Libre Baskerville, by Pablo Impallari, is tuned for screens with a taller x-height and lower contrast.[1]

Who uses it

• The Government of Canada "Canada" wordmark, in a modified form[1]
• Documents from the University of Birmingham[1]
• Northeastern University and the ABRSM, in a modified form[1]

Sources

1. 1. Wikipedia: Baskerville

The free alternative

Libre Baskerville is a free revival drawn for screens, with a taller x-height, wider counters and less contrast than the original.

Body fonts that go with Libre Baskerville:

• Source Sans 3A light humanist sans that matches the open, crisp feel of the heading.
• LatoRound, friendly sans that softens a formal serif.
• Libre FranklinA sturdier grotesque for when the page needs more weight than the heading gives it.

Other fonts

• TrajanRoman inscription capitals, and the movie poster font.
• HelveticaThe Swiss sans that ended up on subway signs and airline logos.
• ArialDrawn to the same widths as Helvetica, shipped with Windows.
• FuturaThe 1927 geometric sans of circles and straight lines.
• GothamWide geometric capitals taken from New York building signs.
• ImpactA 1965 Sheffield display face that became the meme font.
• GaramondSixteenth century Paris type, revived many times since.
• Times New RomanMade for a London newspaper in 1932, then shipped with Windows.
• DidotHigh contrast French type, and the look of fashion magazines.
• Comic SansDrawn in 1994 for the speech bubbles in Microsoft Bob.
• CourierAn IBM typewriter face that screenplays never gave up.
• RobotoGoogle's Android system font since 2011.