⚠️ Notice: As a showcase of variable fonts, this site requires a web browser that supports OpenType font variation technology. It looks like your browser doesn’t, so please consider upgrading to one that does (the latest versions of Chrome work well, even on older operating systems). Otherwise, the font samples below will only appear as static fonts.
Optical size variations are adjustments to the design of a typeface that improve its functionality at a specific size or range of sizes. Some of the fonts listed here offer a fluidly variable optical size axis, while others split the variants into separate font files, each covering a general range of sizes.
A chunky rectangular display face with thin slices for counterforms.
| Tags: decorative/display, sans, modular, optical sizes, phototype, rectangular, straight-sided, variable posture | |
| Design: | Phil Garnham, Jason Smith |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Fontsmith Ltd. |
| Characters: | Latin (limited) |
| Released: | 2019-10-29 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | fontsmith.com |
A stylish wedge-serif typeface.
| Tags: decorative/display, body text, serif, inscriptional, optical sizes, phototype, sharp, wedge serif, woman-designed | |
| Design: | Krista Radoeva |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Fontsmith Ltd. |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2019-10-29 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | fontsmith.com |
A geometric sans with a dash of soft humanist influences. The italic is multiplexed with the upright, so changes to the slant axis don’t change line lengths.
| Tags: body text, sans, geometric, feature variations, multiplexed, multiplexed posture, optical sizes, variable posture | |
| Design: | Nick Job |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Rosetta Type Foundry |
| Characters: | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic |
| Released: | 2019-10-29 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | rosettatype.com |
An elaborately curly blackletter with extremely thin hairlines, inspired by a 19th-century typeface called Cuneiform. The optical size axis allows for a consistent hairline thickness of 0.5 point for font sizes from 76 through 332 points.
| Tags: decorative/display, serif, script, blackletter, calligraphic, optical sizes, ornamented, sharp, swash, Victorian | |
| Design: | David Jonathan Ross |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | DJR, Font of the Month Club |
| Characters: | Latin, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2019-10-01 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | djr.com |
A geometric sans inspired by French Art Deco lettering.
| Tags: decorative/display, sans, geometric, Art Deco, monoline, optical sizes, overbite/underbite | |
| Design: | Matthieu Cortat |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | 205TF |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2019-09-26 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | 205.tf |
A simple sans with Pan-European character support. Expansions were released for Hebrew on November 26, 2019, and Arabic on March 11, 2020.
| Tags: body text, sans, feature variations, multiplexed, multiplexed posture, neo-grotesque, optical sizes, variable posture, woman-designed | |
| Design: | William Montrose, Sláva Jevčinová, David Březina |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Rosetta Type Foundry |
| Characters: | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Arabic |
| Released: | 2019-05-21 |
| Updated: | 2020-03-10 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | rosettatype.com |
A serif typeface with a large range of optical size variation, for everything from small body text to extra-large headlines. It’s the first variable font release from Typejockeys.
| Tags: decorative/display, body text, serif, optical sizes, phototype, woman-designed | |
| Design: | Franziska Weitgruber, Michael Hochleitner |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Typejockeys |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2019-05-15 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | typejockeys.com |
A condensed typeface with retractable serifs and variable stroke contrast.
| Tags: decorative/display, serif, slab serif, sans, gothic, inserat, monoline, optical sizes, retractable serifs, spur serifs, straight-sided, unusual variation | |
| Design: | Pedro Leal, Dino dos Santos |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | DSType |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2019-04-10 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | dstype.com |
A serif typeface with sharp details.
| Tags: decorative/display, body text, serif, optical sizes, overbite/underbite, sharp, wedge serif | |
| Design: | Florian Karsten |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Florian Karsten |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2019-04-01 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | floriankarsten.com |
A variable version of Gimlet covering a range of extra-large optical sizes for the Condensed Bold style, beyond the optical sizes available in the standard retail release.
| Tags: decorative/display, serif, optical sizes | |
| Design: | David Jonathan Ross |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | DJR, Font of the Month Club |
| Characters: | Latin, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2019-04-01 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | djr.com |
A slab serif styled after classic letterman / varsity style lettering, with some variation axes adopted from the Type Network parametric axes proposal.
| Tags: decorative/display, slab serif, all caps, chamfered, horizontal stress, monoline, multiplexed, multiplexed weight, optical sizes, polygonal, rectangular, straight-sided, variable lowercase height | |
| Design: | Eduardo Tunni |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Eduardo Tunni |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2019-03-26 |
| Licensing: | Open source |
| Info/fonts: | github.com |
A high-contrast sans to go with the larger Slab series. Text-centric variants are also available as non-variable fonts.
| Tags: decorative/display, sans, optical sizes, soft corners, thick-and-thin | |
| Design: | George Triantafyllakos |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Atypical |
| Characters: | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic |
| Released: | 2018-12-05 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | atypical.gr |
A variable version of Portada, produced by Irene Vlachou. The variable font is included when licensing the full Portada family.
| Tags: body text, serif, feature variations, optical sizes, woman-designed | |
| Design: | Veronika Burian, José Scaglione |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | TypeTogether |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2018-12-04 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | type-together.com |
A reinterpretation and expansion of Marvin, Michael Chave’s 1969 phototypesetting typeface. The new design was initially developed for use in Visions, a science-fiction magazine.
| Tags: decorative/display, sans, geometric, all caps, futuristic/sci-fi, optical sizes, phototype | |
| Design: | Mathieu Triay |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Atelier Triay |
| Characters: | Latin, Cyrillic |
| Released: | 2018-12-03 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial, Free for non-commercial use |
| Info/fonts: | readvisions.com |
A contemporary fat-face with variations for use in a wide range of sizes. Offered with discounted pricing while it’s still a work in progress.
| Tags: decorative/display, serif, ball terminals, fat-face, optical sizes, phototype, pinched joints, psychedelic, soft corners, swash | |
| Design: | James T. Edmondson |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | OH no Type Co. |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2018-09-13 |
| Updated: | 2019-01-14 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | futurefonts.xyz |
A revival of American Type Founders’ 1895 typeface, Bradley. The original, based on lettering by Will H. Bradley, is usually credited to Hermann Ihlenburg. This digital version’s optical size axis covers the full range of original sizes, as far down as 6 points – rare for digital blackletter typefaces – plus a handful of stylistic alternate glyphs.
| Tags: decorative/display, blackletter, Arts & Crafts, calligraphic, feature variations, optical sizes, soft corners | |
| Design: | David Jonathan Ross |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | DJR, Font of the Month Club |
| Characters: | Latin, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2018-09-01 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | djr.com |
A psychedelic interpretation of Otto Eckmann’s Eckmann-Schrift, available with discounted pricing as a work-in-progress design. It comes with a bonus DrawBot script for making variable animations.
| Tags: decorative/display, Art Nouveau, flared/concave, optical sizes, psychedelic, soft corners | |
| Design: | James T. Edmondson |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | OH no Type Co. |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2018-04-04 |
| Updated: | 2018-10-17 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | ohnotype.co |
A typeface designed for use in informational design. Production of the variable fonts was handled by Irene Vlachou.
| Tags: decorative/display, body text, sans, feature variations, inserat, neo-grotesque, optical sizes | |
| Design: | José Scaglione, Veronika Burian |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | TypeTogether |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2018-03-05 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | type-together.com |
A variable font for the thinnest weights of DJR’s Output type family, made available to members of the Font of the Month Club. With the optical size axis, it’s possible to maintain a consistent stroke weight across multiple sizes.
| Tags: decorative/display, sans, monoline, neo-grotesque, optical sizes, unusual variation | |
| Design: | David Jonathan Ross |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | DJR, Font of the Month Club |
| Characters: | Latin, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2018-03-01 |
| Licensing: | Trial, Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | djr.com |
A variable version of Adobe’s Minion 3 with a basic Latin character set. It comes bundled with Illustrator CC and Photoshop CC apps.
| Tags: body text, serif, CFF, optical sizes | |
| Design: | Robert Slimbach |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Adobe |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2017-10-19 |
| Updated: | 2018-10-15 |
| Licensing: | Bundled |
| Info/fonts: | blog.typekit.com |
The variable version of Adobe’s Source Serif Pro, a contemporary interpretation of Pierre-Simon Fournier’s 18th-century typefaces. It comes bundled with Creative Cloud apps and is also available as an open source font. The design is by Frank Grießhammer, with contributions from Reymund Schroeder, Emilios Theofanous, Thomas Thiemich, and Irene Vlachou.
| Tags: body text, serif, ball terminals, CFF, optical sizes, teardrop terminals | |
| Design: | Frank Grießhammer |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Adobe |
| Characters: | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2017-08-18 |
| Updated: | 2021-01-25 |
| Licensing: | Open source, Bundled |
| Info/fonts: | github.com |
Amstelvar is an exercise in variable weight, contrast, and proportions. Positive and negative forms can be manipulated as separate axes, as well as a large array of other variables. It is an experimental work in progress so can produce unusual results.
| Tags: decorative/display, body text, serif, slab serif, consistent counters, fat-face, proof of concept, multiplexed, multiplexed weight, optical sizes, retractable extenders, retractable serifs, sharp, unusual variation, variable lowercase height, wedge serif | |
| Design: | David Berlow |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Font Bureau |
| Characters: | Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2016-12-16 |
| Updated: | 2021-06-03 |
| Licensing: | Open source |
| Info/fonts: | github.com |
A variable font based on Noto Serif & Noto Serif Display.
| Tags: body text, serif, optical sizes | |
| Design: | Monotype, Adam Twardoch |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Adam Twardoch |
| Characters: | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Vietnamese |
| Released: | 2016-11-25 |
| Licensing: | Open source |
| Info/fonts: | github.com |
An OpenType variable font counterpart to Underware’s Zeitung Flex. (It is currently the typeface used for the interface of this website.)
| Tags: body text, sans, feature variations, optical sizes | |
| Design: | Underware |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Underware |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2016-11-17 |
| Updated: | 2019-02-14 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | underware.nl |
A variable font version of Dunbar, CJ Dunn’s type family inspired by Jakob Erbar’s Erbar-Grotesk.
| Tags: decorative/display, sans, geometric, monoline, optical sizes, phototype, variable lowercase height | |
| Design: | CJ Dunn |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | CJ Type |
| Characters: | Latin |
| Released: | 2016-10-18 |
| Licensing: | Paid/commercial |
| Info/fonts: | cjtype.com |
SF Pro is the core of Apple’s San Francisco type series. It is the system font for macOS, iOS, iPad OS, and tvOS.
| Tags: body text, sans, dingbats, monoline, multiplexed, multiplexed weight, neo-grotesque, optical sizes | |
| Design: | Apple |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Apple |
| Characters: | Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Vietnamese, dingbats/emoji |
| Released: | 2015-06-12 |
| Updated: | 2022-03-31 |
| Licensing: | Bundled |
| Info/fonts: | developer.apple.com |