Font family
Fraunces font
Fraunces is an expressive variable serif with optical sizing and a custom 'softness' axis. It moves fluidly between display and text roles.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 0123456789
Uppercase
Lowercase
Digits
Punctuation
Click any glyph to copy it to your clipboard.
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Font Details
- Designer
- Undercase Type
- Foundry
- Unknown
- Source
- Google Fonts
- License
- OFL-1.1
- Category
- serif
- X-height
- medium
- Styles
- normal, italic
- Subsets
- latin, latin-ext, vietnamese
- Weights
- 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900
- Variable
- Yes
- Popularity
- 83/100
- Tags
- display-serif, expressive, variable, old-style
- wghtmin 100max 900default 400
- opszmin 9max 144default 14
- SOFTmin 0max 100default 0
Character and Use Cases
Fraunces , Fraunces is a quirky, expressive variable serif with genuine character. Its 'wonkiness', the slightly irregular letterforms that give it personality, is not a flaw but a deliberate design choice that makes it feel human and distinctive. It ships with two variable axes: weight (wght) and optical size (SOFT).
Fraunces is an editorial font for brands and publications that want to stand out. Its variable axes let you shift from a delicate display voice to a sturdy text voice within one font file. Use the opsz axis to automatically optimise letterforms for the current size.
The variable weight axis covers a wide range. Light settings work for elegant display text; regular settings for subheadings; bold settings for impact headlines. The optical size (opsz) axis should be set to match the current font size in pixels.
Production Code
Copy-paste into your project. No build step required.
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Fraunces:wght@100;200;300;400;500;600;700;800;900&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">Pairings using Fraunces
View allThe art of typography
Good typography is the visible voice of design, quiet when it should be, loud when it must.
PreviewFraunces + Inter
Fraunces headlines over Inter body, a contemporary luxury editorial pairing. Fraunces' variable optical sizing and soft axis let headings move from text to display while staying coherent.
The art of typography
Good typography is the visible voice of design, quiet when it should be, loud when it must.
PreviewFraunces + Source Serif 4
Fraunces headlines over Source Serif 4 body, an all-serif editorial pairing with personality. Fraunces' expressive optical sizing up top; Source Serif 4's stability below.
The art of typography
Good typography is the visible voice of design, quiet when it should be, loud when it must.
PreviewFraunces + Lora
Fraunces headings over Lora body. A variable display serif with optical sizing on top of a calligraphic text serif. For long-read publications that want a full serif system without any sans.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the SOFT and opsz axes in Fraunces?
- The SOFT axis controls the 'wonkiness' of the letterforms, from more formal (0) to more quirky (100). The opsz (optical size) axis adjusts stroke contrast and detail for the current size. For body text, set opsz to the font size in pixels.
- Is Fraunces suitable for body text?
- At larger body sizes (18 px and above with a high opsz value), Fraunces can work for short-form body text in editorial contexts. For long-form reading, a screen-optimised serif like Source Serif 4 or Merriweather is a better choice.
Test Fraunces in the playground
Drop Fraunces into the typography playground, mix it with another family, and check contrast on real text.