#There’s a new serif in town.

Serif

I love me some Helvetica. Give me a bold title in Neue on a clean background any day and I will probably love the “design”. Sans-serif font faces have been the driving force in web design and typographical layouts for some time. Despite my cautionary rant below, the times are a changin. Designers are getting bold, figuratively and literally.

I ran across an info-graphic today on LinkedIn, that has reiterated a position circulating the past few months in design and tech publications.

@krla_cook posted on the HubSpot Marketing Blog

Due to screen resolution limitations and an overall lack of online font support, designers avoided serif fonts for years to keep websites legible and clean. With recent improvements, serif fonts are having a big moment in 2018 – and they’ve never looked more modern. As seen on The Sill, a serif headline adds a dose of sophistication and style.

There are already numerous pairing generators available across the web such as Font Joy or Font Pair which uses Google Web Fonts. A word of caution, a keen eye of an artistic designer with working knowledge of typography will trump the clever laziness of a programmers tool, however cool and convenient. Although a trend is emerging, proceed with method and purposefulness. A haphazard pairing could easily derail readability and overall UX.

@poppiepack. posts some amazing examples of pairings on Canva

There’s a science to applying a heading, subheading and body copy to suit the type of content you’re producing and the message or tone of your brand.

Looking back at my most recent sites, layouts, and designs, shows how I’ve relied on a sans-serif approach to typography over the last few years. This is certainly not a sword I have to fall on. Looking for an excuse to make a layout with some serif goodness. Possibly in my next project.

Doesn’t mean I’ll be abandoning Neue Bold with some custom leading and kerning any time soon. Just cant beat those big, bold, beautiful, crisp, titles.