Fraunces
Fraunces is a display, "Old Style" soft-serif typeface inspired by the mannerisms of early 20th century typefaces such as Windsor , Souvenir, and the Cooper Series. Fraunces was designed by Phaedra Charles and Flavia Zimbardi, partners at Undercase Type . Fraunces is a Variable Font with four axes: Weight (wght), Optical Size (opsz), Softness (SOFT), and Wonky (WONK). The Softness axis controls the “wetness” or “inkiness” of the typeface. The Wonky axis controls the manual substitution of “wonky” characters, such as the lean of the h, n, and m glyphs in the Roman, and the flagged ball terminals of the b, d, h, k, l, v, and w glyphs of the Italic. To contribute, please see github.com/undercasetype/Fraunces . To learn more, read Wonky, goofy, playful, elegant and a workhorse: Meet a new breed of "Old Style" typeface .
- Classification
- Serif
- Foundry
- License
- free
- Source
- Get this font ↗
01Style templates
Fraunces for the heading, Epilogue for the body.
02Suggested pairings
AaBbCc
0123456789
{(!@#$?&})
05Type scale
Waterfall · 64 → 16 pxDesign starts with a question.
Good letters carry the memory of the pen.
A soft serif with old-style warmth, drawn for display sizes and unhurried reading.
This typeface borrows the melting charm of phototype and rebuilds it, patiently, for the screen.
At text sizes the warmth settles into something quieter: open counters, a generous x-height, and forms that curve rather than cut. It reads like a well-worn paperback — familiar, unhurried, and slightly mischievous.
06Weights
9 styles07In context
Text settingsGood letters carry the memory of the pen.
The brief asked for warmth without nostalgia, and authority without sternness. Fraunces answered both at once — a face that feels typeset by hand yet holds up at retinal resolutions. At this size it settles into an unhurried rhythm: generous spacing, open counters, and letterforms that carry tone before they announce themselves.
Small sizes are where display faces usually apologise for themselves. Fraunces does not. Drop into text and the texture tightens into a competent, readable grey — open counters, a generous x-height, and forms that curve rather than cut. At text sizes the warmth settles into something quieter: familiar, unhurried, and slightly mischievous. It reads like a well-worn paperback, holding its voice across captions, footnotes, and long paragraphs without flattening into noise. Paired with a neutral grotesque for wayfinding and labels, it gives an identity system exactly one strong opinion — usually the right number — while the body keeps doing the quiet work underneath.
08Character set
Hover a glyph to inspect09About Fraunces
Fraunces is a display, "Old Style" soft-serif typeface inspired by the mannerisms of early 20th century typefaces such as Windsor , Souvenir, and the Cooper Series. Fraunces was designed by Phaedra Charles and Flavia Zimbardi, partners at Undercase Type . Fraunces is a Variable Font with four axes: Weight (wght), Optical Size (opsz), Softness (SOFT), and Wonky (WONK). The Softness axis controls the “wetness” or “inkiness” of the typeface. The Wonky axis controls the manual substitution of “wonky” characters, such as the lean of the h, n, and m glyphs in the Roman, and the flagged ball terminals of the b, d, h, k, l, v, and w glyphs of the Italic. To contribute, please see github.com/undercasetype/Fraunces . To learn more, read Wonky, goofy, playful, elegant and a workhorse: Meet a new breed of "Old Style" typeface .