Font choice says a lot about your brand. Different typefaces tell your audience whether your brand is playful or sophisticated, classic or modern, youthful or mature. Therefore, before you go about looking for font pairings for your brand, you should make sure you have a solid understanding of the tone, voice, and aesthetic of your brand.
In today’s post, I’m sharing 5 elegant font pairings that are perfect for modern brands. Brands that are both elegant and modern should portray an image of sophistication and minimalism. As you’ll see in the examples below, an elegant serif heading font pairs well with a more modern sans serif body font.
1. Playfair Display + Open Sans
These are two free Google Fonts that you just can’t go wrong with. The only downside to using them is that they’re very popular. However, this modern font pairing is a great starting point for any brand.
Get Playfair Display | Get Open Sans
2. Cormorant Garamond + Source Sans Pro
Source Sans Pro is another popular Google Font that goes with just about any other font. Here, I’ve paired it with Cormorant Garamond, a simple yet classic serif.
Get Cormorant Garamond | Get Source Sans Pro
3. Josefin Sans + Muli
When pairing two sans serif fonts, you can create a bit of contrast by using one that has sharper edges (like Josefin Sans) with a more rounded font (like Muli). Unfortunately, Muli is no longer available for free via Google Fonts but can now be activated with an Adobe subscription.
4. Cardo + Assistant
Cardo is one of my all-time favorite Google Fonts – classic, elegant, and modern. It pairs beautifully with a simple, sans serif like Assistant.
5. Forum + Glacial Indifference
Get Forum | Get Glacial Indifference
Selecting elegant font pairings for modern brands may seem counterintuitive. Elegant can sometimes imply that a style is refined and classic–in some ways, the opposite of modern, which is generally more youthful and current. However, when done well, I believe a brand can convey both elegance and modernity without contradicting itself.
Modern brands that feature elegant font pairings
Let’s look at some examples of modern, trendy brands that also exude timeless elegance. In particular, the combination of elegant and modern works well for new, luxury brands that target millennials.
Shopbop
According to their About page, Shopbop is the “go-to online retail destination for modern style.” The brand features a clean and minimalist aesthetic. Shopbop sells both new and classic luxury brands that are popular among millennials. When I view their website, I can’t help but think of Instagram influencers and fashion bloggers. All of these features are conveyed in part by their use of fonts.
Shashi
Shashi is a high-end, minimalist jewelry brand that offers a combination of timeless and trendy designs. Their website is clean and simple and features a classic heading font paired with a sans serif body font. Popular among millennials, Shashi’s jewelry looks expensive and classy but won’t break the bank.
The Laundress
The Laundress is a unique brand that makes the chore of doing laundry feel glamorous. How? That’s the magic of branding. Similar to the above examples, Shashi pairs an elegant serif font with a modern sans serif to play up the classy-yet-trendy factor.
Related post: Top 20 modern fonts for logo design and branding
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