Font superfamily

The PT family, showing the related structures of letters

Thesis by Lucas DeGroot

In typography, a font superfamily or typeface superfamily is a collection of font families that fall into multiple classifications, typically covering serif, sans-serif, and monospaced typefaces. ^[1]

Some font superfamilies are created to have similar letterforms. ^[2] The norm is to start from an identical character shape and then add class-specific features such as serifs or slab serifs.

Other superfamilies are grouped together for a common purpose that are not exactly complementary in letterform structure. For instance, Noto fonts and GNU FreeFont are both created to cover characters in as many languages as possible, given the resource of their respective designer teams. ^{[3] [4]} The TeX Gyre fonts were created for the TeX community, although they are now widely used in other environments.

Superfamilies can allow organisations to expand their image and style while maintaining stylistic consistency. For example, BBC Reith font superfamily was commissioned by the BBC in 2018 to facilitate 'typographic expression' and consists of three styles (condensed, sans, serif) as well as a multitude of weights. ^{[5] [6]}

Notable superfamilies

Same letterforms

Berlingske

by Playtype, comprising Berlingske Serif, Berlingske Serif Display, Berlingske Serif Stencil, Berlingske sans, Berlingske Sans Display, Berlingske sans Stencil, Berlingske Slab, Berlingske Slab Display, Berlingske Slab Stencil, Berlingske Typewriter.

FF Meta

by Erik Spiekermann, comprising FF Meta (sans), FF Meta Serif and FF Meta Headline

FF Nexus

by Martin Majoor, comprising FF Nexus Sans, FF Nexus Serif, FF Nexus Mix and FF Nexus Typewriter

FF Quadraat

by Fred Smeijers, comprising FF Quadraat (serif), FF Quadraat Sans, FF Quadraat Display and FF Quadraat Headliner

FF Scala

by Martin Majoor, comprising FF Scala (serif) and FF Scala Sans

FF Seria

by Martin Majoor, comprising FF Seria (serif) and FF Seria Sans

Generis

by Erik Faulhaber, comprising Generis Sans, Generis Serif, Generis Simple and Generis Slab

ITC Humana

by Timothy Donaldso, comprising ITC Humana Sans, ITC Humana Serif and ITC Humana Script

ITC Officina

by Erik Spiekermann and Just van Rossum, comprising ITC Officina Sans, ITC Officina Serif and ITC Officina Display

Linotype Authentic

by Karin Huschka, comprising Linotype Authentic Sans, Linotype Authentic Serif, Linotype Authentic Small Serif and Linotype Authentic Stencil

Linotype Compatil

by Olaf Leu, comprising Compatil Text, Compatil Fact, Compatil Letter and Compatil Exquisit

Lucida

by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes, comprising Lucida Sans, Lucida Serif, Lucida Typewriter Sans, Lucida Typewriter Serif and Lucida Math

Merriweather

by Eben Sorkin, comprising Merriweather and Merriweather Sans

Penumbra

by Lance Hidy, comprising Penumbra Sans, Penumbra Serif, Penumbra Half Serif and Penumbra Flare

PT Fonts

by Alexandra Korolkova et al, comprising PT Serif, PT Sans and PT Mono.

Rotis

by Otl Aicher, comprising rotis serif, rotis semi-serif, rotis semi-sans and rotis sans

Sassoon

by Rosemary Sassoon and Adrian William, comprising Sassoon Sans, Sassoon Book, Sassoon Primary, Sassoon Infant and Sassoon Sans Slope

Source

by Paul D. Hunt and Frank Grießhammer, comprising Source Sans Pro, Source Serif Pro and Source Code Pro

Stone

by Sumner Stone, comprising Stone Serif, Stone Sans and Stone Informal

Thesis

by Lucas de Groot, comprising TheSans, TheSerif, TheMix and TheAntiqua

Trajan

both Trajan (serif, designed by Carol Twombly) and Trajan Sans. No lower-case.

Same purpose

Consisted mostly of open-source fonts, the superfamilies listed below are developed for computer systems or typesetting environments to support letter forms without the need for commerical licenses.

Computer Modern

by Donald E. Knuth, comprising CMR (antiqua), CMSS (grotesque) and CMTT (monospaced)

DejaVu and Bitstream Vera

comprising DejaVu Sans, DejaVu Sans Mono and DejaVu Serif.

Droid

by Steve Matteson, comprising Droid Sans, Droid Serif and Droid Sans Mono.

IBM Plex

by Mike Abbink, comprising IBM Plex Sans, IBM Plex Sans Condensed, IBM Plex Serif and IBM Plex Mono

Noto fonts

by Google, comprising Noto Sans, Noto Serif and Noto Mono, an expansion of the Droid family. It supports a wide range of languages.

Roboto

by Christian Robertson, comprising Roboto, Roboto Slab, Roboto Serif, Roboto Flex, Roboto Mono

Liberation

by Steve Matteson, comprising Liberation Sans, Liberation Serif and Liberation Mono

GNU FreeFont

comprising FreeSerif, FreeSans, and FreeMono, which are open-source clones of Times, Helvetica, and Courier

TeX Gyre fonts

clones of popular commerical fonts developed for TeX environments

References

1. "Superfamily". Google Fonts. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
2. "What are font superfamilies and why do we need them?". Monotype. 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
3. "Noto Dashboard". notofonts.github.io. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
4. "GNU FreeFont - Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2026-01-06.
5. "Super Families - Fonts.com". Fonts.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
6. "Typography". GEL Website. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2024-06-10.