Time for another instalment of my cool type-pairing series, this one featuring a range of online publications.
Ars Technica
You can build an excellent website using just free typefaces if you pair them well, which is what Ars Technica has done.
This site uses Source Sans 3 (Adobe, Paul D Hunt) for body text, Faustina (Omnibus-Type) for headings, and Exo 2 (Natanael Gama) for bylines and metadata. All of which help make this website look modern and serious/authoritative.
Screenshot from the Ars Technica website of an article titled, “A quirky guide to myths and lore based in actual science”.
Source Sans 3 and Faustina are both on my most recent (Dec 2025) favourite typefaces list, by the way :)
Semafor
While Ars Technica’s style is that of a modern, web-only publication, Semafor’s style is very classic newspaper/magazine, though also one that’s web-only. In fact, its two main typefaces were both originally designed for magazines that were published by the New York Times.
This website uses Lyon Text (Commercial Type) for body text and Feature Flat Display (Commercial Type) for its headings. Oh, and it uses good old Helvetica for its metadata, captions, menus, etc.
Screenshot from the Semafor website of an article titled, “Semafor Tech’s predictions for 2026”.
Hodinkee
Sticking with websites that use modernised classic typography, let’s look at Hodinkee.
Hodinkee uses mostly the Portrait typeface family (Commercial Type): Portrait Text for body text, Portrait Regular for headings, and Portrait Inline Sans for the article category (ie the “Essays” that’s in all-caps in the screenshot below). Portrait is a minimalist, screen-friendly interpretation of French Renaissance typefaces like Garamond.
The site also uses Brown (Shinntype) for bylines and metadata and Proxima Nova (Mark Simonson) for the headings and metadata in the comments section.
Screenshot from the Hodinkee website of an article titled, “An Exciting 2026 And A Push For More In 2026”.
Harvard Business Review
Let’s end on a website that uses two of my favourite typefaces, the website in question being the venerable Harvard Business Review (HBR).
HBR’s website uses Tiempos Text (Klim Type Foundry) for body text and GT America (Grilli Type) for headings and everything else (metadata, menus, captions, etc).
Screenshot from the Harvard Business Review website of an article titled, “Don’t Underestimate the Value of Professional Friendships”.
Tiempos Text is a modernisation of typefaces like Plantin and Times (the Linotype interpretation of Times New Roman that’s available on macOS). Times New Roman itself is based on Plantin.
According to its designers, GT America is “the missing bridge between 19th century American Gothics and 20th century European Neo-Grotesk typefaces” – meaning it takes the best design features from American typefaces like Franklin Gothic and European typefaces like Helvetica and Univers.
Both Tiempos Text and GT America are really cool. And also really expensive. <sigh>
What’s next?
After focusing on large publications in this instalment, I think I’ll focus on personal blogs in my next cool type-pairing post.