Category | Sans-serif |
---|---|
Classification | Grotesque, Humanist |
Designer(s) | Paul D. Hunt |
Foundry | Adobe Inc. |
Date created | 2012 |
License | SIL Open Font License |
Design based on | |
Variations | Source Han Sans |
Website | github |
Latest release version | v3.052 |
Latest release date | March 30, 2023 |
Source Sans (known as Source Sans Pro before 2021)[1] is a sans-serif typeface created by Paul D. Hunt, released by Adobe in 2012.[2] It is the first open-source font family from Adobe, distributed under the SIL Open Font License.[3][4]
The typeface is inspired by the forms of the American Type Founders' gothics by Morris Fuller Benton, such as News Gothic, Lightline Gothic and Franklin Gothic, modified with both a larger x-height and character width and more humanist-influenced italic forms.[5] It is available in six weights (Regular, ExtraLight, Light, Semibold, Bold, Black) in upright and italic styles, and is also available as a variable font with continuous weight values from 200 to 900.[6] The typeface has wide language support for Latin script, including Western and Eastern European languages, Vietnamese, pinyin romanization of Chinese, and Navajo.[3] Adobe's training material highlights it as having a more consistent colour on the page than the rather condensed News Gothic it is based on.[7][8]
Source Sans has an obviousness and toughness similar to News Gothic, but with a much more even color. Its letterforms are wider and more widely spaced, more modest than monumental, which makes sense in a body text setting....News Gothic is not a good choice of body text typeface. Certain letter combinations are very dense, and the overall color is not even.