sulei.uk — display serif candidates
Six serifs, same sentence
Set at the real headline size · ligatures on (liga + dlig + hlig) · all OFL
The incumbent
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
EB Garamond
OFL · static + variable
The most book-like of the six. Standard ligatures plus historical ones (ct, st) behind hlig; sets a printed page rather than a screen.
Safest swap: reads as letterpress, pairs cleanly with DM Sans.
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
fi fl ff ffi ffl ct st
Cormorant Garamond
OFL · static + variable
High contrast, very fine hairlines, deep discretionary ligatures. Beautiful at 80px+, fragile below 32px.
Most elegant, least flexible — display only.
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
fi fl ff ffi ffl ct st
Fraunces
OFL · variable (opsz, SOFT, WONK)
A variable old-style with an optical-size axis, so headlines get a display cut automatically. Quirky details you can dial up or down.
Most character; the one that would make the sheet feel designed.
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
fi fl ff ffi ffl ct st
Newsreader
OFL · variable (opsz)
Designed for editorial reading. Quiet, sturdy, ligatures present but unshowy.
Closest to Lora in temperament — a low-risk modernisation.
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
fi fl ff ffi ffl ct st
Instrument Serif
OFL · static
Tight spacing, high contrast, display only. Very current; it will date faster than the others.
Trendy. Handsome, but it says 2025.
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
fi fl ff ffi ffl ct st
Playfair Display
OFL · variable
The default “editorial” Didone. Competent ligatures, but it is everywhere.
Works, but reads as a template choice.
Accessible products, built from curiosity.
fi fl ff ffi ffl ct st
Any of these would be subset to latin + latin-ext, self-hosted as woff2, and the subset must keep kern, liga, dlig and hlig or the ligatures vanish silently.