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Basic

A low-contrast sans in one weight, slightly narrow, whose a, i and l end in small curved tails.

Sans Serif 1 style by Magnus Gaarde OFL

Download family 55 KB Type your own text

Basic is a sans serif text typeface of low contrast by Magnus Gaarde, with slightly narrow letters and curved tails on a, i and l. It comes in one Regular style with 459 glyphs for Latin and Latin Extended. Basic is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and can be set from small sizes up to display headings.

Basic font preview card
Preview drawn by trendhub from the font files.
Designer
Magnus Gaarde
Classification
Sans Serif
License
SIL Open Font License 1.1
Styles
1 1 weight
Variable font
No
Glyphs
459
Languages checked
24 see the list
Last updated
version 1.003; ttfautohint (v1.1) -l 6 -r 16 -G 0 -x 16 -D latn -f none -w ""
Used for
HeadlinesInterfacesBranding

Official source: Google Fonts. Facts on this page were read from the font files and the source’s published data.

Try Basic

Sample text

Type over the sample to test your own words. The preview loads a Latin subset of Basic; the download contains the complete files.

Basic font specimen: alphabet, numerals and weights
Basic specimen: alphabet, numerals and weights. Image drawn by trendhub from the font files.

Weights and styles

  • Regular 400Basic Regular

About Basic

Basic is a sans serif typeface with little difference between thick and thin strokes. The official description calls it a text face that combines well-known shapes with a small twist and says it can be used at small sizes as well as in large display settings. In the specimen that twist sits in the details: the lowercase a, i and l finish with a short curved tail at the baseline, stroke ends are cut at a slight angle, and the letters are a little narrow, which sets words compactly. The lowercase is tall, with short ascenders and descenders. Basic has only one style, Regular 400, without italic or bold, and it is not a variable font. Its 459 glyphs cover Latin and Latin Extended. Magnus Gaarde is the designer, the copyright notice names Sorkin Type Co., and the license is the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

Where Basic works

Website headings and navigation
Slightly narrow letters keep menu items and page titles short.
Short interface text
Low contrast and a tall lowercase hold up in buttons, labels and tooltips.
Captions and small print
Small sizes are among the uses named in the official description.
Plain wordmarks
The tails on a, i and l give a simple name a detail that a strictly geometric sans lacks.

Glyphs

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~¡¢

Latin and Latin Extended characters in the preview subset; the complete family has 459 glyphs.

Language support

The family contains the core letters these languages are written with:

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese
  • Italian
  • Dutch
  • Swedish
  • Norwegian
  • Danish
  • Finnish
  • Icelandic
  • Catalan
  • Turkish
  • Polish
  • Czech
  • Slovak
  • Hungarian
  • Romanian
  • Croatian
  • Slovenian
  • Lithuanian
  • Latvian
  • Estonian

Character sets found in the files: latin, latin-ext. The language list is a check of required letters against the font, not a promise of typographic quality in each language.

License

SIL Open Font License 1.1Copyright (c) 2011 by Sorkin Type Co (www.sorkintype.com), with Reserved Font Name "Basic".

What the license allows

  • Use the fonts in personal and commercial work, in print, on the web and in apps.
  • Modify the fonts and build new versions from them.
  • Redistribute the fonts, on their own or bundled with software, as long as the license text and copyright notice go with them.

Conditions

  • The fonts cannot be sold by themselves.
  • A modified version must stay under the same license and cannot use a Reserved Font Name without the copyright holder's permission.
  • The authors' names cannot be used to promote a modified version without permission.

This is a short summary, not legal advice. The license text decides: read the full OFL text. A copy is included in the download.

Fonts that pair with Basic

Amiri Serif

Basic is sans serif and Amiri is serif (2 weights): the difference in structure separates headings from text.

Besley Slab Serif

Basic is sans serif and Besley is slab serif (6 weights): the difference in structure separates headings from text.

Cousine Monospace

Cousine is a monospace family (2 weights) for code and figures next to Basic as the text face.

Suggestions come from simple rules on the records: a contrasting classification and enough weights to carry body text. They are a starting point, not a verdict.

Use Basic on the web

Download the family and host the files on your own site, then declare them in CSS. Please do not link to the files on trendhub.net: preview files here are subsets and their addresses change.

CSS, self-hosted
@font-face {
  font-family: "Basic";
  src: url("/assets/fonts/Basic-Regular.ttf") format("truetype");
  font-weight: 400;
  font-style: normal;
  font-display: swap;
}

body {
  font-family: "Basic", sans-serif;
}

Or load it from the official source. Google Fonts serves Basic with this markup:

HTML, Google Fonts

Things to know

Regular only
Basic has no bold or italic, so emphasis has to come from size, colour or a second family.
Tailed letters
The curved exits on a, i and l appear in the default letters, as the specimen shows.
Latin scripts only
Latin and Latin Extended are covered; no other writing system is included.

FAQs

Is Basic free for commercial use?

Yes. The SIL Open Font License 1.1 covers Basic: it may be used in personal and commercial projects, modified and passed on. It cannot be sold on its own, and a modified version keeps the same license and may not use the Reserved Font Name without permission.

Who designed Basic?

Basic was designed by Magnus Gaarde. The copyright notice names Sorkin Type Co.

How many weights does Basic have?

Basic has one weight, Regular 400, and no italic.

Can Basic be used for body text?

Basic was drawn as a text typeface and is described officially as easy to read. With only a Regular style, though, a paragraph set in Basic has no bold or italic for emphasis.

Which languages does Basic support?

Basic includes the letters needed for English and other Latin-script languages such as Danish, German, Turkish, Polish, Romanian and Lithuanian.

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