# Expletus Sans font

> A display sans with deliberately open joints, in four weights with italics on a 400–700 variable axis.

Expletus Sans is a display sans serif from Designtown, with Jasper de Waard named as designer in the font files. Its strokes stop short of the stems, leaving small gaps in letters such as a, n and p. Expletus Sans is a variable font from 400 to 700 with italics, and is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

## Facts

- Classification: [Display](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/display)
- Designed by: Designtown
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 8 (Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600, Bold 700; with italics)
- Variable font: Yes (wght 400–700)
- Glyphs: 251
- Character sets: latin
- Last updated: 2025-09-11
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Expletus+Sans
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/expletus-sans
- Tagged for: Headlines, Logos, Branding

## About Expletus Sans

Expletus Sans is a display typeface built on a humanist sans skeleton with one consistent quirk: curved strokes do not join the stems. In the specimen the bowl of a, the arches of n, m and h and the bowls of b, d and p all stop just before touching, leaving a notch of white, and the crossbar of the capital A is replaced by a short curved stroke. Stroke ends are cut at angles, which gives the letters a chiselled look. Its makers say plainly that it is a display face and not recommended for long text. The family has four weights, Regular, Medium, SemiBold and Bold, each with an italic, eight styles in all, and the official notes record its conversion to a variable font with adjusted line spacing. The weight axis runs from 400 to 700. Each font has 251 glyphs in the basic Latin subset.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright 2018 The Expletus Sans Project Authors (https://github.com/googlefonts/Expletus-Sans)

Allowed:
- 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.

Summary only, not legal advice. Full text: https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/

## Where it works

- **Section and page headings**: The broken joints are legible details at heading sizes and give titles a distinct texture.
- **Wordmarks**: Open joints and angled stroke ends make a short name recognisable without added ornament.
- **Pull quotes and intro lines**: Italics in all four weights allow an emphasised quotation in the same display style.
- **Signage and wayfinding titles**: SemiBold and Bold keep the gaps visible on large panels read from a distance.
- **Animated weight changes**: The 400 to 700 axis lets a headline shift weight smoothly in CSS.

## Things to know

- **Not for long text**: The makers themselves advise against using Expletus Sans for long passages.
- **Starts at Regular**: The weight axis runs from 400 to 700. No light weights exist.
- **Basic Latin only**: The Latin Extended set is not included in this version, nor are Cyrillic or Greek.
- **Two variable files**: The package has one variable TTF for upright and one for italic; static instances are not included.

## FAQs

### Is Expletus Sans free for commercial use?

Yes. Expletus Sans is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, so it can be used free of charge in personal and commercial work, changed and passed on. The fonts cannot be sold on their own, and derivatives remain under the same license.

### Who designed Expletus Sans?

Expletus Sans is credited to Designtown. The font's name table gives Jasper de Waard as the designer.

### How many weights does Expletus Sans have?

Expletus Sans has four weights, Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600 and Bold 700, each with an italic.

### Is Expletus Sans a variable font?

Yes. Expletus Sans is a variable font with a weight axis from 400 to 700, in separate upright and italic files.

### Can Expletus Sans be used for body text?

Expletus Sans is a display typeface, and its makers do not recommend it for long pieces of text. Use it for headers and other large type.

### Which languages does Expletus Sans support?

Expletus Sans includes the letters needed for English and Western European languages such as French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Finnish.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/expletus-sans (trendhub)