Weekly Combo: Bembo + Franklin Gothic

Bembo and Franklin look quite nice together, with Bembo as a display text and Franklin as the body. Or you could invert them. They both share excellent readability. Franklin is a humanist san-serif, it’s also clean, no-nonsense and not really geometric. It was designed in 1902 by Morris Fuller Benton. Bembo hearkens from the late 1400s, designed by Francesco Griffo. The modern version was re-created by Monotype with Stanley Morrison overseeing its production (you remember Morrison, the guy who designed Times New Roman?). The typeface is readable, sharing some similarities with Garamond (check out the lowercase b, f, y). I love the finishing stroke on the r, it’s gorgeous and the petite serifs are a nice contrast to the sturdy strokes of Franklin.

Where to buy the typefaces:

Bembo, ITC Franklin Gothic

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