Bodoni vs Didone (Modern) Serif

Bodoni evolved from Didone (Modern) Serif — an archetypal Didone.

Type specimen — Bodoni (Didone serif); shown in Libre Bodoni (OFL)

Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni's late-eighteenth-century Didone — extreme contrast, a strictly vertical axis, and flat hairline serifs that 'dazzle' on the page. The face of luxury, fashion, and Empire elegance.

  • Extreme contrast between heavy stems and hairline thins
  • Strictly vertical axis of stress
  • Flat, thin, unbracketed serifs
  • Ball terminals on a, c, f, r
  • Crisp, vertical, geometric proportions
Full Bodoni guide →
Type specimen — Didone (Modern) Serif (Modern serif); set in Libre Bodoni (OFL)

Didone (Modern) Serif

The rationalist serif at its most extreme — hairline-thin thins against heavy stems, a strictly vertical axis, and flat, unbracketed serifs. Dazzling, high-fashion, and unmistakably 'modern'.

  • Extreme contrast between hairline thins and heavy stems
  • Strictly vertical axis of stress
  • Flat, thin, unbracketed serifs
  • Ball terminals on a, c, f, r
  • Vertical, geometric, even letter proportions
Full Didone (Modern) Serif guide →

At a glance

BodoniDidone (Modern) Serif
Era1790s1780s–1820s
DisciplineTypographyTypography
RegionItaly, ParmaItaly, France
FamilySerifSerif
Formal traitsdidone, high-contrast, vertical-stress, unbracketeddidone, high-contrast, vertical-stress, unbracketed

More comparisons

Advertisement