Didone (Modern) Serif vs Didot

Didot evolved from Didone (Modern) Serif.

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 →
Type specimen — Didot (Didone serif); shown in Playfair Display, a close match (OFL)

Didot

Firmin Didot's Parisian Didone of the 1780s–90s — even more severe and hairline-fine than Bodoni, with razor-thin unbracketed serifs. The chic, frosty voice of French fashion typography.

  • Extreme stem-to-hairline contrast
  • Strictly vertical axis of stress
  • Flat, razor-thin, unbracketed hairline serifs
  • Abrupt serif-to-stem joins with little bracketing
  • Precise, geometric, aristocratic proportions
Full Didot guide →

At a glance

Didone (Modern) SerifDidot
Era1780s–1820s1790s
DisciplineTypographyTypography
RegionItaly, FranceFrance, Paris
FamilySerifSerif
Formal traitsdidone, high-contrast, vertical-stress, unbracketeddidone, high-contrast, vertical-stress, unbracketed

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