editorial

Cormorant Garamond and Work Sans font pairing

Serif headings with a sans serif body.

Background
Issue 07 · Field notes
The art of saying less

Good pairings feel inevitable. Great ones set the tone before a single word is read.

Typography sets the tone before a single word is read. A strong pairing creates clear hierarchy while feeling like one consistent voice across every page. This paragraph is set in Work Sans, while the headline uses Cormorant Garamond. Numbers like 0123456789, punctuation “quotes” — and ampersands & — reveal a lot about how two typefaces get along.

Contrast, then harmony

Look for contrast in structure and harmony in proportion: similar x-heights, compatible widths and a shared sense of rhythm. Bold text and italic text should feel natural, too.

Why this pairing works

A classic contrast: Cormorant Garamond's serifs give headlines an editorial, trustworthy voice while Work Sans's clean shapes keep body text easy to scan on screens. Work Sans ships in 9 weights, so you can build captions, buttons and emphasis without adding another family.

HCormorant Garamond

Cormorant Garamond is a free serif typeface designed by Christian Thalmann, added to Google Fonts in 2016. It comes in 5 weights with matching italics, and is a variable font with a weight axis.

More pairings for Cormorant Garamond →

BWork Sans

Work Sans is a free sans serif typeface designed by Wei Huang, added to Google Fonts in 2015. It comes in 9 weights with matching italics, and is a variable font with a weight axis.

More pairings for Work Sans →

Use this pairing on your website

HTML — paste in <head>
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Cormorant+Garamond:wght@700&family=Work+Sans:wght@400;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
CSS
h1, h2, h3 {
  font-family: 'Cormorant Garamond', serif;
  font-weight: 700;
}

body {
  font-family: 'Work Sans', sans-serif;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 1.6;
}

More pairings with Cormorant Garamond

Design is how it works

Typography sets the tone before a single word is read. A good pairing feels like one voice.

HCormorant GaramondBMontserrateditorial→

A classic contrast: Cormorant Garamond's serifs give headlines an editorial, trustworthy voice while Montserrat's clean shapes keep body text easy to scan on screens.

Everything starts with a sketch

Typography sets the tone before a single word is read. A good pairing feels like one voice.

HCormorant GaramondBOutfiteditorial→

A classic contrast: Cormorant Garamond's serifs give headlines an editorial, trustworthy voice while Outfit's clean shapes keep body text easy to scan on screens.

More pairings with Work Sans

Good things take time

Typography sets the tone before a single word is read. A good pairing feels like one voice.

HMerriweatherBWork Sanseditorial→

A classic contrast: Merriweather's serifs give headlines an editorial, trustworthy voice while Work Sans's clean shapes keep body text easy to scan on screens.

Frequently asked questions

Do Cormorant Garamond and Work Sans go well together?

A classic contrast: Cormorant Garamond's serifs give headlines an editorial, trustworthy voice while Work Sans's clean shapes keep body text easy to scan on screens. Work Sans ships in 9 weights, so you can build captions, buttons and emphasis without adding another family.

Which font should be used for headings?

Use Cormorant Garamond for headings at weight 700, and Work Sans for body text at weight 400. You can swap them in the pairing tool to compare.

Are Cormorant Garamond and Work Sans free?

Yes — both are open-source fonts on Google Fonts and free for personal and commercial use.