playful · friendly

Permanent Marker and Roboto font pairing

Handwriting headings with a sans serif body.

Background
Issue 07 · Field notes
Design is how it works

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 Roboto, while the headline uses Permanent Marker. 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

Permanent Marker adds a human, hand-made touch to short headlines and accents; Roboto keeps everything else clear and legible. Roboto ships in 9 weights, so you can build captions, buttons and emphasis without adding another family.

HPermanent Marker

Permanent Marker is a free handwriting typeface designed by Font Diner, added to Google Fonts in 2011. It comes in 1 weight.

More pairings for Permanent Marker →

BRoboto

Roboto is a free sans serif typeface designed by Christian Robertson, ParaType and Font Bureau, added to Google Fonts in 2013. It comes in 9 weights with matching italics, and is a variable font with width and weight axes.

More pairings for Roboto →

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=Permanent+Marker:wght@400&family=Roboto:wght@400;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
CSS
h1, h2, h3 {
  font-family: 'Permanent Marker', cursive;
  font-weight: 400;
}

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

More pairings with Permanent Marker

The future of small business

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

HPermanent MarkerBUbuntuplayfulfriendly→

Permanent Marker adds a human, hand-made touch to short headlines and accents; Ubuntu keeps everything else clear and legible.

Make something people love

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

HPermanent MarkerBManropeplayfulfriendly→

Permanent Marker adds a human, hand-made touch to short headlines and accents; Manrope keeps everything else clear and legible.

Ideas that travel well

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

HPermanent MarkerBPromptplayfulfriendly→

Permanent Marker adds a human, hand-made touch to short headlines and accents; Prompt keeps everything else clear and legible.

More pairings with Roboto

Everything starts with a sketch

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

HSource Serif 4BRobotoeditorial→

A classic contrast: Source Serif 4's serifs give headlines an editorial, trustworthy voice while Roboto'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.

HCrimson TextBRobotoeditorial→

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

Frequently asked questions

Do Permanent Marker and Roboto go well together?

Permanent Marker adds a human, hand-made touch to short headlines and accents; Roboto keeps everything else clear and legible. Roboto ships in 9 weights, so you can build captions, buttons and emphasis without adding another family.

Which font should be used for headings?

Use Permanent Marker for headings at weight 400, and Roboto for body text at weight 400. You can swap them in the pairing tool to compare.

Are Permanent Marker and Roboto free?

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