Wikipedia

Inter (typeface)

Inter
CategorySans-serif
ClassificationNeo-grotesque
Designer(s)Rasmus Andersson
Date created2016
Date releasedAugust 22, 2017
GlyphsOver 2000
LicenseSIL Open Font License
VariationsInter Tight, Inter Display
Websitersms.me/inter/ /rsms/inter on github
Latest release version4.1
Latest release dateNovember 16, 2024

Inter is a free open-source neo-grotesque sans-serif typeface designed by Rasmus Andersson. Released in 2017, Inter was created to improve on-screen readability for user interface text, especially at small sizes.[1] The typeface has since become widely used in applications and websites.[2] Inter includes a wide range of OpenType features, support for over 140 languages, and is available as a variable font.[2]

Design characteristics

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Inter was created during Andersson's tenure at Figma to address perceived limitations in existing typefaces like Roboto.[1] The typeface is characterized by a tall x-height, open apertures, which make it optimized for readability on screens and at small text sizes.[3][4] The variable font includes an optical size axis allowing it to adapt for readability at all font sizes, and a weight axis allowing the weight to be adjusted smoothly from Thin (100) to Black (900) without the need for additional font files.[5]

Inter was initially metrically compatible with Roboto, but by 2018, it adopted its own vertical metrics and unique design features.[1] The italics in Inter are true italics (rather than oblique type), and there is extensive support for Open Type features such as a choice between single and double story "a", tabular figures, square or round quote marks and commas, number variants, and various ligatures.[6]

Inter is sometimes considered similar to the Apple system font, San Francisco.[7][8][2][9]

History

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Inter was designed in 2016 by Rasmus Andersson who wanted a font that was easier to read on computer screens than Roboto while retaining its vertical proportions.[1] Earlier versions of Inter (named "Interface" and "Inter UI") included glyphs and followed the vertical glyph metrics (ascender and descender) from Roboto, while Roboto glyphs were included as a fallback for characters that had not been redesigned in Inter.

Inter changed its vertical glyph metrics in 2018, making it different from that of Roboto.[10] The typeface had to be released in two combined licenses: the SIL Open Font License for original glyph designs for Inter and Apache License for the fallback Roboto glyphs and outlines. This exception was removed in 2020 after Roboto was re-licensed from Apache to OFL.[11]

Variants

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Inter Display is an experimental display version for large font sizes.[2] This work has already been partially integrated into Inter with the introduction of optical sizing.[12] Another variant with similar purpose, Inter Tight, was specifically designed for Google Workspace and other applications that do not support control over letter spacing.[13] Inter Tight shares the same glyph shapes as Inter, while Inter Display contains redesigned glyphs.

GNOME uses Adwaita Sans which is a customized version of Inter.[14]

The Inter files distributed by Google Fonts[15] do not include many of Inter's font features, which have been removed to reduce the size of the files in order to make them faster to load.[16]

Usage

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As well as serving as a UI typeface in applications such as Figma, Notion and Pixar Presto, and operating systems elementary OS and GNOME, Inter is now found extensively on the internet, including high profile websites such as GitLab, ISO, Mozilla, NASA, and Zurich Airport.[17][18][19][20][21]

Inter is one of the most widely used typefaces on the Internet. For the twelve months ending May 2025, Inter was accessed 414 billion times on Google Fonts, with 57% growth over the previous 12 months, making it the 16th most accessed font on Google Fonts.[22]

Inter has been included in books on web development,[23] been used to typeset books,[24] used in academic studies,[25][5] and is made available in major typesetting software such as CTAN and MiKTeX, making it accessible for academic and technical publishing.[26][27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d DeAmicus, Carmel (August 8, 2019). "The Birth of Inter". Figma. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Inter – README". GitHub. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  3. ^ "The story behind Inter". The Changelog. June 30, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  4. ^ "34 minimalist fonts for sleek designs". Figma. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Passeira, Sofia Torres Gonçalves Fiteiro (September 7, 2022). Typography: from reading to seeing (Thesis). Universidade de Coimbra, DEI-FCTUC. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  6. ^ "Inter OpenType features". Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  7. ^ Westcott, Matt (April 28, 2020). "An ode to the Inter typeface". Retrieved May 28, 2025.
  8. ^ Sethi, Jay (October 26, 2020). "Why Typeface Choice Matters (Even When It Doesn't)". Medium. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
  9. ^ "Inter". Typewolf. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  10. ^ "Inter UI Release v2.5". GitHub. February 18, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  11. ^ "Delete LICENSE for some glyph outlines.txt". GitHub. August 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  12. ^ "Inter v4 (Discussion #463)". GitHub. May 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  13. ^ "Inter Tight". Google Fonts. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  14. ^ "GNOME Release Notes". GNOME Release Notes. March 19, 2025. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
  15. ^ "Inter font". Google Fonts. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  16. ^ "Does the Google Fonts version support font-feature-settings?". GitHub. May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
  17. ^ "Inter font family". rsms.me. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  18. ^ "Inter font: Why it's so popular". UX Heart. June 27, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  19. ^ "Interview with Rasmus Andersson". One Page Love. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  20. ^ "How a font made in 15-minute breaks – how "Inter" came to be used by Mozilla and GitHub". August 13, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  21. ^ "After 14 Years of Cantarell – GNOME Is Testing a New Default Font". OMG! Linux. July 7, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  22. ^ "Google Fonts Analytics". Google Fonts. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  23. ^ Ben Frain (2020). Responsive web design with HTML5 and CSS : develop future-proof responsive websites using the latest HTML5 and CSS techniques. ISBN 9781839219795.
  24. ^ Thomsen, Bodil Marie Stavning; Kofoed, Jette; Fritsch, Jonas, eds. (2021). Affects, Interfaces, Events. Imbricate! Press. ISBN 979-8-7295-2452-5.
  25. ^ de Lacerda Pataca, Caluã; Hassan, Saad; Tinker, Nathan; Peiris, Roshan Lalintha; Huenerfauth, Matt (2024). "Caption Royale: Exploring the Design Space of Affective Captions from the Perspective of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals". Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. CHI '24. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. doi:10.1145/3613904.3642258. ISBN 9798400703300.
  26. ^ "Inter font package". CTAN. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  27. ^ "Inter font package". MiKTeX. Retrieved May 29, 2025.