A calm, modern sans serif for identities, interfaces and everyday communication. Nine weights, with room to find your voice.
Personal use downloadVersion 0.2 · Free personal use · See pricing from A$39
Type anything. Move through the family continuously.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 & ! ? , ; : . “ ”
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Aa, Aarau.
Includes static TTF and OTF fonts, webfonts and a variable font. Aarau 0.2 is still being refined; broader language, print and application testing remains in progress.
A typeface built to be noticed slowly.
Aarau began with a frustration: too many modern sans serifs either disappear completely or try too hard to prove they are different. The goal was to sit in the space between those two extremes.
It needed to feel familiar enough to use every day, but considered enough that a brand, interface or publication could build a voice around it. Not loud. Not anonymous. Just deliberate.
The foundation is neo-grotesk: clear forms, practical proportions and a rhythm that does not fight the words. Aarau avoids decoration for its own sake. Its identity comes from the relationship between shapes rather than one attention-seeking letter.
The personality lives in small decisions: how a terminal finishes, how open a counter feels, how letters sit beside one another, and how those choices hold together across a whole family. Up close, those details matter. In a paragraph, they become rhythm.
Aarau runs from Thin 100 to Black 900, but the intention is continuity. Weight should change the volume of the typeface without changing its character. The variable axis lets that voice move continuously instead of forcing every use into a fixed preset.
The family is meant for real work: interfaces, identities, editorial layouts, packaging, presentations and everyday communication. Large or small, quiet or assertive, Aarau should keep the same underlying tone.
Neutral at first glance. Distinct in the details.
Aarau is a neo-grotesk variable sans serif typeface designed by Benjamin Miles. It is free for personal, non-commercial use, with paid licences for commercial, web, app and enterprise use.
The family contains nine static weights from Thin 100 through Black 900, plus a continuous variable font covering the full 100–900 weight axis.
The Aarau download includes desktop TTF and OTF fonts, webfont files including WOFF2, and a variable font for modern design and web workflows.
Yes, with a paid licence. Personal non-commercial use is free. Commercial client work, business branding, company use, web embedding, apps and software require the appropriate Aarau commercial licence.
Official source: github.com/Benji-Bitter/Aarau · Designed by Benjamin Miles · Version 0.2 development release.
School work, personal projects and non-commercial experimentation are free. Client work, company branding, advertising, products, business websites, apps and other commercial uses require a paid licence.
One person. Non-commercial personal projects, study, testing and personal portfolio work.
Download ↓One user. Client work, logos, print, social, advertising and commercial static output.
Get licence ↗Up to five users inside one business or studio. Excludes webfont and app embedding.
Get licence ↗One domain. Allows Aarau webfont files to be embedded and served on that licensed site.
Get licence ↗App or software embedding from A$399. Larger teams, multiple products and enterprise use are quoted.
Get quote ↗Commercial licences are one-time licences for the purchased scope unless otherwise agreed in writing. Read the full Aarau licence terms.
Questions about Aarau, feedback or collaborations?
Get in touch with Benjamin Miles.