Fonts that best display symbols

Submitted by Andrew on Sat, 08/20/2011 - 15:25

This is a test of various symbols and how they display in web fonts. First we have to test what fonts are installed on typical browsers.

Test of Fonts Installed

If not installed, will show as Webdings, (assuming Webdings is on your computer).

San Serif

font symbols words
Arial “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘DejaVu Sans’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘FreeSans’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Helvetica “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Liberation Sans’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Nimbus Sans L’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
sans-serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘trebuchet MS’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Verdana “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.

Serif

font symbols words
‘Bitstream Charter’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Century Schoolbook L’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘DejaVu Serif’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘FreeSerif’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Geneva “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Georgia “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Liberation Serif’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Nimbus Roman No 9 L’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Palatino “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Tahoma “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
Times “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Times New Roman’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘URW Palladio L’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.

Mono-spaced

font symbols words
‘Andale Mono’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Courier New’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘FreeMono’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Liberation Mono’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
monospace “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Nimbus Mono L’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.

Apple Specific

font symbols words
‘Helvetica Neue’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Lucida Bright’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Lucida Console’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Lucida Grande’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Lucida Sans’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.

Less common

font symbols words
‘Bitstream Vera Mono’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Bitstream Vera Sans’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Bitstream Vera Serif’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Book Antiqua’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘DejaVu Mono’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Hoefler Text’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.
‘Palatino Linotype’ “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox.

Suggested font family combinations

font symbols words font-family
verdana/trebuchet “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. verdana, ‘trebuchet MS’, ‘Lucida Sans’, helvetica, sans-serif
Narrow Sans-Serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ‘Liberation Sans’, ‘Nimbus Sans L’, ‘FreeSans’, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif
Wide Sans-Serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ‘DejaVu Sans’, ‘Bitstream Vera Sans’, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif
Narrow Serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ‘Liberation Serif’, ‘Nimbus Roman No 9 L’, ‘FreeSerif’, ‘Hoefler Text’, Times, ‘Times New Roman’, serif
Antique Serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ‘Bitstream Charter’, ‘URW Palladio L’, Palatino, ‘Palatino Linotype’, ‘Book Antiqua’, serif
Wide Serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ‘DejaVu Serif’, ‘Bitstream Vera Serif’, ‘Century Schoolbook L’, ‘Lucida Bright’, Georgia, serif
Monospace “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ‘Liberation Mono’, ‘Nimbus Mono L’, ‘FreeMono’, ‘DejaVu Mono’, ‘Bitstream Vera Mono’, ‘Lucida Console’, ‘Andale Mono’, ‘Courier New’, monospace
Alternative Sans-Serif “¼” ‘⅓’ «½» ⅔ ¾ ←↑⇓⇒ …•● The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. Arial, Helvetica, ‘Liberation Sans’, Verdana, ‘Bitstream Vera Sans’ , sans-serif