The text face

DESK ONE is set in Elms Sans 200; every paragraph is set in Lora, settled 2026-08-13. This is the evidence that decided it — the same copy at the same sizes in every candidate, so the only thing differing is the letterforms.

Metrics under each plate are measured in this browser, not written down.

The control

Elms Sans’s own three weights at reading size. The pack’s dominant weight is 200 — the question is whether it can carry a paragraph, or only a name.

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

200 · the logotype weight

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

300 · headings

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

400 · body

The candidates

Body at 18/1.55, caption at 15/1.5, and a figures table — the three things the pack actually sets. Rarity is the wrong test here: a text face’s job is to disappear, so the rank is shown for context, not as a threshold to clear. Digit spread is the widest digit’s advance over the narrowest: past about 2 the figures set visibly ragged, which is what a price list exposes.

Elms Sans

almost unused — 1512 of 1942 on Google Fonts

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

Engagement 01$312,40018 weeks
Engagement 07$118,9006 weeks
Engagement 10$74,2504 weeks
x-height
0.480 em
x / cap
0.691
set width
0.605 em
digit spread
2.16×
true italic
yes

The mark's own face, and the incumbent for text until 2026-08-13. Setting the pack in one family is a real convention and the cheapest system to run — but this family was chosen on rarity, not on reading, and its figures show it.

Pairing Display only. It sets the mark, the headings and the labels, and no paragraphs.

Source Serif 4

common — 155 of 1942 on Google Fonts

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

Engagement 01$312,40018 weeks
Engagement 07$118,9006 weeks
Engagement 10$74,2504 weeks
x-height
0.495 em
x / cap
0.739
set width
0.640 em
digit spread
1.00×
true italic
yes

A text serif drawn for long reading on screen, with a large optical range and real italics. Reads as counsel rather than software — the register the brief asks for.

Pairing Highest contrast against Elms Sans: serif against geometric sans, and the widest gap between the mark and the page.

Newsreader

common — 203 of 1942 on Google Fonts

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

Engagement 01$312,40018 weeks
Engagement 07$118,9006 weeks
Engagement 10$74,2504 weeks
x-height
0.440 em
x / cap
0.652
set width
0.575 em
digit spread
1.00×
true italic
yes

Editorial serif with a low x-height and open counters. Warmer and more journalistic; carries a memo better than a data room.

Pairing Lower x-height than Elms Sans, so it sets smaller at the same size and needs a size bump to sit level with the mark.

Lora

The text face · everywhere — 47 of 1942 on Google Fonts

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

Engagement 01$312,40018 weeks
Engagement 07$118,9006 weeks
Engagement 10$74,2504 weeks
x-height
0.500 em
x / cap
0.714
set width
0.605 em
digit spread
1.70×
true italic
yes

Brushed-contrast serif. Its x-height is 0.500em against the mark face's 0.480em, so it sets marginally larger at the same size, and it ships no light cut — so it cannot be mistaken for a second display face.

Pairing The closest metric match in the set, within 4% on x-height. Its figures are proportional, so tabular is declared once on the page.

Inter

everywhere — 5 of 1942 on Google Fonts

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

A normal consultancy sells hours and forgets what it learned — the learning lives in people’s heads and walks out the door. Here it banks into the substrate instead, as reusable modules between projects and a shared commons between client workspaces, so every engagement makes the next one cheaper and harder to leave. That is why “the 10th costs a fraction of the 1st” is a claim about the machine, not a slogan.

Engagement 01$312,40018 weeks
Engagement 07$118,9006 weeks
Engagement 10$74,2504 weeks