Athene

Name: Athene
Author: Matt Ellis

Athene brings classic elegance to your typography with refined serifs that guide the eye through extended reading.

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Serifby Matt Ellis64% Accessible

Characters256

Glyphs307

Typography Tools

Best Ways to Use Athene

Best Font Pairings for Athene

TypeSmith curates 3 expert font pairings for Athene, including combinations with Alexandria, Anticyclone and Burgman Sans.

Each pairing includes accessibility ratings, expert reasoning, and usage recommendations for web and print design.

Explore 3 Pairings for Athene

Test Athene Font Pairings Live

TypeSmith's interactive testing tool lets you preview Athene with any font combination in real-time, optimized for serif characteristics.

Adjust font sizes, weights, and see live typography specimens including editorial layouts, code editors, and UI components.

Test Athene Pairings Live

In Context

Athene Specimen Gallery

EditorialUI ComponentsPosterWordmark

Athene Editorial Specimen

Athene in Editorial Context

Athene is a serif typeface by Matt Ellis suited for editorial layouts and long-form reading.

Matt Ellis

Typeface Designer • Serif

Athene demonstrates editorial readability through balanced proportions and consistent stroke weight. As a serif typeface, it delivers clear letterforms that sustain reader engagement across extended passages of text.

The weight range of Athene supports typographic hierarchy within editorial layouts. Headline weights establish visual anchors while lighter weights maintain comfortable reading rhythm in body text columns.

Designed by Matt Ellis, Athene balances personality with function — providing enough character to establish visual identity without compromising the legibility that editorial contexts demand.

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Athene Typography

A serif typeface for UI components.

Active2 weights available

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Athene Specimen

Athene

Athene is a serif typeface by Matt Ellis built for display contexts.

2 WeightsSerif Typeface

Available on TypeSmith

Wordmark Explorations

Athene

ATHENE

ATHENETYPE

Tagline Pairings

Athene— serif typeface

AtheneBy Matt Ellis

AtheneTYPE

Editorial

Magazine-style headline and body text layout

Character Set

Athene Glyphs & Characters

Size48

Showing 62 of 187 charactersDouble-click to copy • Click for details

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789

Heading Examples

Body Text Table

Body Copy

Body Text with Athene

TypeSmith provides optimized body text specifications for Athene, including recommended sizes, line heights, and letter spacing for long-form content. These settings ensure maximum readability across devices and screen sizes.

Athene demonstrates exceptional body text performance with balanced proportions and consistent stroke widths that enhance readability across paragraph lengths.

When setting Athene for body copy, TypeSmith recommends these optimized specifications. The carefully tuned metrics ensure comfortable reading at extended lengths while maintaining the typeface's distinctive character.

Athene small text sizes retain legibility through well-defined letterforms. Caption and footnote applications benefit from the font's clear x-height and open counters.

Element	Weight	Size	Line Height	Tracking	Preview
Body Text	Regular	16px	24px	0.5px	Athene delivers excellent readability for body copy
Italicized	Regular Italic	16px	24px	0.5px	Athene italic provides elegant emphasis
Bold	Bold	16px	24px	0.5px	Athene bold creates strong visual hierarchy
Small Caps	Regular	16px	24px	0.5px	Athene typography specimen
Secondary Text	Medium	14px	20px	0.5px	Athene typography specimen

.your-class { font-family: 'Athene'; }

Quick Start

Athene Implementation Guide

HTML Link Tag

Add to your <head> section

<link href="https://fonts.bunny.net/css?family=Athene:400,700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

CSS @import

Add at top of your stylesheet

@import url('https://fonts.bunny.net/css?family=Athene:400,700&display=swap');

CSS @font-face

Self-host the font files

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Athene';
  src: url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Athene:wght@400;700&display=swap');
  font-display: swap;
}

Implementation

Styling with Athene

Standard CSS

css

Apply directly to any CSS class or selector.

 1.my-text {
 2  font-family: 'Athene', sans-serif;
 3  font-weight: 400;
 4}

SCSS Variable

scss

Define once, use throughout your stylesheet.

 1$font-primary: 'Athene', sans-serif;
 2
 3.my-text {
 4  font-family: $font-primary;
 5}

Tailwind CSS

config

Configure once, apply with utility classes.

 1// tailwind.config.js
 2module.exports = {
 3  theme: {
 4    extend: {
 5      fontFamily: {
 6        'athene': ['Athene', 'sans-serif'],
 7      },
 8    },
 9  },
10}
11
12// Usage in HTML
13<p class="font-athene">Your text here</p>

About

The Story of Athene

Matt Ellis

Serif

Open Source

Athene font is a classy didone serif by Matt Ellis designed for sophisticated fashion and luxury display applications with refined elegance. This high-contrast typeface delivers refined presence suited for editorial fashion headlines, beauty advertising, and premium brand identities requiring classical sophistication. Athene excels in magazine mastheads, cosmetics packaging, and luxury retail signage where didone elegance communicates premium positioning. The classy character maintains the restraint that distinguishes true sophistication from mere decoration. Designers seeking alternatives to Didot with distinctive personality will appreciate Athene's refined approach. Works beautifully alongside geometric sans-serifs for contemporary editorial contrast.

Athene was created by Matt Ellis. The typeface demonstrates a commitment to typographic detail, visible in its letterform construction and optical balance.

As a Serif typeface in the Vox-ATypI Classicals classification, Athene features bracketed or hairline serifs terminating each stroke and modulated stroke contrast from axis of stress. These optical characteristics make it well-suited for academic papers and legal documents.

Athene is available in a single weight, offering focused typographic consistency spanning screen and print contexts, with 3 font pairings curated. Standard Latin character coverage serves the majority of Western typographic workflows.

Athene

Athene

Best Ways to Use Athene

Best Font Pairings for Athene

Test Athene Font Pairings Live

In Context

Athene Typography

Athene

Character Set

Type Scale

Body Text with Athene

Quick Start

HTML Link Tag

CSS @import

CSS @font-face

Implementation

Standard CSS

SCSS Variable

Tailwind CSS

About

Typography Judgment

Classification

Accessibility

Design Heritage

Overview

Categories

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Inclusive Design

Accessibility Features of Athene

How Legible is Athene?

Athene's Readability

Athene's Visual Fatigue and Adaptability

Athene Accessibility Recommendations

Athene Usage Guidelines

Get the Font

Available Weights

Weight Reference

Internationalization

Western European

Nordic

Central European

Baltic

Legal

What you can do

Restrictions