Besley

Name: Besley
Author: Dave Bailey

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

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Serifby Dave Bailey88% Accessible

Characters646

Glyphs775

Typography Tools

Best Ways to Use Besley

Best Font Pairings for Besley

TypeSmith curates 6 expert font pairings for Besley, including combinations with Bagnard, Lato and Biryani.

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

Explore 6 Pairings for Besley

Test Besley Font Pairings Live

TypeSmith's interactive testing tool lets you preview Besley 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 Besley Pairings Live

In Context

Besley Specimen Gallery

EditorialUI ComponentsPosterWordmark

Besley Editorial Specimen

Besley in Editorial Context

Besley is a serif typeface by Dave Bailey suited for editorial layouts and long-form reading.

Dave Bailey

Typeface Designer • Serif

Besley 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 Besley supports typographic hierarchy within editorial layouts. Headline weights establish visual anchors while lighter weights maintain comfortable reading rhythm in body text columns.

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

Email Address

Password

Besley Typography

A serif typeface for UI components.

Active2 weights available

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Besley Specimen

Besley

Besley is a serif typeface by Dave Bailey built for display contexts.

2 WeightsSerif Typeface

Available on TypeSmith

Wordmark Explorations

Besley

BESLEY

BESLEYTYPE

Tagline Pairings

Besley— serif typeface

BesleyBy Dave Bailey

BesleyTYPE

Editorial

Magazine-style headline and body text layout

Character Set

Besley Glyphs & Characters

Size48

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789

Heading Examples

Body Text Table

Body Copy

Besley for Paragraphs

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

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

When setting Besley 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.

Besley 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	Besley delivers excellent readability for body copy
Italicized	Regular Italic	16px	24px	0.5px	Besley italic provides elegant emphasis
Bold	Bold	16px	24px	0.5px	Besley bold creates strong visual hierarchy
Small Caps	Regular	16px	24px	0.5px	Besley typography specimen
Secondary Text	Medium	14px	20px	0.5px	Besley typography specimen

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

Quick Start

Adding Besley to Your Website

HTML Link Tag

Add to your <head> section

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

CSS @import

Add at top of your stylesheet

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

CSS @font-face

Self-host the font files

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Besley';
  src: url('https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Besley');
  font-display: swap;
}

Implementation

Besley CSS Implementation

Standard CSS

css

Apply directly to any CSS class or selector.

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

SCSS Variable

scss

Define once, use throughout your stylesheet.

 1$font-primary: 'Besley', 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        'besley': ['Besley', 'sans-serif'],
 7      },
 8    },
 9  },
10}
11
12// Usage in HTML
13<p class="font-besley">Your text here</p>

About

Besley: History & Characteristics

Dave Bailey

Serif

Open Source

Besley balances refined neutrality and modernist clarity, making it well-suited for book typography. Its classical proportions and stroke contrast contribute to its versatile character. Particularly effective for book typography and print publications, Besley adapts confidently across design contexts. Extended language coverage includes The Besley font supports a wide range of languages, including those that use Latin, Cyrillic, and Gr....

Besley was crafted by Dave Bailey. The typeface reflects a focus on typographic detail, visible in its letterform construction and optical balance.

As a Serif typeface in the Vox-ATypI Classicals classification, Besley features bracketed or hairline serifs terminating each stroke and modulated stroke contrast from axis of stress. These optical characteristics make it well-suited for brand identities conveying authority and heritage.

Besley is available in a single weight, offering focused typographic consistency for both digital and print applications, with 6 curated font pairings available. Extended language support spanning Cyrillic, Greek, and Latin Extended ensures reliable rendering across global audiences.

Besley

Typography Judgment

Expert Analysis of Besley

TypeSmith evaluates every font across classification, accessibility, and design heritage. This analysis helps designers understand Besley's strengths and ideal use cases before committing to a typography decision.

Besley

Best Ways to Use Besley

Best Font Pairings for Besley

Test Besley Font Pairings Live

In Context

Besley Typography

Besley

Character Set

Type Scale

Besley for Paragraphs

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

Explore More

Inclusive Design

Besley: Accessibility Considerations

Legibility Analysis: Besley

How Readable is Besley?

Eye Strain Considerations for Besley

Besley Accessibility Recommendations

How to Use Besley Effectively

Get the Font

Available Weights

Weight Reference

Internationalization

Western European

Nordic

Central European

Baltic

Legal

What you can do

Restrictions