Typography

Foundations in type

Modular Scale
Pollen provides a robust modular typography scale to encourage consistent typography sizing across an interface. Sizes are set in rem units to support proper font scaling, and assume a 16px root font-size.
Property group
Applies to
--scale-*
font-size
.heading {
  font-size: var(--scale-4);
}
Property
Value
Equivalent to
--scale-000
0.75rem
12px
--scale-00
0.875rem
14px
--scale-0
1rem
16px
--scale-1
1.125rem
18px
--scale-2
1.25rem
20px
--scale-3
1.5rem
24px
--scale-4
1.875rem
30px
--scale-5
2.25rem
36px
--scale-6
3rem
48px
--scale-7
3.75rem
60px
--scale-8
4.5rem
72px
--scale-9
6rem
96px
--scale-10
8rem
128px
Fluid Modular Scale
In addition to the standard modular typographic scale above, Pollen also comes with a fluid scale that tweens between steps on the scale as screen width changes. Its built with Pollen's own fluid utility, which generates complex CSS clamp() functions based on screen width bounds.
Each fluid font size resizes between a min and max size, starting at mobile screen sizes (480px) and ending at normal desktop screen sizes (1280px).
Property group
Applies to
--scale-fluid-*
font-size
.heading {
  font-size: var(--scale-fluid-5);
}
Property
Value
Range
--scale-fluid-000
clamp(0.625rem, 0.55rem + 0.25vw, 0.75rem)
0.625rem -> 0.75rem
--scale-fluid-00
clamp(0.75rem, 0.675rem + 0.25vw, 0.875rem)
0.75rem -> 0.875rem
--scale-fluid-0
clamp(0.875rem, 0.8rem + 0.25vw, 1rem)
0.875rem -> 1rem
--scale-fluid-1
clamp(1rem, 0.925rem + 0.25vw, 1.125rem)
1rem -> 1.125rem
--scale-fluid-2
clamp(1.125rem, 1.05rem + 0.25vw, 1.25rem)
1.125rem -> 1.25rem
--scale-fluid-3
clamp(1.8125rem, 2rem + -0.625vw, 1.5rem)
1.8125rem -> 1.5rem
--scale-fluid-4
clamp(1.5rem, 1.275rem + 0.75vw, 1.875rem)
1.5rem -> 1.875rem
--scale-fluid-5
clamp(1.875rem, 1.65rem + 0.75vw, 2.25rem)
1.875rem -> 2.25rem
--scale-fluid-6
clamp(2.25rem, 1.8rem + 1.5vw, 3rem)
2.25rem -> 3rem
--scale-fluid-7
clamp(3rem, 2.55rem + 1.5vw, 3.75rem)
3rem -> 3.75rem
--scale-fluid-8
clamp(3.75rem, 3.3rem + 1.5vw, 4.5rem)
3.75rem -> 4.5rem
--scale-fluid-9
clamp(4.5rem, 3.6rem + 3vw, 6rem)
4.5rem -> 6rem
--scale-fluid-10
clamp(6rem, 4.8rem + 4vw, 8rem)
6rem -> 8rem
Font Families
Base font stacks as better alternatives to browser defaults, designed for rapid prototyping and to be overridden as your project grows.
Property group
Applies to
--font-*
font-family
body {
  font-family: var(--font-sans);
}
Property
Value
--font-sans
system-ui,-apple-system,Segoe UI,Roboto,Noto Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,Helvetica Neue
--font-serif
Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif
--font-mono
Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, "Liberation Mono", monospace
Font Weights
Consistent font weights across an interface
.heading {
  font-weight: var(--weight-bold)
}
Property group
Applies to
--weight-*
font-weight
Property
Value
--weight-light
300
--weight-regular
400
--weight-medium
500
--weight-semibold
600
--weight-bold
700
--weight-extrabold
800
--weight-black
900
Line Height
Encourage consistent line heights across an interface, applied as unitless values to scale with font size.
Property group
Applies to
--line-*
line-height
body {
  line-height: var(--line-md);
}
Property
Value
--line-none
1
--line-xs
1.25
--line-sm
1.275
--line-md
1.5
--line-lg
1.625
--line-xl
2
Letter Spacing
Encourage consistent letter spacing across an interface, applied as em units relative to the text's size
Property group
Applies to
--letter-*
letter-spacing
.uppercase {
  letter-spacing: var(--letter-xs);
}
Property
Value
--letter-xs
-0.05em
--letter-sm
-0.025em
--letter-none
0
--letter-lg
0.025em
--letter-xl
0.05em
Prose Width
Max-widths optimised for legibility of large blocks of text, based on the font and font-size of content.
Property group
Applies to
--prose-*
max-width
article {
  max-width: var(--prose-normal);
  margin: 0 auto;
}
Property
Value
Measure
--prose-xs
45ch
45 letters
--prose-sm
55ch
55 letters
--prose-md
65ch
65 letters
--prose-lg
75ch
75 letters
--prose-xl
85ch
85 letters

Property group	Applies to
`--scale-*`	`font-size`

Property	Value	Equivalent to
`--scale-000`	`0.75rem`	`12px`
`--scale-00`	`0.875rem`	`14px`
`--scale-0`	`1rem`	`16px`
`--scale-1`	`1.125rem`	`18px`
`--scale-2`	`1.25rem`	`20px`
`--scale-3`	`1.5rem`	`24px`
`--scale-4`	`1.875rem`	`30px`
`--scale-5`	`2.25rem`	`36px`
`--scale-6`	`3rem`	`48px`
`--scale-7`	`3.75rem`	`60px`
`--scale-8`	`4.5rem`	`72px`
`--scale-9`	`6rem`	`96px`
`--scale-10`	`8rem`	`128px`

Property group	Applies to
`--scale-fluid-*`	`font-size`

Property	Value	Range
`--scale-fluid-000`	`clamp(0.625rem, 0.55rem + 0.25vw, 0.75rem)`	`0.625rem` -> `0.75rem`
`--scale-fluid-00`	`clamp(0.75rem, 0.675rem + 0.25vw, 0.875rem)`	`0.75rem` -> `0.875rem`
`--scale-fluid-0`	`clamp(0.875rem, 0.8rem + 0.25vw, 1rem)`	`0.875rem` -> `1rem`
`--scale-fluid-1`	`clamp(1rem, 0.925rem + 0.25vw, 1.125rem)`	`1rem` -> `1.125rem`
`--scale-fluid-2`	`clamp(1.125rem, 1.05rem + 0.25vw, 1.25rem)`	`1.125rem` -> `1.25rem`
`--scale-fluid-3`	`clamp(1.8125rem, 2rem + -0.625vw, 1.5rem)`	`1.8125rem` -> `1.5rem`
`--scale-fluid-4`	`clamp(1.5rem, 1.275rem + 0.75vw, 1.875rem)`	`1.5rem` -> `1.875rem`
`--scale-fluid-5`	`clamp(1.875rem, 1.65rem + 0.75vw, 2.25rem)`	`1.875rem` -> `2.25rem`
`--scale-fluid-6`	`clamp(2.25rem, 1.8rem + 1.5vw, 3rem)`	`2.25rem` -> `3rem`
`--scale-fluid-7`	`clamp(3rem, 2.55rem + 1.5vw, 3.75rem)`	`3rem` -> `3.75rem`
`--scale-fluid-8`	`clamp(3.75rem, 3.3rem + 1.5vw, 4.5rem)`	`3.75rem` -> `4.5rem`
`--scale-fluid-9`	`clamp(4.5rem, 3.6rem + 3vw, 6rem)`	`4.5rem` -> `6rem`
`--scale-fluid-10`	`clamp(6rem, 4.8rem + 4vw, 8rem)`	`6rem` -> `8rem`

Property group	Applies to
`--font-*`	`font-family`

Property	Value
`--font-sans`	`system-ui,-apple-system,Segoe UI,Roboto,Noto Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,Helvetica Neue`
`--font-serif`	`Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif`
`--font-mono`	`Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, "Liberation Mono", monospace`

Property group	Applies to
`--weight-*`	`font-weight`

Property	Value
`--weight-light`	`300`
`--weight-regular`	`400`
`--weight-medium`	`500`
`--weight-semibold`	`600`
`--weight-bold`	`700`
`--weight-extrabold`	`800`
`--weight-black`	`900`

Property group	Applies to
`--line-*`	`line-height`

Property	Value
`--line-none`	`1`
`--line-xs`	`1.25`
`--line-sm`	`1.275`
`--line-md`	`1.5`
`--line-lg`	`1.625`
`--line-xl`	`2`

Property group	Applies to
`--letter-*`	`letter-spacing`

Property	Value
`--letter-xs`	`-0.05em`
`--letter-sm`	`-0.025em`
`--letter-none`	`0`
`--letter-lg`	`0.025em`
`--letter-xl`	`0.05em`

Property group	Applies to
`--prose-*`	`max-width`

Property	Value	Measure
`--prose-xs`	`45ch`	45 letters
`--prose-sm`	`55ch`	55 letters
`--prose-md`	`65ch`	65 letters
`--prose-lg`	`75ch`	75 letters
`--prose-xl`	`85ch`	85 letters

Last modified 2mo ago