On Type / Bauhaus Fonts
Bauhaus Fonts: What Makes a Font Bauhaus, and 11 to Try
A Bauhaus font is built from simple shapes: circles, arcs and straight lines, with one stroke weight and no decoration. This guide covers where that look comes from, how to spot it, and 11 fonts in that style, each with nine weights and a variable font.
What Makes a Font Bauhaus
The Bauhaus was a design school, founded in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius. When it moved into its own building in Dessau in 1925, the word BAUHAUS ran down the facade in tall, plain capitals. The same year Herbert Bayer, who taught at the school, drew his universal alphabet: lowercase only, built from circles, arcs and straight lines. The school never released a typeface of its own. Bayer’s alphabet stayed a drawing until 1975, when Ed Benguiat and Victor Caruso turned it into ITC Bauhaus, the font most people think of when they hear the name.
Futura, drawn by Paul Renner in 1927, is based on the same ideas, though Renner never taught at the school. To recognize the style, look for these:
- A round o, close to a perfect circle.
- A single-storey a, often a g as well.
- Strokes of one weight, with little or no contrast.
- Letters made from the same few parts, so they look alike.
11 Bauhaus Fonts
Bauhaus Geo
The closest to Bayer’s alphabet in this list. The o is a circle, the a is single-storey, and the stroke has one weight. Alternate letters make it more geometric, or more readable in text. For architecture, tech and minimal brands.
Test Geo →Scal
Scal is the closest to Futura in this list: a round a and o, pointed tips on the A, M, N, V and W, and sharp cuts on the C, G and S. The light weights work for longer text, the heavy weights are compact. For fashion and beauty labels, magazines and restaurants.
Test Scal →Vole
Vole is made from circles and straight lines, like the Bauhaus alphabets, with heavier, softer shapes. The counters are round, the a and g are single-storey, and the stroke ends are flat. Five stylistic sets have other forms for a, g, M, N and more. For logos, posters and packaging.
Test Vole →Bauhaus Bau
A rounded sans with simple, modular shapes: the M and N are rounded at the top like the o. It is friendly and stays readable at small sizes. Often used for lifestyle brands and consumer products, and a good sans to pair with Bauhaus Soft.
Test Bau →Bauhaus Soft
The only serif in this list. A bold, organic serif with soft corners and some contrast between thick and thin strokes. It is our best-selling font. For beauty, lifestyle, packaging and editorial work, and it pairs with any of the sans fonts here.
Test Soft →Bauhaus Chez
A rounded font with high contrast between thick and thin strokes. For beauty brands, packaging and fashion magazines.
Test Chez →Bauhaus Slim
A narrow sans for startup and tech branding, less geometric than Geo. For product headlines, app screens and pitch decks.
Test Slim →Bauhaus Acme
A clean sans with alternate letters, between Geo and Bau: less geometric than Geo, less rounded than Bau.
Test Acme →
Bool
The most playful sans here, with bold shapes and fun alternate letters. It pairs well with Bauhaus Soft, for kids brands and playful product lines.
Test Bool →Plox
A bold block font made from chunky, rounded modular shapes. For kids brands, toy packaging, games and logos.
Test Plox →How to Pair Them
- Bauhaus Soft + Bauhaus Geo. Soft for headlines, Geo for text.
- Scal + Bauhaus Soft. Scal’s pointed letters next to Soft’s round corners, for fashion and beauty.
- Bauhaus Chez + Bauhaus Slim. Chez for product names, Slim for the details, on packaging.
- Vole + Bauhaus Geo. Vole for the logo and posters, Geo for the text.
Bauhaus Type Today
The Bauhaus idea was to start from what a letter has to do and leave out everything else. A hundred years later, these shapes are still common in logos, signs and apps. For more in this style, see the Bauhaus fonts collection, our fonts like Futura post and our guide to geometric sans-serif fonts.