---
title: "Didot (1784) — Firmin Didot"
description: "Didot was designed by Firmin Didot in 1784. What it signals, where you have seen it, and how to tell it from Bodoni."
url: https://atoneplace.net/font/didot/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Didot

**Didot: Firmin Didot, 1784**

Serif · French luxury. The same territory as Bodoni, slightly more refined.

Didot and Bodoni were developed in parallel in France and Italy and arrived at nearly the same conclusion: maximise contrast, flatten the serifs to hairlines. The Didot family also gave its name to the didot point, the European typographic unit that competed with the Anglo-American pica point for a century.

## How to tell it apart

| Mistaken for | Which letters to check |
| --- | --- |
| Bodoni | Bodoni's serifs are slightly heavier and its bowls slightly rounder. The distinction is real and small enough that logo redraws routinely blur it. |

## The facts

- **Designed by:** Firmin Didot
- **Released:** 1784
- **Classification:** Serif
- **What it signals now:** French luxury. The same territory as Bodoni, slightly more refined.

## Where you have seen it

- Harper's Bazaar
- Giorgio Armani
- CBS News graphics

> This page describes the typeface rather than showing it. Displaying a specimen requires a licensed font file and almost none of these may be redistributed, so the descriptions name the letters to look at instead.

## Common questions

### Who designed Didot?

Firmin Didot, in 1784.

### What is Didot used for?

French luxury. The same territory as Bodoni, slightly more refined. You will have seen it on Harper's Bazaar, Giorgio Armani, CBS News graphics.

### What is the difference between Didot and Bodoni?

Bodoni's serifs are slightly heavier and its bowls slightly rounder. The distinction is real and small enough that logo redraws routinely blur it.

## Related pages

- [Bodoni](https://atoneplace.net/font/bodoni/)
- [Typefaces from the 1780s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1780s/)
- [Garamond](https://atoneplace.net/font/garamond/)
- [Caslon](https://atoneplace.net/font/caslon/)
- [Baskerville](https://atoneplace.net/font/baskerville/)
- [Bodoni](https://atoneplace.net/font/bodoni/)
- [Times New Roman](https://atoneplace.net/font/times-new-roman/)
- [Trajan](https://atoneplace.net/font/trajan/)
- [Georgia](https://atoneplace.net/font/georgia/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]