---
title: "Garamond (1530) — Claude Garamond"
description: "Garamond was designed by Claude Garamond in 1530. What it signals, where you have seen it, and how to tell it from Sabon."
url: https://atoneplace.net/font/garamond/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Garamond

**Garamond: Claude Garamond, 1530**

Serif · Books, literature, anything that wants to look like it was set rather than typed.

Every Garamond in use is a twentieth-century interpretation of sixteenth-century punches, and they differ enough that Adobe Garamond, ITC Garamond and EB Garamond do not look like the same typeface. Some of what is sold as Garamond derives from Jean Jannon rather than Claude Garamond, a misattribution that persisted for three centuries. It is unusually economical of ink and paper, which is why it comes up whenever anyone calculates printing costs.

## How to tell it apart

| Mistaken for | Which letters to check |
| --- | --- |
| Sabon | Sabon is a Garamond derivative with a larger x-height and heavier strokes. Check the lowercase a: Garamond's bowl is smaller and its top curve more delicate. |

## The facts

- **Designed by:** Claude Garamond
- **Released:** 1530
- **Classification:** Serif
- **What it signals now:** Books, literature, anything that wants to look like it was set rather than typed.

## Where you have seen it

- The Harry Potter books in the UK
- Dr. Seuss titles
- A great many novel interiors

> 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 Garamond?

Claude Garamond, in 1530.

### What is Garamond used for?

Books, literature, anything that wants to look like it was set rather than typed. You will have seen it on The Harry Potter books in the UK, Dr. Seuss titles, A great many novel interiors.

### What is the difference between Garamond and Sabon?

Sabon is a Garamond derivative with a larger x-height and heavier strokes. Check the lowercase a: Garamond's bowl is smaller and its top curve more delicate.

## Related pages

- [Typefaces from the 1530s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1530s/)
- [Caslon](https://atoneplace.net/font/caslon/)
- [Baskerville](https://atoneplace.net/font/baskerville/)
- [Didot](https://atoneplace.net/font/didot/)
- [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]