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Playfair Display

by Claus Eggers Sørensen ★★★★☆ Serif Variable Font
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Quick Answer

Playfair Display is a variable serif font with 2 adjustable axes (Weight, Italic). Elegant transitional serif with high contrast. Perfect for headlines and luxury brands.

Performance Impact

89%
Size Reduction
400 KB → 45 KB
-460ms
LCP Improvement
Core Web Vitals boost
36ms
4G Transfer Time
After optimization
100ms
Max Render Block
With font-display: swap

Download Time by Network

Slow 3G (400 Kbps) 900ms
vs ~8000ms unoptimized
Fast 3G (1.5 Mbps) 240ms
vs ~2133ms unoptimized
4G LTE (10 Mbps) 36ms
vs ~320ms unoptimized

Optimization reduces Playfair Display from 400 KB to 45 KB — making your site faster on every device.

Try Playfair Display

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Variable Axes
400
400 900
0°
0 1
Loading Playfair Display...
Quick samples:

Variable Axes

Playfair Display includes 2 variable axes, giving you fine-grained control over the font's appearance.

wght

Weight

Controls weight from Regular (400) to Black (900)

Range: 400 – 900 (default: 400)
ital

Italic

Toggles between upright and italic styles

Range: 0 – 1 (default: 0)

How to Optimize Playfair Display

1

Subset to Latin

Remove Cyrillic and Extended Latin scripts if targeting Western audiences.

Savings: 50-65%

2

Convert to WOFF2

Essential compression step for web delivery.

Savings: 20-30%

3

Limit weight range

Most designs only need Regular (400) and Bold (700).

Savings: 25-40%

4

Use font-display: swap

Critical for above-the-fold headings to prevent invisible text.

Savings: Performance

File Size Comparison

Full Variable TTF
~400 KB
All weights, all characters
Variable WOFF2
~260 KB
Compressed, all characters
Latin Subset WOFF2
~75 KB
Most common use case
Limited Range (400-700)
~45 KB
Optimal for headings

Sift optimizes your fonts for maximum performance with 90%+ size reduction

CSS Implementation

CSS
@font-face {
  font-family: 'Playfair Display';
  src: url('/playfair-display.woff2') format('woff2');
  font-display: swap;
  font-weight: 400 900;
}

body {
  font-family: 'Playfair Display', serif;
}

For variable fonts, you can use font-variation-settings to control axes:

.custom-weight {
  font-variation-settings: "wght" 400, "ital" 0;
}

Pro Tips for Playfair Display

💡

Headings only

Use Playfair Display exclusively for h1-h3. Pair with Source Sans Pro, Lato, or Open Sans for body text.

💡

Preload the font

Since it's used for above-the-fold headings, preload Playfair Display to prevent layout shift.

💡

Skip italics if possible

Playfair Display italic is beautiful but adds file size. Only include if you'll actually use it.

💡

Good fallback

Use Georgia, Times New Roman, serif for graceful degradation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Playfair Display? ▼
Playfair Display was designed by Claus Eggers Sørensen and released in 2011. It's a transitional serif design with high contrast between thick and thin strokes, inspired by the typography of the Age of Enlightenment. The font excels at large display sizes where its elegant details can be appreciated.
Is Playfair Display a variable font? ▼
Yes, Playfair Display is a variable font with 2 axes: Weight, Italic. This means you can continuously adjust properties for precise control.
How do I optimize Playfair Display for web? ▼
To optimize Playfair Display: 1) Convert to WOFF2 format for smaller files, 2) Subset to only the characters you need, 3) Use font-display: swap to prevent invisible text, 4) Preload critical font files. Sift can automate this entire process.
What license does Playfair Display use? ▼
Playfair Display uses the SIL Open Font License 1.1 license.

Optimize Playfair Display Now

Convert to WOFF2, subset to Latin, and add font-display: swap in seconds.

Optimize Playfair Display