Typography

The IASTATE Theme includes three font resources. These resources are already included in the theme and do not need to be added individually. These resources are consistent with university brand standards as outlined on the Office of University Marketing website.

The university fonts, Univers and Berkeley, work well in print communications but are not practical for use on the web. Their web counterparts, Nimbus Sans (for Univers) and Merriweather (for Berkeley), were chosen because they share many of the same characteristics.

Neither Nimbus Sans nor Merriweather have been licensed for use as desktop fonts, only as web fonts. They do not need to be installed as browsers pull them as a resource when needed.

Nimbus Sans

Nimbus Sans is the university's web font replacement for Univers. It is used as the default font for all content under the IASTATE Theme. Nimbus Sans is licensed from URW++ for unlimited use on all websites owned and managed by or on behalf of Iowa State University. The license stipulates the font files be hosted on the cdn.theme repository. The font files themselves may not be copied to other web servers. To request using Nimbus Sans on a non-iastate.edu domain, email theme@iastate.edu with details of where and how it will be used.

Variant Specimen class font-family font-weight font-style
Regular The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans Nimbus Sans 400/normal normal
Regular Italic The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-italic Nimbus Sans 400/normal italic
Bold The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-bold Nimbus Sans 700/bold normal
Bold Italic The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-bold-italic Nimbus Sans 700/bold italic
Light The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-light Nimbus Sans Light 300 normal
Light Italic * The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-light-italic Nimbus Sans Light 300 italic
Condensed The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-condensed Nimbus Sans Condensed 400/normal normal
Condensed Italic * The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-condensed-italic Nimbus Sans Condensed 400/normal italic
Condensed Bold * The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-condensed-bold Nimbus Sans Condensed 700/bold normal
Condensed Bold Italic * The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. nimbus-sans-condensed-bold-italic Nimbus Sans Condensed 700/bold italic

* Faux Bold/Italic: Iowa State University does not have a license for these variants. The browser attempts to create faux bold and italic when those styles are applied to the base variant.

To include Nimbus Sans in a non-themed university website or project, place the following code in the document head.

<link href="https://cdn.theme.iastate.edu/nimbus-sans/css/nimbus-sans.css" rel="stylesheet">

Merriweather

Merriweather is the university's web font replacement for Berkeley. It is included in the theme and may be utilized, but it is not presently used within the theme. Merriweather is part of Google Fonts, a catalog of free and open source fonts. Google manages all of the licensing and hosting, ensuring that the latest and greatest version of the font is available. The font files themselves may not be copied to other web servers. For more information on incorporating this font outside of the IASTATE Theme, see the Google Fonts Merriweather page.

Variation Specimen class font-family font-weight font-style
Normal The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather Merriweather 400 normal
Normal Italic The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-italic Merriweather 400 italic
Bold The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-bold Merriweather 700 normal
Bold Italic The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-bold-italic Merriweather 700 italic
Black The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-black Merriweather 900 normal
Black Italic The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-black-italic Merriweather 900 italic
Light The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-light Merriweather 300 normal
Light Italic The quick boxing cardinal jumps over the oft lazy hawk. merriweather-light-italic Merriweather 300 italic

To include Merriweather in a non-themed university website or project, place the following code in the document head.

<link href="https://cdn.theme.iastate.edu/merriweather/css/merriweather.css" rel="stylesheet">

Font Awesome

Font Awesome is an icon toolkit released as an open source initiative under the MIT License. As permitted, the files have been copied to the cdn.theme repository for consistent use. To search and view all of the available icons, review the Font Awesome Icons library. Accessibility Note: If you're using an icon to convey meaning (rather than only as a decorative element), ensure that this meaning is also conveyed to assistive technologies. For more information, visit the Font Awesome Accessibility documentation.

Icon Markup 
<span class="fa fa-search" aria-hidden="true"></span>
 
<span class="fa fa-angle-right" aria-hidden="true"></span>
 
<span class="fa fa-facebook-square" aria-hidden="true"></span>

This is a small sample of icons used in the theme. Visit the Font Awesome website for a complete list of Font Awesome icons and further examples.

To include Font Awesome in a non-themed university website or project, place the following code in the document head.

<link href="https://cdn.theme.iastate.edu/font-awesome/css/font-awesome.css" rel="stylesheet">