Bitter + Source Sans 3

Grumpy wizards make toxic brew

A standfirst set in Source Sans 3, one size up — where a pairing starts earning trust.

The five boxing wizards jump quickly over the lazy dog, mixing jugs of quiet vodka while the jury watches. Click anywhere in this preview and type your own text to try the pairing.

“Type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters.”

— Matthew Carter

Fig. 1 — Bitter over Source Sans 3, in the wild.

Bitter 700 / Source Sans 3 400 — click any section and type your own copy.

Why it works

Bitter's slab serifs carry real weight at heading sizes — rectangular, low-contrast forms that feel grounded rather than ornamental — and Source Sans 3's humanist openness keeps the text below light and unfussy. Both were designed screen-first with large x-heights and sturdy strokes, so the pair holds its structure at small sizes where daintier serif/sans combinations fall apart. A dependable choice for content-heavy sites.

More about each face: Bitter · Source Sans 3

Use this pairing

HTML — Google Fonts embed
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Bitter:wght@700&family=Source+Sans+3:wght@400;600&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
CSS
h1, h2, h3 {
  font-family: 'Bitter', Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;
  font-weight: 700;
}

body {
  font-family: 'Source Sans 3', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
  font-weight: 400;
}
Next.js — next/font
import { Bitter, Source_Sans_3 } from "next/font/google";

const heading = Bitter({
  subsets: ["latin"],
  weight: "700",
  variable: "--font-heading",
});

const body = Source_Sans_3({
  subsets: ["latin"],
  weight: "400",
  variable: "--font-body",
});

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