Top 8 Professional Fonts: Best Serif & Sans Serif Choices for Business

“It’s not what you say but how you say it.” 

Just like your body language and tone of voice impact how your spoken words are received, your font choice shapes how your business’s written content is received. Typography affects readability, comprehension, and even the perceived trustworthiness of your content. 

Below, we cover how to choose typography that enhances your messaging and suggest the best professional fonts for a variety of applications. 

The most important factors that determine if a font is professional?

Clarity and readability. 

Any font used in a professional setting (or any other setting, if we’re being realistic) should be extremely easy to read. 

Generally, professional font has clean lines, balanced letterforms, and even spacing between characters. It is designed to adjust for visual illusions (like ensuring an r and n don’t come together to look like an m) and shows clear distinction between easily confused characters (like an uppercase I and lowercase l).

The easiest way to ensure you’re using a professional font? Choose from popular choices within the Sans Serif and Serif font families. We’ve rounded up a collection of solid options below. 

Sans serif fonts are created with simple lines that convey straightforwardness and innovation. Their clean look is easy to read on digital screens and at smaller sizes. 

Use these fonts for: 

• body text
• websites
• presentations

Because of their readability, sans serif fonts are an ideal font choice for resumes. They’re easy for the recruiter and Applicant Tracking System to scan, which boosts your chances of scoring an interview. 

This font family is often used by technology companies, healthcare organizations, educational technology platforms, and financial institutions. 

Here are four of our favorite sans serif fonts.

Open Sans is a versatile and neutral font known for its online readability, even at smaller sizes. 

The font is available in five different weights– light, regular, semi-bold, bold, and extra-bold– so you can use it in multiple contexts while maintaining consistency across your materials. 

Use Open Sans for: 

• corporate websites
• long-form digital content like blogs and e-books
• content that will be published in multiple languages

Pairs well with Merriweather, PT Serif, and Lora. 

Lato balances a modern and friendly appearance that makes your content feel both professional and approachable. 

Use Lato for:

• business pitches
• resumes 
• branding for retail companies
• annual reports
• signage systems

Pairs well with Playfair Display, Oswald, and Raleway.

The geometric appearance of Montserrat makes it ideal for headlines and web applications. It’s bold and professional, so it can quickly capture– and keep– your audience’s attention. 

Use Montserrat for:

• titles and subheadings in PowerPoints
• branding in financial industries 
• social media graphics
• business cards

Pairs well with Libre Baskerville, Lato, and Merriweather. 

Roboto is highly legible across all screens, making it a great fit for PowerPoint presentations in any industry. It’s the standard subtitle font for Google and YouTube, so you know it’s easy to read. 

Use Roboto for: 

• body text in PowerPoints 
• video subtitles
• branding for businesses in the healthcare industry
• website navigation systems
• digital dashboards

Pairs well with Roboto Slab, Bebas Neue, and Lora. 

Tip: Its standard appearance also allows it to pair well with script fonts such as Monoton.

Serif fonts add authority, so they work well in print or formal documents. Because of their traditional presentation, serif fonts are frequently used by established brands such as financial, legal, and academic institutions. 

Use serif fonts for:

• formal documents that need to emphasize authority
• long-form text
• content that is created for a more mature or traditional audience

Here are four of our favorite serif fonts. 

Merriweather is designed for screens, making it an especially readable serif. 

Use Merriweather for: 

• educational websites
• long-form digital content
• internal communication
• video captions

Pairs well with Merriweather Sans, Open Sans, and Playfair Display. 

Playfair Display is a more elegant serif font. Its high contrast makes it best for headings.

Use Playfair Display for: 

• elegant headlines
• lifestyle publications
• certificates and other formal documents
• featured quotes 

Pairs well with Crimson Text, Lato, and Source Sans Pro.

PT Serif gives a traditional feel. The font family includes a Caption style so that even small font sizes remain legible.

Use PT Serif for: 

• corporate reports and business documents
• legal documents
• long-form digital content
• body text in newspapers and magazines

Pairs well with PT Sans, Open Sans, and Montserrat. 

Garamond (EB Garamond) is timeless and classic. It has an old-style feel but is optimized to appear clear in print and digital applications. 

Use EB Garamond for:

• high-end publishing
• projects of a historical nature
• luxury brands
• formal stationery like letterheads

Pairs well with Palatino, Baskerville, and Lato. 

Several considerations can help you select a font that maximizes the impact of your communication.

Every typeface has its own personality, so your font choice should align with your brand’s messaging strategy. Here are what some types of fonts communicate to your audience. 

• Serif fonts indicate tradition and sophistication.
• Sans-serif fonts are modern and straightforward. 
• Script fonts convey elegance and creativity.
• Display fonts emphasize uniqueness (but reserve them for infrequent use, not day-to-day communication).

You might choose a few places to include more unique font options, but avoid overly decorative or trendy styles for core use. 

Your font selection depends heavily on where and how it’ll be used. Some fonts look better in print than on a screen, and vice versa. Display fonts may create eye-catching headlines but make body text almost impossible to read. 

A font that looks perfect in headlines might become illegible when it’s scaled down for footnotes. Test body text at 10-12 point to be sure it remains readable in printed materials. For digital applications, check legibility at 16-point as well as smaller sizes.

Don’t just test with the standard “Lorem ipsum”— insert your actual content or something similar that represents what will actually appear in your materials. 

Using too many fonts in a single project can distract from your message. Select a primary font that will be used for the majority of your content, as well as a secondary font that creates contrast. 

Whether you’re creating marketing material or internal communications, knowing how to pair fonts effectively will improve the readability and engagement of your content.

Typography hierarchy guides the reader’s eyes and organizes information. 

Establish standard sizes for your headers, subheaders, body text, and captions. You can change the weight of your font to create emphasis and distinction. 

Your font’s appearance is impacted by what is or isn’t nearby. Use negative space to emphasize important elements and give your headings some breathing room. 

After spending so long on your business’ copy and content, don’t let the wrong font choice take away from your messaging. Even if your audience doesn’t consciously notice your font, they may feel the difference.

When your fonts match your purpose, everything about your communication feels more aligned. 

With a Piktochart account, you can access these professional-looking fonts (and hundreds of others) to design presentations, infographics, reports, and other assets that align with your brand identity.

Get started today!

A professional font is any font that would be considered appropriate for business, formal, or commercial use. Typically, a professional font:

• has evenly spaced letters
• includes extended Latin characters, numbers, punctuation, and all symbols necessary for professional communication
• offers multiple weights and styles, like bold and italic versions

Serif and sans-serif fonts are typically considered professional fonts. Playful fonts, such as handwritten, script, and decorative fonts, may be used in professional settings, but only in small quantities. 

Along with the fonts discussed above, professional fonts to use include: 

• Gotham
• Frutiger
• Futura
• Caslon
• Baskerville
• Avenir
• Sabon

Most tools used for design or composition (like Piktochart or Google Docs) come with an array of professional fonts. If you choose to download and use other fonts, make sure you secure the licensing necessary for professional use. Some font designers offer their fonts free for personal use, but require a license for commercial use. 

Corporate fonts are typefaces specifically chosen as part of a company’s brand identity. They create visual consistency across all communications and are often custom-designed or purchased with an exclusive license.

Many major brands have signature fonts that help customers instantly recognize their materials, whether in advertisements, websites, or packaging.

For professional reports, clarity and readability are essential. Consider these options:

• Sans-serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri work well for most business reports
• For financial or legal reports, serif fonts like Times New Roman or Georgia add authority
• Use a consistent hierarchy with clear size differences between headings and body text
• Limit yourself to 2-3 fonts maximum throughout the report

The best professional report fonts will match your organization’s brand guidelines while providing excellent readability for data-heavy content.