10 Commercial Fonts Every Print Designer Should Own
Published on Monday, August 31, 2009 – 10:00 pm
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
What do you believe are the top commercial fonts that every print designer should own? Issue 166 of Computer Arts magazine suggested these ten below and I thought they were a good pick. What about you?
In no particular order…
Excelsior
Excelsior is good for magazines, newspapers, posters and signage.
Perpetua
Perpetua is good for displays with fine lettering and heavy text pages.
Stempel Schneidler
Stempel Schneidler is good for display work, high-class publications and posters.
Trajan
Trajan is good for books and magazines, aged and classical looks.
Walbaum MT
Walbaum is good for magazines, journals and corporate communication.
Akzidenz Grotesk
Akzidenz-Grotesk is good for large signage and all printed material.
Avenir
Avenir is good for book sleeves, headlines, logos and posters.
Leitura
Leitura is good for signage, posters and displays.
Meta
Meta is good for text, numbering and corporate communication.
Akkurat
Akkurat is good for text, editorial and posters.
Typography Resources
- Top 100 Fonts Of All Time
- 30 Fonts All Designers Must Know & Should Own
- How To Choose A Font
- Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why
Miss a favourite font of yours? What would your top 10 commerical print fonts be? Please let us know in the comments below.
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23 Responses
to “10 Commercial Fonts Every Print Designer Should Own”
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KaleidoscopedMatt (@KaleidoMatt) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Only three to go
Kári Emil (@vegfarandi) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
To me, that looks like a very random list…
Patricia on Sep 1, 2009 said:
I definately think they are good picks, though some of them are in danger of being over used.
Unit B on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Where’s Papyrus???!!!
James Loving (@jameshloving) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Thank you for the link I love the Trajan font.
Jose Palacios on Sep 1, 2009 said:
I’m Surprised there’s no Helvetica on the list
Anrkist (@anrkist) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Excelsior!!!
Andrew (@ikaichen) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
I have always thought “Akzidenz-Grotesk” sounds kinda funny!! But yeah… Helvetica should be on the list!! Its the “must-have” font!! 100% agrees with Jose Palacios!!
Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Unit B,
The same place Comic Sans is.
Jose, Andrew,
Akzidenz-Grotesk is rather close to Helvetica and is why I believe Helvetica was left off the list.
JohnONolan (@johnonolan) on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Umm, I think you forgot my good friend Helvetica - just cause another font is similar to it doesn’t mean it should be replaced. I mean hell, Arial is pretty similar - why not just use that instead!
CMYK on Sep 1, 2009 said:
Thanksss for fonts!!!
Thanksss for sharing!
Kiren on Sep 2, 2009 said:
It seems a lot of these fonts are used for the same applications. I’m wondering, are these recommended ones or just what most designers prefer?
Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Sep 2, 2009 said:
John,
On a list of only 10 typefaces, it wouldn’t be as diverse if you included two extremely similar typefaces which is why I believe Helvetica was left off. This is my opinion only - the person who compiled the list, may have left it off for another reason.
Kiren,
As I didn’t compile the list personally I would couldn’t tell you however I guess they have the similar applications as it is for ‘print designers’, rather than say online.
Connor Katz on Sep 3, 2009 said:
Garamond, Futura and Helvetica have to be on this list!
Rory (@crearegroup/) on Sep 3, 2009 said:
Some tasty fonts here, really like Avenir and Excelsior, think Ive only used Trajan in previous web design work but I’ll definitely be using others. Surprised that Apple Braille wasn’t included!
Ravi Vora (@ravivora) on Sep 4, 2009 said:
Pretty good list. And while you’re at it, why not use the ecofont for those of you who want to save a bit of the environment every time you print?
You can get it free here:
http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html
Erkasoft (@erkasoft) on Sep 7, 2009 said:
Akkurat is nice.
Mjuboy on Sep 8, 2009 said:
Nice list, Trajan has always been a favourite of mine!
Georgia is another font I really like!