27 Classic & Elegant Serif Fonts
Published on Sunday, October 11, 2009 – 4:20 pm | 25 brilliant comments »
“There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools.” Eric Gill
Choosing a font for a project isn’t always an easy task but hopefully this list of professional classic and elegant serif fonts will make the task a little easier… or maybe not.
Berthold Baskerville Book Regular
More Typography & Font Resources:
- 30 Fonts You Must Know & Should Own
- The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
- 20 Beautiful Free Serif Fonts
- Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Design
- 20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career
- FREE 27 Page Type Classification eBook
- Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why
Have you got a favourite classic serif typeface that was missed in this list? Let us know in the comments below.
25 comments thus far »
10 Commercial Fonts Every Print Designer Should Own
Published on Monday, August 31, 2009 – 10:00 pm | 23 brilliant comments »
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.
23 comments thus far »
Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why
Published on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 – 12:00 am | 82 brilliant comments »
I sent out a tweet (follow me) asking my followers (and Facebook Friends) what their favourite font was and why - these were some of their replies… what about you?
For the record, at present, my favourite is Gill Sans as I find it so versatile, especially when working with other fonts.
Times. Simple, but not boring, and timeless.
Via @Carmabella
Franklin Gothic Medium and Verdana. Both are just so easy to read even at small sizes.
Via Adrian Lujan (Facebook)
Franklin Gothic Book Regular. Easy to read.
Via Dylan Lee Hodges (Facebook)
I really love the clean lines of Franklin Gothic family mixed up with classic letter forms of Adobe Caslon.
Via @BridieMacdonald
Gill Sans Light because is delicate.
Via Barbara Culinas (Facebook)
Other than Helvetica, it’s Gotham , because it’s clear, it stands out and modern… Applicable on small sizes too.
Via animate_me
Totally into GOTHAM right now. Clean, great bold-face, solid.
Chris Skinner (Facebook)
Gotham, purely because I’m Batman in disguise.
Via David Airey (Facebook)
Not THE - but A favourite: FF DIN - for clarity, the weights, more attitude but not to much character, reads in small sizes
Via @simikken
I would say Philosopher. It’s a stylish, modern font that is similar to common fonts so that it’s functional and elegant.
Via @bixtin
My favourite font is called “mutlu” because my finance has our daughter’s name tattooed across his chest in it…
Via @artbyjaz
Don’t know… for paragraphs I like Futura Lt BT, I guess because it looks clean and helps me fit all the text.
Via @edMaga
Futura, Neutraface, Garamond, Rockwell
Marcos Luis Hernández (via Facebook)
Big fan of Futura, it’s clean but has personality. I like its curves.
Sasha Endoh (via Facebook)
Futura, Verdana, and Myriad Pro I use the most.
Stan Perl (via Facebook)
Actually fond of Metroscript cause I’m on a big vintage graphic period!! Montreal is also a good sans serif one.
Via @MonsieurH
Americana is my favourite sans-serif, and Charcoal is currently my fave serif.
Lisa Du Plessis (via Facebook)
TJ Governanti (via Facebook)
Trajan Pro, classy and elegant and I love the Q in it.
Tareq Alsamman(via Facebook)
SWISS 721 family….looks classy and elegant.
Mohamed Shinaz Saeed (via Facebook)
I’m torn, it’s either Papyrus or Comic Sans. Actually, my two favorites are Sketch Block and Geo Sans Light. I find it reads so well, and looks very clean and minimal.
Via Will Higgins (via Facebook)
Christine LeBlanc Payne (via Facebook)
Comic sans! Haha, no, seriously, I think is Trebuchet and Futura .
Diane Hernandez (via Facebook)
Trebuchet… because who doesn’t like saying “Tray-boo-shay”, and it has a sturdy, even thickness to its stroke which lends itself nicely to big bold headers for websites
Jayson Akers (via Facebook)
Helvetica, Frutiger, timeless.
Sanja Karic (via Facebook)
OK someone has to say it…Bleeding Cowboys !
Brian Nelson (via Facebook)
Myriad Pro (boring I know) & Boberia
Andrea Guevara Higham (via Facebook)
I like Century Gothic, its an easy to work with font.
Maikel Beckers (via Facebook)
Garamond - totally unfazed by time, style, and trend.
Shakun Harris (via Facebook)
Helvetica, and 2nd would have to be Helvetica, just pipping Helvetica. In all seriousness though, my vote goes to Helvetica.
Via @burdzelkrai
Helvetica - swiss design at its best.
Via @loveannon
Helvetica Neue for it’s incredible versatility-Letter spacing, size and the font variations can get you thousands of new fonts.
Via @baffleinc
Helvetica - classic and contemporary, timely and timeless, all rolled into one.
Via Rafael Armstrong
The Helvetica Neue family, it just gives so much choice in one family and looks clean and sharp on screen
Via @keanrichmond
Helvetica Neue. A more refined font compared to Helvetica, versatile & simply elegant
Via @zilch
Helvetica. Since it was the cleanest and most common beautiful font i’ve ever seen.. No font is close..
Via @thematrixuum
Got to be Helvetica family - so much range in a single font in terms of variety in weight and styles and so timeless!
Via @threemenoneshed
I like comic sans for fun & verdana for an elegant look
Via @beiruta
Comic sans, it makes everything patronising
Via Jon Hassall (Facebook)
No font list could be complete with out someone mentioning Comic Sans. On that note check out this short documentary on the typeface, it’s worth a watch. I loved the quote from the Comic Sans designer, Vincent Connare:
“If you love it, you don’t know much about typography, but if you hate it, you really don’t know much about typography either and you should get another hobby.”
Recommended Typography Resources
- The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
- 30 Fonts All Designers Must Know & Should Own
- How To Choose A Font
- 54 Typography Resources Every Designer Should Bookmark
What is your favourite font and why?
82 comments thus far »
The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
Published on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 – 4:37 pm | 118 brilliant comments »
Based on a German website, these are the top 100 best fonts of all time.
To say the least, ranking fonts is an obviously hard task… how does one measure aesthetic quality, the benefit of an item, its value to humanity and so fourth?
Well, in this particular German publication, the judges ranked the fonts by their objective and various other weighted measurements:
- FontShop Sales Figures: 40%
- Historical Value/Meaning: 30%
- Aesthetic Qualities: 30%
It is also worth noting that this evaluation consisted exclusively of licensed or commercial fonts only. Free fonts or operating system fonts were not considered, nor were fonts integral to standard software (i.e. Arial, Verdana, etc.). Font variations, which over the centuries have been individually interpreted by various Foundries, were uniquely evaluated as a class and the best variant was entered into the main judging process.
Below is a preview of the top 33 fonts and beneath this image you can find the full list of the 100 best fonts.
Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
Below you will find the full list of the best 100 fonts along with the designer & the year in which they were designed.
1. Helvetica [1957 - Max Miedinger]
2. Garamond [1530 - Claude Garamond]
3. Frutiger [1977 - Adrian Frutiger]
4. Bodoni [1790 - Giambattista Bodoni]
5. Futura [1927 - Paul Renner]
6. Times [1931 - Stanley Morison]
7. Akzidenz Grotesk [1966 - G nter Gerhard Lange]
8. Officina [1990 - Erik Spiekermann]
9. Gill Sans [1930 - Eric Gill]
10. Univers [1954 - Adrian Frutiger]
11. Optima [1954 - Hermann Zapf]
12. Franklin Gothic [1903 - Morris Fuller Benton]
13. Bembo [1496 - Francesco Griffo]
14. Interstate [1993 - Tobias Frere-Jones]
15. Thesis [1994 - Lucas de Groot]
16. Rockwell [1934 - Frank H. Pierpont]
17. Walbaum [1800 - Justus Walbaum]
18. Meta [1991 - Erik Spiekermann]
19. Trinit [1982 - Bram De Does]
20. Din [1926 - Ludwig Goller]
21. Matrix [1986 - Zuzana Licko]
22. OCR [1965 - American Type Founders]
23. Avant Garde [1968 - Herb Lubalin]
24. Lucida [1985 - Chris Holmes / Charles Bigelow]
25. Sabon [1964 - Jan Tschichold]
26. Zapfino [1998 - Hermann Zapf]
27. Letter Gothic [1956 - Roger Roberson]
28. Stone [1987 - Summer Stone]
29. Arnhem [1998 - Fred Smeijers]
30. Minion [1990 - Robert Slimbach]
31. Myriad [1992 - Twombly & Slimbach]
32. Rotis [1988 - Olt Aicher]
33. Eurostile [1962 - Aldo Novarese]
34. Scala [1991 - Martin Majoor]
35. Syntax [1968 - Hans Eduard Meier]
36. Joanna [1930 - Eric Gill]
37. Fleishmann [1997 - Erhard Kaiser]
38. Palatino [1950 - Hermann Zapf]
39. Baskerville [1754 - John Baskerville]
40. Fedra [2002 - Peter Bil'ak]
41. Gotham [2000 - Tobias Frere-Jones]
42. Lexicon [1992 - Bram De Does]
43. Hands [1991 - Letterror]
44. Metro [1929 - W. A. Dwiggins]
45. Didot [1799 - Firmin Didot]
46. Formata [1984 - Bernd M llenst dt]
47. Caslon [1725 - William Caslon]
48. Cooper Black [1920 - Oswald B. Cooper]
49. Peignot [1937 - A. M. Cassandre]
50. Bell Gothic [1938 - Chauncey H. Griffith]
51. Antique Olive [1962 - Roger Excoffon]
52. Wilhelm Klngspor Gotisch [1926 - Rudolf Koch]
53. Info [1996 - Erik Spiekermann]
54. Dax [1995 - Hans Reichel]
55. Proforma [1988 - Petr van Blokland]
56. Today Sans [1988 - Volker K ster]
57. Prokyon [2002 - Erhard Kaiser]
58. Trade Gothic [1948 - Jackson Burke]
59. Swift [1987 - Gerald Unger]
60. Copperplate Gothic [1901 - Frederic W. Goudy]
61. Blur [1992 - Neville Brody]
62. Base [1995 - Zuzana Licko]
63. Bell Centennial [1978 - Matthew Carter]
64. News Gothic [1908 - Morris Fuller Benton]
65. Avenir [1988 - Adrian Frutiger]
66. Bernhard Modern [1937 - Lucian Bernhard]
67. Amplitude [2003 - Christian Schwartz]
68. Trixie [1991 - Erik van Blokland]
69. Quadraat [1992 - Fred Smeijers]
70. Neutraface [2002 - Christian Schwartz]
71. Nobel [1929 - Sjoerd de Roos]
72. Industria [1990 - Neville Brody]
73. Bickham Script [1997 - Richard Lipton]
74. Bank Gothic [1930 - Morris Fuller Benton]
75. Corporate ASE [1989 - Kurt Weidemann]
76. Fago [2000 - Ole Schafer]
77. Trajan [1989 - Carol Twombly]
78. Kabel [1927 - Rudolf Koch]
79. House Gothic 23 [1995 - Tal Leming]
80. Kosmik [1993 - Letterror]
81. Caecilia [1990 - Peter Matthias Noordzij]
82. Mrs Eaves [1996 - Zuzana Licko]
83. Corpid [1997 - Lucas de Groot]
84. Miller [1997 - Matthew Carter]
85. Souvenir [1914 - Morris Fuller Benton]
86. Instant Types [1992 - Just van Rossum]
87. Clarendon [1845 - Benjamin Fox]
88. Triplex [1989 - Zuzana Licko]
89. Benguiat [1989 - Ed Benguiat]
90. Zapf Renaissance [1984 - Hermann Zapf]
91. Filosofia [1996 - Zuzana Licko]
92. Chalet [1996 - House Industries]
93. Quay Sans [1990 - David Quay]
94. C zanne [1995 - Michael Want, James Grieshaber]
95. Reporter [1938 - Carlos Winkow]
96. Legacy [1992 - Ronald Arnholm]
97. Agenda [1993 - Greg Thompson]
98. Bello [2004 - Underware]
99. Dalliance [2000 - Frank Heine]
100. Mistral [1953 - Roger Excoffon]
Further Resources:
- 100 Best Fonts PDF (In German)
- The 100 Best Fonts Website (Translated via Yahoo)
- 30 Fonts All Designers Must Know & Should Own
- How To Choose A Font
- 54 Typography Resources Every Designer Should Bookmark
So what other fonts should be included in this? What fonts shouldn’t be in this list? Vent your spleen below.
118 comments thus far »
30 Fonts To Last A Life Time
Published on Sunday, March 2, 2008 – 11:04 pm | 250 brilliant comments »
Here are 30 of the Best Fonts / Typefaces that every designer must / should own sorted by alphabetical order. There are 15 serif fonts and 15 sans-serif fonts. These fonts will last you your whole career!
A brief description of what each font is best suited for is provided however are not limited to this.
There are some top free cool fonts that are downloadable in this collection and some that come with your operating system… the others are not so free but they sure will help you improve your typography! They include original PC, Mac and Truetype fonts.
You may also be interested in How To Choose A Font or the Top 5 Typography Resources of all time. Also don’t forget to subscribe! Read more »
250 comments thus far »
How To Choose A Font
Published on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 – 6:48 pm | 14 brilliant comments »
Have you ever had the problem of not knowing what typeface to use? Well of course you have, everyone has. This is a guide on how to choose a font.
These pointers have been gathered from Robin Williams great book “The Non-Designers Type Book” that I recommended in the top 5 typography resources of all time.
Have a think about each of these before choosing your next font.
Choose a category of type
- Choose a type face that you think will match your work. ie. Oldstyle, Modern, Slab Serif, Sans Serif, Script, Decorative. Unsure of your type categories?
Quality of printer & paper
- Where are you getting your piece printed? If you are printing from a low resolution printer, your subtle font characteristics such as delicate serifs or fine lines will not get printed. (eg. fax machines, photo copier). Is the paper going to without the ink and quality? eg. Newspapers will absorb ink and lose finer details.
How much text is there to read? What is its purpose?
- Are you designing for a poster, a book, a report? What is more important - readability or aesthetics? What is the purpose of the text? A serious look, a casual look, a decorative look?
How much space do you need to fill? Or leave unfilled?
- Different typefaces take up different amounts of space, even at the same point size. Try comparing two fonts next to each other and see how much difference they take up in room.
Is the project to be skimmed or be really read?
- Choose a typeface and layout that suits its purpose.
An exercise method for next time you choose a font…
- Know your output method and final reproduction process to narrow down your font choices.
- Decide on the look you want to convey.
- If you use more than one font, make sure the fonts are very different from each other. If they are not very different it looks like a mistake. eg. Use an oldstyle font for the body text and and a bold sans serif for the headline.
- Don’t be afraid to use wild fonts where they are appropriate and use it sparingly. Don’t be a wimp.
For further reading on how to choose a font check out about.com or for a more advanced ‘how to’ check out Typies, 15 tips to choose a good typeface.
How do you go about choosing a font or typeface?
14 comments thus far »
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