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 »
20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career
Published on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 – 12:01 am | 91 brilliant comments »
I recently came across a great discussion in the archives of Typophile from 2003 called 20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career and it needs to be revived.
As a design student myself, I notice that typography is one of the hardest parts that students seem to face… most students are able to come up with extremely creative, innovative and well designed material however as soon as type is needed… well, let’s just say, it could need some more work.
20 Typefaces Are Perfect
Take this quote from a teacher in the Typophile discussion:
“I think 20 type faces is perfect. This is what I tell my class to begin with. The idea that you need hundreds of typefaces is ridiculous. When I was in school I had thousands upon thousands of bad typefaces. I hoarded anything I could get. This only helped confuse me when it came to choosing an appropriate face. It was a breath of fresh air to just delete them all off my hard drive. I only use about 10 or so at any moment in my career. Type can be tricky and hard to deal with. It is best to have fewer faces and understand the ins and outs of each one. This is the only way one can expect to master a typeface and type in general.” - Jay Wilkinson
I can agree with Jay on this as I was also guilty of having every font under the sun, however, after the first year of University I quickly learned otherwise - it is best to master a few faces.
One could also argue whether 20 is a suitable number or not, however, I believe it is a good starting point… To contradict this point I have also written an article called 30 fonts all designers must know & should own.
Don’t Use Free Fonts
Another point that is made in the article is to not use free fonts. Take this quote from Keith Tam.
“I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of students downloading free fonts off the ‘net for their projects. More often than not they end up using something poorly made without even realising that it is not a ‘professional quality’ font. It’s dangerous. It’s such a bad influence for them because they’ll end up thinking that fonts are free and anyone can make fonts. Not a good idea. I think it’s a typography instructor’s duty to teach their students how to discern the differences between well and poorly made typefaces, and about the legalities of typeface licensing.”
I can relate to this as I see so many design students download free fonts… including don’t say it - Coolvetica. Limit yourself to a few families and you will be surprised at the outcome. You may also want to see the Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals.
Update: I am not saying to rule out free fonts completely… in fact my logo uses the free font delicious. There are certainly some very well designed free fonts out there however the problem arises when trying to distinguish a good typeface from a bad one… I recommend this best free quality fonts post for starters or this list of 40 excellent free fonts from Smashing Magazine.
20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career
Although there were many other ‘top 20′ lists in the original post I believe the twenty below would be my pick from the ones suggested in the article. In no particular order:
Centaur
Jenson
Bembo
(Adobe) Garamond
Minion
Times New Roman
Baskerville
Mrs Eaves
Bauer Bodoni
Didot
Clarendon
Rockwell
Serifa
Franklin Gothic
News Gothic
Helvetica Neue
Univers
Futura
Frutiger
Copperplate Gothic
What say you?
91 comments thus far »
Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Graphic Design
Published on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 – 9:35 am | 181 brilliant comments »
All though there have been many other most used font posts, most of them outline fonts used by the ‘not-so-well-trained’ designer. In this post I want to outline the fonts that are often used by the more ‘professional’ of designers.
This article is the third article of four in this series.
The Four Part Series
- Top 7 Most Overused Techniques & Elements Used in Graphic Design
- Top 7 Most Overused Icons / Shapes Used in Graphic Design
- Top 7 Fonts Used by Professionals In Graphic Design
- Top 7 Most Overused Stock Images Used in Web Design
Top 7 Most Used Fonts Used By Professionals In Graphic Design
1. Helvetica
Without a doubt, Helvetica is the most heavily used font by professionals (and also by the not so professional) in graphic design. Although some praise the font, many believe that it is spaced too tightly.
And as Vivien pleas in her 16 most overused fonts article, “Understand that you can’t always rely on Helvetica to illustrate and deliver your every message. Helvetica is not perfect for everyone and every occasion.”
2. Trajan
Trajan finds its way into many Hollywood movie posters and anything remotely to do with religion, law, marriage, class or the past. You can check out the flickr pool for more uses of Trajan.
A bit of history on the font Trajan… Trajan is an old style serif typeface designed in 1989 by Carol Twombly for Adobe. The design is based on Roman square capitals, as used for the inscription at the base of Trajan’s Column from which the typeface takes its name.
3. Garamond
Although there are many versions of Garamond, the most used version today is the Adobe Garamond version (as seen above) released in 1989. Garamond is a great font for magazines, textbooks, websites and long bodies of text and was recently named the second best font (after Helvetica) by a German publication.
4. Futura
Futura is a font that comes up often in large displays, logos, corporate typefaces and in books where small text is needed. It is based on geometric shapes (near-perfect circles, triangles and squares) which became representative of the Bauhaus design style of 1919–1933. Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. Some do hate the font though.
5. Bodoni
Bodoni is a great font for headlines, decorative text and logos. Bodoni has a narrow underlying structure with flat, unbracketed serifs. The face has extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, and an overall geometric construction which makes it a very aesthetic looking font.
6. Bickham Script Pro
Used mainly for formal occasions, Bickham Script Pro is a font which does the job well… Cameron Moll even recommended it in his article “Typefaces no one will get fired for using.” The ‘not-so-trained’ designer usually vouches for Vivaldi instead which is one of America’s most hated fonts. Another great alternative would be Sloop.
7. Frutiger
The Frutiger font family is neither strictly geometric nor humanistic in construction; its forms are designed so that each individual character is quickly and easily recognised. Such distinctness makes it good for signage and display work and it is often used in Web 2.0 Logos.
The full family has a warmth and subtlety that have, in recent years, made it popular for the smaller scale of body text in magazines and booklets.
Close Contenders
Here are some other fonts many ‘professional’ designers use quite often; Gills Sans, FF DIN, Franklin Gothic, Bembo, Rockwell, Avenir, Avant Garde, MrsEaves, Gotham, Sabon, Warnock Pro. Notice that none of these are fonts are downloadable for free?
Still type hungry? Why don’t you check out 30 Fonts All Designers Must Know & Should Own.
Do you agree? What other fonts would you add to the list?
181 comments thus far »
How Self-Inspired Artwork Wins Clients & Boosts Creativity
Published on Monday, July 28, 2008 – 9:00 am | 14 brilliant comments »
Showcasing your vast creativity, boundless ideas and unique style is the key to winning new clients. Self initiated work is a critical element of any effective portfolio and it’ll help you win the jobs you want and boost your creativity at the same time.
This was the opening paragraph of the article “Build A Better Portfolio” in the latest addition (Issue 151) of Computer Arts magazine and I couldn’t agree more. I have realised that many of my self initiated projects I have enjoyed the most. You are not tied down by deadlines or a brief and because of this you really do get a chance to experiment with creative freedom.
Use of personal projects will not only show your own range of technical skills, it may even inspire your clients. If the stuff you really love doing is in there, then you have more chance of getting paid for that type of work. For example, when I added my vodka bottle design to my portfolio, I had 3 proposals within a month in regards to designing packaging for vodka.
Below you can see some of my self initiated designs (starting with type experiments) that I have done for fun over the past year however I really wish that I had done more (and with more time put into each one) and it is my goal to do more from now on.
Have you got any time put aside to work on your own personal projects?
Experimentation with vectors and rasters. It is me on the left and a friend.
This is Excelsiorbot, inspired by Helbotica.
Just a bit of fun photo manipulation.
An illustration I did for the Save The Earth campaign.
Experimentation with layers and blending styles.
A bit more on the crazy side. Rubber bands and glue.
Anyway, hope this inspires you to do a bit more self-inspired artwork! I know that I am going to be doing more of it and with more effort put into each one.
14 comments thus far »
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