In Inspiration Jan 18, 201024
30 of the Best Fonts Designers Should Use for Print
Selecting the right font(s) for use in print can be a bit challenging. Fonts in this category have to be concise, smooth, and be able to hold its own ground without the additional help of other fonts. Although there are a few interchangeable fonts that can be used for web and print, the list we’ve compiled below should help you get a head start on what fonts are the most effective in print.
Many times the choice that seems obvious for designers is serif fonts, due in part to the fact that they work well in the form of a headline or body content. Though with the following fonts you’ll see that we have digressed from filling up this list with serif fonts. Instead, we hand-picked a variety of well-known and a few obscure fonts that we believe do a good job of conveying readability when used for print.
Are we missing any? Let us know in your comment!
Tallys
Excelsior
Perpetua
Trajan
Akzidenz Grotesk
Geo Sans Light
Avenir
Meta
Stempel Schneidler
Vintage
Rockwell
Museo
Helvetica
Times New Roman
Stuart Standard
Houschka Pro Light
Adelle
Gylphya Std Black
Geometric Slabserif
Clarendon Light OT
Memphis
Coolvetica LT
Public Works
RePublic
Editorial Comment
Sling
Old Sans Black
Nevis
Chunk Five
QuickSand
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24 Comments
Jan 18, 2010
Great collection of fonts man! Design Reviver has some awesome posts, keep up this great work
Jan 18, 2010
This is one of the best font roundups I’ve ever seen. I’ve always loved Rockwell and Museo, but some of the alternatives here are stunning!
Jan 18, 2010
You almost totally lost my respect at Trajan; I half expected to see Comic Sans after that. There are only a couple of fonts worth exploring for print design in here (i.e. Museo, perhaps even Memphis or Rockwell), but how dare you include Times New Roman; it has it’s place, but not on this list. And the fact that you even found a font called Coolvetica is appalling. Next time, maybe consult some print designers or typographers; you would see a totally different world if you did.
Jan 18, 2010
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Jan 18, 2010
great fonts, i use a same of it
Jan 19, 2010
[...] 30 of the Best Fonts Designers Should Use for Print | Design Reviver [...]
Jan 19, 2010
I’d love to use a wider variety of fonts in my designs but as I’m designing for web I tend to stick to the safe few accept for when I’m embedding the text in an image file.
Jan 19, 2010
Without Akzidenz Grotesk the world would be a lifeless inhabitable place
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Jan 19, 2010
[...] 30 of the Best Fonts Designers Should Use for Print [...]
Jan 19, 2010
damn… that lost its too bad. times new roman?? wtf!!!
Jan 19, 2010
[...] 30 of the Best Fonts Designers Should Use for Print | Design Reviver Awesome fonts for Print! (tags: design fonts fontes herramientas diseño font webdesign inspiration type tipografías print recursos resources free tipografia inspiración typography gallery) [...]
Jan 19, 2010
Have to agree with Andy-Mac on this one. About 1/4 of the fonts you listed would be considered worthy by a seasoned print designer.
Jan 19, 2010
Don’t forget DIN typefaces. They are awesome too.
Jan 20, 2010
This is an interesting post, however, it is important to point out that different typefaces are appropriate for different uses, a good display typeface might not make a good text face. Maybe it would be helpful to indicate recommended uses for each typeface…?
I personally like Trajan, and think it can work quite nicely for a variety of projects at display sizes but certainly not at text sizes. Among the typefaces listed, Avenir, Helvetica and Perpetua are definitely quality fonts that have stood the test of time. However, I am not sure I would have combined them with some of the other entries. There are a number of free quality fonts (Museo is one of them), but they do tend to be few and far between and I wouldn’t put all of them on par with the work of Adrian Frutiger or even Erik Spiekermann.
I had no idea there was a typeface called Coolvetica, that’s funny!
It kind of looks like a combination of Helvetica and Chalet…
Having said all of that, typefaces, like other aspects of design, are largely a subjective matter and it would be difficult to reach a consensus on what would makes a quality font and what doesn’t. For instance many people think Helvetica is as close to font perfection as we will come while some very well established designers hate it with a passion.
Anyway, great blog, always fun to read!
Jan 21, 2010
I agree with Andy-Mac completely. Coolvetica, Times New Roman, Trajan should not be on this list. Even Museo is wearing thin because everyone’s using it because some other designer used it.
Also, if you’re going to post typefaces that “should” be used, please provide reasons for doing so.
Jan 24, 2010
I use Avenair alot and find it very effective idd. I see so many websites using 40000 different fonts within one page, looks messy and a total nono imo.
I do agree with Ollie on this though, a few reason wouldnt go a miss if poss.
Jan 24, 2010
trajan is the best…..
but all of them are cool!
Jan 25, 2010
[...] 30 of the best fonts designers should use for print (designreviver?.com) [...]
Feb 2, 2010
Props for including Akzidenz Grotesk which always seems to be living in the shadow of Helvetica. But you forgot two classics that Univers and Lubalin Graph. There are a few fonts on this list that would never make my cut, but to each their own.
Feb 2, 2010
Because fonts are SERIOUS BUSINESS.
Feb 10, 2010
Nice try on the list, but you forgot number .9, Copperplate Gothic Bold. How could this not be on the list, it truly is the greatest font in the world!
Feb 16, 2010
Im just starting out, so this is a great guide to go by. QuickSand is catching my eye.
Feb 19, 2010
[...] couldn’t close this topic, however, without including at least a few examples of what I consider well-designed font choices. You be the [...]
Feb 20, 2010
HOW DARE YOU include Times New Roman.
…oh and you forgot Futura (best font of all times) and Gill Sans (the other best font of all times).
Other than that ^^
I really enjoyed it.
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