good one!!! - as usual :)

The fonts is one of the most important part of every web design. This collection is very precious. Good, very good. I was’nt watched some font styles.

Wow, this is amazing. Absolutely Smashing!!!

cool, font always be major factor to achieve great webdesign

Great list guys. I think you covered most all of the great ones I know of.

I have to say my favorite is Myriad Pro though.

nice overview. your list includes some very nice fonts which i havn’t seen before. but i’ll miss direct links ;)

Great list. You captured many of my favorites. The primary ones I missed were Transit, News Gothic and Minion although I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to be present anyway.

depot is so good….its on twice!

Very special list. So, does one of us posters win the whole collection? PLEASE?!

Well…there is not said in which order you have put this fonts together. There are no comments, no details…

Sorry, but how is this helpfull?
Thats the problem about such ranking lists…

Gorgeous and simple, they way to go.

The only thing missing is the torrent address to download them all…

is any of those free?

torrent link? :))

Thank you for scrolling! :) I love this list!
I’m sure it’ll speed up my next choice!

Awesome list! I love the way you guys have screenshots of the font in action, some designs look very classy. nice work. :D

Genius.

I’ve come to love your blog more than any other.

Keep up the brilliant work. I hesitated, and chose not to throw in the word smashing, ha ha. But I was going to.

Awesome post, I definitively would like some more post about typography. Good job guys.

You Guys ROCK!!!

Excellent list, another font that I use quite regularly is Audimat (free!)

Link [fontleech.com]

Excellent as usual. There are some fantastic typefaces here.

Um, why bother with this when the entries don’t link to downloadable font files?

And, some of the so-called foundries are bunk. For example, the ones for Olga lead to essentially non-functional Web sites that don’t offer the font either.

This is a completely arbitrary list. I’m a professional typographer. I would never use any of them with the possible exception of Warnock. Helvetica, Univers and their variations are hopelessly overused, tired and BORING. The other faces you show are mostly quirky at best, inept at worst. This is easily the most amateurish collection of “best” typefaces I’ve seen in a long time.

So link us to your blog, where your collection is tough guy.

Thank you, I’ve been needing this for awhile. Much appreciated.

Personally, I think this list is quite a bit (trying to avoid saying “waaay” … but, waaay) too long, and there really isn’t enough variation, in my very humble opinion. I do usually quite appreciate the lists smashing puts up, but this one falls a bit short for me for several reasons. I do agree with Jules on most of his points … though, there are a few more I might use if I were feeling “quirky” :) … perhaps he just got sick of sorting through so many fonts.

Bottom line for me, 80 typefaces is alot, and I don’t feel I would have a full palette if I were limited to the selection here.

Also, people looking for a torrent site or free downloads … really? Good design costs money … that’s what keeps us in business, right?

good posting! this well help others who are not “a professional typographer” to pick and use different styles in their next letter, project,web, logo, etc.

choosing a good typseface is essential for corporate branding.

chossing the right fonts for the project, always makes a big impact. Just make sure it is consistent.
:)

Haha, actually, I just re-read post #21:
“Helvetica, Univers and their variations are hopelessly overused, tired and BORING”
Disregard the “I do agree with Jules … ” comment, those fonts, and the others in the list that I actually would consider classics (though most I would not) I think are very versatile, and “overuse” is irrelevant to achieving one’s goals in a layout. I at first thought those were included in his “oaky” fonts … must’ve been dizzy from looking through so many fonts … or perhaps the Depot double post through me off : )

no freebies?
no fun

no trebuchet ms? surely you jest. trebuchet ms is my all time favorite font, the best of the bunch no doubt.

Good to see Univers made the list. Quite fond of that font. As well as the Corpid collection (sadly it didn’t make the list). I think I’ve used it a little too religiously at times.

Either way, a great list. I’m going to go out and see if I can find Flex now. :D

I’m a publishing professional and have worked as a type director for a madison avenue ad agency. I never heard of 90 percent of these faces. My bad? Most of them look like like knock-offs of long-time standards.

I wrote an article about famous logos, like Google, Microsoft, Apple, MySpace, and so on.

Google Brasil: Catull BQ Regular
Microsoft: Helvetica
Apple Slogan (Think Different): Apple Garamond
Skype: Helvetica Rounded Bold
Last.fm: ITC Honda

See the full article here: Link [www.cadudecastroalves.com]

A good list. However, I will add one more need for choosing a typeface - its readability across all platforms. It is a critical one for the web where the variety in client environments is maximum.

Man, they are all cool but i love “FF Sanuk”. Might have to purchase that one. Great list.

Wow - great resource! We chose our logo’s font from your list here.

Nie is and some really great fonts I’ve never heard of. But it’s kinda light on the Serif fonts.

Wow, nice job! I spend lots of time playing with fonts daily. This is a great resource!

Great stuff! This will be a handy resource when designing a new site.

Hmm. I don’t see my favorite on here….Trajan Pro
I have found a few new good ones however.

Shmick list, ta.

Link [www.dafont.com] is a nice sans serif, I use it on business cards.

Great work! You guys are great. Now how about a list of free fonts (available) resembling the above ones…just a thought ;)
Thanks a million anyway.

Torrents? Links to Free fonts? Come on if your a Designer, you SHOULD want to pay other Designers for their work. Leechers like you guys hurt the professional aspect of design - you should go drop shadow something instead.

I really love those font size/font face combos!!!
Great!

Wow. Brilliant article. Thats definitely a keeper. Loads of fonts their that will look amazing. Thank you.

This is definetely going into my Typeface bookmarks.

Great reference typefaces for ideas and source. :)

Thanks.

Nice list for sure, but wait a minute, NO COMIC SANS, surely some mistake, how can the greatest fount in the typosphere be ommitted…….?

very good work :)

@WobblyCyril

A font as versatile and fantastic as Comic Sans would outshine everything on the list :)

Thanks again for the list. I personally prefer the Glasgow font ;)

thanks for this - love it!

What’s the point in providing such a massive list?!
Does it just mean that you couldn’t be bothered narrowing it down?

What use is this for?!

These fonts cost anywhere between $200-$1500 … you have to have to be either a huge design company or simply mentally retarded to spend that money on a font.

…when there are so many great ones that are absolutely free. Make a list of FREE good typefaces for professional design.

To whoever compiled this list, thank you!

And in case you were wondering, the font used by Cingular Wireless (now at&t) was Avenir. Since the rebranding, Avenir hasn’t been used quite as heavily.

Uau! They all look absolutely amazing, but do we really need all that many fonts? I really liked reading this particular Link [www.designobserver.com].

Delicious List! I must caution . . . a font does not a logo make.
I work with a logo made with Futura. A lovely font.
Yet our logo …. in all lowers…. is…. weak. (shhhh.) I didn’t say it!
The list you have provided is, however, a wonderful starting point! Just don’t finish there.

A really good font-collection. Thank You!

Amazing!
Amazing!

Congratulations.

thank u very much

excellent!!!!!

Well who was asking for the torrent link?

you may ONLY download this as a backup.

Link [btjunkie.org]

Nice list, but where the heck is Goudy?!

is there an english version of this?

Link [www.100besteschriften.de]

Great list. :) Priva Pro & depot are both in the list twice.

Great list, but missing some big names.

Link [www.typography.com]
Link [www.houseind.com]
and for fun an Link [www.veer.com]

Just off the top of my head I’d add Gotham, Interstate, Klavika, anything Bodoni-based (I prefer Italian Didot)…

Gotham didn’t make the cut? neither did benton?
How is that even possible?

Great job! I love a lot of these and have for years.

Can you please publish this as a PDF.

Thanks.

@Ramzi - if you value your time you will gladly pay for a high-quality, well designed font rather than use some free “professional” font you downloaded off the web, since you will more than likely spend 2-3x as long manually adjusting the kerning in your type. I’m frequently shocked at how often I see bad typography marring otherwise good designs, even on projects with the kind of financial backing that would justify a higher attention to detail. It may seem trivial to some, but it is one small detail that separates the amateurs from the professionals.

Priva Pro is listed twice #55 and #62…

The first one, in my opinion, should be Scala.

And the second one… MelloSans!

Fernando

Ref. post #23 Jules Siegel

Jules can you offer some of your own fonts to back up your opinion.

Nice collection of fonts!

I can call myself super rich if I get hold of all of them?

Super Collection

Great list. If only I had the cash or the knowledge to get all these wonderful fonts.

Awesome list! Thanks so much!

Wow! Great list. Now I don’t have to look through hundreds of useless fonts when I design something. thank you.

Fantastic.

all the fonts look like arial and verdana, what good are the fancy fonts when the user dont have them, u will have to make everything image which will take forever to load. and this page is once again broken in IE6

That’s a very good list, though I think tilted a bit toward sans-serif fonts. I love a well design serif.

amazing and beautiful collection of fonts. i’m in love

A list of old standards and newer variations. A good list for new designers.

What - no Comic Sans?!

Seriously - fantastic list! I was actually surprised to see that I hadn’t seen half of these fonts. One thing though - isn’t Gill Sans overused at this point?

@ huangism: One acronym for ya - Link [www.mikeindustries.com].

Whoops - I meant sIFR. Anyway, check it out.

thanks for posting but I think that SERIF FONTS are a bit missing.
for instance, Goudy, Caslon, Garamond, etc.

Excelente página……………imprescindible.

EDU

….So, great WORK!!!!

I’m suprised that we don’t find in this list “Optima” - best font for professional typography excluding Frutiger - but I don’t suppose that author of this article didn’t heard this name as yet…

It’s nice to see this postom SM. The posts are starting to get better again.

This is my first time commenting on Smashing Magazine. I admit I was a bit wary whether to subscribe to this blog in the beginning, but this post was fantastic. Keep them coming, please.

I don’t want to be pesky, but no. 83 isn’t called Wingardium. It’s called Prima Sans and was designed by latinamerican designers Ariel Katena and Alejandro Lazos. It says so in the Flickr page that you’re linking and also Link [www.letraslatinas.com].

If you google it you’ll get Bitstream’s Prima Sans, which isn’t the same…

Just a thought…

)O(

COOL!!!!!!!!!!

good list, but how can i download all those fonts

Can someone make a torrent of these fonts if you have it?

Post a torrent??

Designers made these fonts. Designers need to be payed in order to keep making things like this. When everyone downloads torrents of fonts, nobody is being payed to make them.

See the problem there? It’s disrespect.

perfect!
but how to implement it as a normal text (not as an image) on the web?

I meant to ask this when I saw the Documentary film, Helvetica but given the room was full of intimidating designers, I declined. So I’ll ask it here. I love all the examples you’ve given in this post, but as a numbers guy I wondered whether a list of the top 80 fonts for numbers would be the same the list?

Very nice list. Only ‘Priva Pro’ is in the list twice, on 55 and 62.

great, now your designs can look just like everyone elses…

I find incredible how can it be possible for GEORGIA no to be listed here….
Anyway, most of these are really fantastic fonts, such as the new ones made for the new Windows Vista - “Cambria” and “Calibri”

All the best!

I think DIN font family is the most trendy typeface nowadays.

Holy crap, I can’t believe how many people there are asking for torrents. Come on, even if you’re into stealing typefaces at least have the decency to not beg for torrents. What the hell is happening to this profession?

Hey great list you got there. Thank God you named the title Typefaces and not font list. It annoys me when designers don’t know the difference between a typeface and a font.

Man I love this site.

wow - not sure about that list. Some I’d agrees with HelveticaNeue, Futura, etc - but others are kinda reaching. Myriad, for instance? It’s the default. What happened to the classic serif fonts? Garamond, Goudy, Giovanni. Or what Lubalin Graph - you listed Rockwell in lieu of Lubalin Graph? It’s easily the more superior slab serif.

Not impressed.

Superb list. BUt i dont see any script fonts :D

Very nice list… 2 that are new to me and I like are Glasgow and Priva Pro (this one you liste 2 times… see 55 and 62 :) I also liked the french one… Le Monde Courrier and Officina

Nice list, FF Dax (Dax) is used in the TV series Californication btw. Surprised me allot, since it´s used often in the Corporated world such as here: Link [www.t.is]

Not that i’m complaining about your list (nor the choices from the different designers involved in choosing these fonts) but i in my modest opinion this list is too strongly biased to san serif typefaces (more then 80% os this list are san serifs). San serifs are so profusely used nowadays that they are becoming boring, specially when there’s a huge niche of beautifull serif’s and slab fonts around. I also must point that i would never , ever , use a font like Helvetica (or its numerous variants), Futura, Avenir, Din, FF Meta, FF Dax, The Sans (and i find extremely strange the this Lucas de Groot typeface didnt make it to the list since it was probably the most “instant classic” typeface designed in the last 2 decades) and the likes in any of my designs unless the client pointed a gun to my head… they where overused and abused to the point of extreme boringness! Also not so interesting is including on the list unavailable typefaces (like guardian that wont be available for some years since its a exclusive typeface) and unfinished typefaces, specially when the font scene is saturated with well designed san serif typefaces (its a world of choices out there). Unless your client is a huge corporation the is looking for a neutral image stay away from most of these san serifs (specially the classic ones) because you would be falling into the boring world of the typefaces everyone else is using. Apart from this there’s some unusual san serifs in the list that are quite interesting (not many tho since most are the usual classics) and unless you only design headlines and posters the lack of serifs in the list makes it kinda incomplete. Overall its interesting list but a very unbalanced one since theres no script fonts, very little choices of serifs (for text bodies), almost no slab serifs and nothing of any other type categories that can give you designs that original look.

Great fonts. The best is 21 and 65

BOOKMARKED! This will be a bunch of tools that i might be requiring. You might want to take this url for added reference.

A very good list and no mistake. With a few exceptions all of them can be purchased from Link [www.type.co.uk] which also has a great list of script fonts to help flesh out the list.

I think it’s funny how Microsoft uses Helvetica as their logo font (post number 33), but include the “knockoff” Arial in their operating system.

Guess they should practice what they preach… huh!? Why not use Arial…?

But, great list though!

“I find incredible how can it be possible for GEORGIA no to be listed here….”

Uh…dude…Georgia was designed for viewing on screen, not print design.

Are you a designer, by the way?

Fantastic list…I’ve already got some of them…. oO

Fantastic list! I’ve already got some of them oO

Good list. I actually use most of them myself..

Does anyone else think that there could be a much better (i.e. affordable) font pricing system? It seems to me that if more professional fonts were priced so that individuals could more reasonably afford them, foundries and designers might stand to profit a bit more than they currently do when it is a rare individual (or even design house) that buys its fonts…

Thoughts?

I don’t think some thing better collection than it!

Olga isn’t published yet.

and where is Thesis?? ;)

Urbana is now available for purchase at Link [www.myfonts.com]

New weights have been added and now I’m working on the italic versions.

I agree that there need to be more serif fonts, but if you want a selection of “bulletproof” fonts then sans is usually a better way to go. A bulletproof font must IMHO be legible in body copy, mousetype & headlines both in print and on the web. Serif fonts can cause some legibility issues on the web. These are not vanity fonts.

And people are complaining about too many choices??? If you are too lazy to examine an list of eighty, try digging through the thousands of great fonts available. This is nice set of SUGGESTIONS, but by no means can replace an experienced eye.

I’ve been designing for awhile now (~20 years) — including some (iffy) font design (you can look me up). As many have said, I’m not sure what this list is for: Professionals should already have some go-to fonts in each category (sans/serif, display/fancy, Egyptienne/slab, script, etc); non-professionals need FEWER choices to avoid the kidnap note-pastiche that is often created by newbies. As for the sans/serif debate, the ‘need’ for design synergy & the ‘requirements’ of the web have forced a transition from the more readable serif to the more legible sans serif in body copy — something I don’t think will go away too soon. In fact, I’m seeing a trend that is just the opposite of what I was taught for print: Sans copy & serif headlines.

As for the users of this list: Many of these fonts are either dupes of more expensive (and very old) typefaces or are themselves one of the originals and has a freebie clone somewhere. Just pick one or two (or three as backups for variation) & stick with them. Make your copy design changes using size, color or callouts (pull quotes). Choose your fonts based on what you want to convey (formal or informal, etc).

And those of you who thought Comic Sans should be on the list: Huh?! Not even as a comic book font is Comic Sans a decent font. Check Blambot or Comicraft for REAL comic fonts.

Also, MS Arial was a dodge to escape paying Adobe fees for using Helvetica….

Very good!! tanks !!!

Amazing compilation! a great selection of all time readable and stylish fonts, a must have for professional graphic designers and a font guide for newbie designers.
Thanks for this useful post!

I would like to know what other nuggets of typographracal wizardry Mr. Jules Siegel has to offer this forum.

Information like this is priceless…..please comment more Mr Siegel!!! Dont just leave a comment like that and vanish, give us some examples from your years of experience.

Its like someone offering you a werthers original, and then they snatch it from your digits…….

J

I am a media studies lecturer and would disagree with this comment. The typfaces are most interesting and of great use.

I agree that we should pay for these fonts, but making a nice package (paid!) for these fonts would certainly be a nice thing! :)

Uber, now i can write Link [www.clan-behh.com]

Very nice fonts but peoples browsers only show fonts they have on there pc so for web design use very limited.

Useful no doubt! The fonts are all beautiful but they should sell them as a bundle pack :) I would buy them if they were in a affordable package. Cheers! Portugal

Scala is a beautiful serif font. You show Scala Sans in your samples for Scala.

谢谢了,,很好,能不能发我一份啊,,,,,

E-mail:d3000@126.com