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80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

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Every now and again designers stumble upon the very same problem: the choice of a unique and beautiful typeface which manages to fulfill three basic tasks. Support the corporate identity, enrich the visual appearance and is compatible with the overall design. However, usually there are simply too many options you can consider, which is why you need time to find the option you are most comfortable with. Although the choice usually depends on clients’ requirements, it is necessary to have some pretty starting points for your font decision.

So which typefaces are “bulletproof”? What fonts can be used effectively in almost every Corporate Design? And what are the options for unique, but still incredibly beautiful typefaces?

We have answers. Over the last few days we’ve browsed through dozens of type foundries, read dozens of designers’ articles about typography, analyzed font rankings and visited bookmarked font-related suggestions. So this post has ‘em all. Well, OK, at least many of them.

Let’s take a look at over 80 gorgeous typefaces for professional design, based upon suggestions from designers and web-developers all over the world. Most screenshots are taken from the foundries and provided specimens – particularly on Veer.com and Fontshop.com.

Classic Typefaces

Classics of typography in a brief overview. You will find even more traditional typefaces on the site 100 Best Fonts, including history, development and related information.

1. Helvetica

Helvetica in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

2. Helvetica Neue

Helvetica-neue in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

3. Univers

Univers-std in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

4. Frutiger

Frutiger in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

5. Avenir

Avenir-std in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Avenir in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

6. Myriad Pro

Myriad-pro in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

7. Neuzeit

Neuzeit in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

8. Syntax

Syntax in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

9. Proxima Nova

Proxima-nova in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

10. Proxima Sans

Proxima-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

11. Glasgow

Glasgow in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

12. Charlotte Sans

Charlotte-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

13. Precious Sans

Precious-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Precious-sans-2 in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

14. Gill Sans

Gill-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

15. Lisboa

Lisboa in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

16. Franklin Gothic

Franklin-gothic in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

17. Futura

Futura in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

18. EF TV Nord 1

Ef-tv in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

19. FF Scala

Ffscala in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

20. Rockwell

Rockwell in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

21. Eurostile

Eurostile in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

22. Warnock

Warnock in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

23. FF DIN

Ffdin in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

24. FF Meta

Ffmeta3 in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Ffmeta2 in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

25. Officina

Officina-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

26. FF Dax

Ffdax in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

27. DF Dynasty

Df-dynasty in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

28. Akzidenz-Grotesk

Akz-head in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Akzidenz-grotesk in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

29. AG Book

Ag-book-pro in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Ag-book in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

30. Precious Serif

Precious-serif in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Further Typefaces

The fonts listed below aren’t so well-known. Thus you can use them for unique corporate identity or user interfaces which are supposed to have a “fresh” look.

31. Locator

Locator in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

ProcessTypeFoundry

32. Seravek

Seravek in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

ProcessTypeFoundry

33. FF Kievit

Ffkievit in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Kievit in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

34. Ronnia

Ronnia in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Typetogether

35. Stella

Stella in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Feliciano Type Foundry

36. Le Monde Courrier

Lemonde in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Le Monde Courrier, € 167.4 for 2 PCs

37. Parisine PTF

Parisine in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Parisine PTF, € 210 for 8 PCs

38. Freight

Freight-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

39. Guardian

Guardian in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Christian Schwartzl

40. Anomoly

Anomoly in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

41. PMN Caecilia

Pmn-caecilia in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Pmn-caecilia-2 in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

42. Leitura

Leitura in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source / DSType

43. The Mix

Themix in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

44. Stalemate

Stalemate in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Stalemate-2 in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

45. Neo Sans

Neosans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

46. Felbridge

Felbridge in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Felbridge, £29.00 per font

47. Trade Gothic

Trade-gothic in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

48. Karmina

Ds-karmina in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Typetogether

49. FF Milo

Ff-milo in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Milo in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source: Typographica.org

50. Auto

Auto in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

51. Soho

Soho in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

52. Kepler

Kepler in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

53. Depot

Depot in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Chris Dickinson

54. Relato Sans

Relato-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

55. Priva Pro

Priva-pro in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

DSType

56. Relato Serif

Relato-serif in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

57. Alber

Alber in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Chris Dickinson

58. Palatino Sans & Informal

Palatinosans-formal in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

59. Fedra Sans

Fedra-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

60. Olga

Olga in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

61. Depot

Depot in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Chris Dickinson

62. Priva Pro

Priva-pro in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

DSType

63. Whitman

Whitman in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

64. Productus

Productus in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

65. Tempelhof

Tempelhof in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Günter Schwarzmaier

66. Amira

Amira in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

67. Krart

Krart in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

68. Tang

Tang in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

69. Dederon Sans

Dederon-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

70. Samuels Family

Samuels-family in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

(Images: MyFonts Newsletter)

71. Untitled

Untitled in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

72. Greta Text

Greta-text in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

73. FF Sanuk

Ff-sanuk in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

74. Houschka

Houschka in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

75. Scene

Scene in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

76. Amplitude

Amplitude in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

77. Insider

Insider in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Characters.nl

78. Preface

Preface in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

79. Flex

Flex in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

80. Halvorsen

Halvorsen in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

81. Xtra Sans

Xtra-sans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

Foretaste for one of our next posts:
The Future of Typography

82. Obliqua (in development)

Obliqua in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

83. Muestra Urbana (in development)

Muestra-urbana in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

83. Wingardium

Wingardium in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

84. Tauran Regular

Tauran in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

85. Mello Sans

Mellosans in 80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design

Source

Vitaly Friedman, editor-in-chief of Smashing Magazine (www.smashingmagazine.com), an online magazine dedicated to designers and developers.

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  1. 1
    zlich
    August 8th, 2007 2:19 am

    good one!!! – as usual :)

  2. 2
    Juan Manuel Lemus
    August 8th, 2007 2:20 am

    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.

  3. 3
    P. Peterson
    August 8th, 2007 2:29 am

    Wow, this is amazing. Absolutely Smashing!!!

  4. 4
    meizopan
    August 8th, 2007 2:46 am

    cool, font always be major factor to achieve great webdesign

  5. 5
    Adit
    August 8th, 2007 2:55 am

    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.

  6. 6
    Florian
    August 8th, 2007 2:56 am

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

  7. 7
    Nick
    August 8th, 2007 4:00 am

    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.

  8. 8
    tripleG
    August 8th, 2007 4:04 am

    depot is so good….its on twice!

  9. 9
    UnitB
    August 8th, 2007 4:17 am

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

  10. 10
    KarlH
    August 8th, 2007 5:03 am

    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…

  11. 11
    Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz
    August 8th, 2007 5:08 am

    2KarlH: there is no specific ranking order in this post. Instead we’ve just listed typefaces you might use in corporate design.

  12. 12
    Samuel
    August 8th, 2007 5:08 am

    Gorgeous and simple, they way to go.

  13. 13
    torrentguy
    August 8th, 2007 5:28 am

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

  14. 14
    add
    August 8th, 2007 5:36 am

    is any of those free?

    torrent link? :))

  15. 15
    onesevenone
    August 8th, 2007 5:47 am

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

  16. 16
    Matty
    August 8th, 2007 6:07 am

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

  17. 17
    Jeremy David
    August 8th, 2007 6:23 am

    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.

  18. 18
    Dumitru Tira
    August 8th, 2007 7:09 am

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

  19. 19
    Myo Kyaw Htun
    August 8th, 2007 7:39 am

    You Guys ROCK!!!

  20. 20
    Ash Haque
    August 8th, 2007 7:52 am

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

    http://fontleech.com/09/26/2006/audimat-smeltery/

  21. 21
    chip
    August 8th, 2007 8:26 am

    Excellent as usual. There are some fantastic typefaces here.

  22. 22
    Information Central
    August 8th, 2007 8:37 am

    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.

  23. 23
    Jules Siegel
    August 8th, 2007 9:09 am

    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.

  24. 24
    Will
    August 8th, 2007 9:18 am

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

  25. 25
    10668844
    August 8th, 2007 9:37 am

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

  26. 26
    Eeeeh
    August 8th, 2007 9:41 am

    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?

  27. 27
    frank tolentino
    August 8th, 2007 9:45 am

    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.
    :)

  28. 28
    Eeeeh
    August 8th, 2007 9:49 am

    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 : )

  29. 29
    ratigan
    August 8th, 2007 9:49 am

    no freebies?
    no fun

  30. 30
    kid mercury
    August 8th, 2007 9:52 am

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

  31. 31
    Lachlan
    August 8th, 2007 10:02 am

    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

  32. 32
    phoneonvibrate
    August 8th, 2007 10:20 am

    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.

  33. 33
    Abhijit Nadgouda
    August 8th, 2007 10:59 am

    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.

  34. 34
    Rik
    August 8th, 2007 11:16 am

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

  35. 35
    AD
    August 8th, 2007 11:21 am

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

  36. 36
    Brad
    August 8th, 2007 11:28 am

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

  37. 37
    Frances
    August 8th, 2007 11:50 am

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

  38. 38
    Steven Snell
    August 8th, 2007 11:55 am

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

  39. 39
    rj
    August 8th, 2007 12:40 pm

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

  40. 40
    Daz
    August 8th, 2007 12:54 pm

    Shmick list, ta.

    Baar Sophia is a nice sans serif, I use it on business cards.

  41. 41
    Arun
    August 8th, 2007 1:36 pm

    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.

  42. 42
    SirPrize
    August 8th, 2007 2:06 pm

    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.

  43. 43
    latejedora
    August 8th, 2007 2:42 pm

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

  44. 44
    Darren
    August 8th, 2007 3:46 pm

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

  45. 45
    Danny Foo
    August 8th, 2007 3:50 pm

    This is definetely going into my Typeface bookmarks.

    Great reference typefaces for ideas and source. :)

    Thanks.

  46. 46
    WobblyCyril
    August 8th, 2007 4:26 pm

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

  47. 47
    stefano picco
    August 8th, 2007 4:31 pm

    very good work :)

  48. 48
    Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz
    August 8th, 2007 4:38 pm

    You can find over 50 professional high-quality free fonts in our section “Free Fonts”.

  49. 49
    Lachlan
    August 8th, 2007 4:56 pm

    @WobblyCyril

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

  50. 50
    Ramil Alcibar
    August 8th, 2007 5:15 pm

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

  51. 51
    Ali Reid
    August 8th, 2007 6:02 pm

    thanks for this – love it!

  52. 52
    jazzle
    August 8th, 2007 7:04 pm

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

  53. 53
    Ramzi
    August 8th, 2007 7:20 pm

    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.

  54. 54
    Justin
    August 8th, 2007 7:26 pm

    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.

  55. 55
    yaili
    August 8th, 2007 7:27 pm

    Uau! They all look absolutely amazing, but do we really need all that many fonts? I really liked reading this particular post.

  56. 56
    liz
    August 8th, 2007 7:29 pm

    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.

  57. 57
    typo3fanatic
    August 8th, 2007 8:33 pm

    A really good font-collection. Thank You!

  58. 58
    Camilo
    August 8th, 2007 9:30 pm

    Amazing!
    Amazing!

    Congratulations.

  59. 59
    rbl
    August 8th, 2007 10:38 pm

    thank u very much

    excellent!!!!!

  60. 60
    koerpoernsky
    August 8th, 2007 10:51 pm

    Well who was asking for the torrent link?

    you may ONLY download this as a backup.

    http://btjunkie.org/torrent/A-bunch-of-typefaces/29085313bb097c5a75b2eccac8231c644276afc30ca4/download.torrent

  61. 61
    xxANDERxx
    August 9th, 2007 12:22 am

    Nice list, but where the heck is Goudy?!

  62. 62
    Brian
    August 9th, 2007 12:33 am

    is there an english version of this?

    http://www.100besteschriften.de/

  63. 63
    matt
    August 9th, 2007 12:37 am

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

  64. 64
    Philip Meissner
    August 9th, 2007 1:19 am

    Great list, but missing some big names.

    Gotham
    Neutraface
    and for fun an Affair

  65. 65
    James
    August 9th, 2007 2:04 am

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

  66. 66
    G
    August 9th, 2007 2:05 am

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

  67. 67
    great
    August 9th, 2007 3:04 am

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

  68. 68
    Amarjeet Singh Rai
    August 9th, 2007 3:50 am

    Can you please publish this as a PDF.

    Thanks.

  69. 69
    Parker
    August 9th, 2007 4:25 am

    @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.

  70. 70
    Peter
    August 9th, 2007 5:32 am

    Priva Pro is listed twice #55 and #62…

  71. 71
    Fernando Mello
    August 9th, 2007 11:10 am

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

    And the second one… MelloSans!

    Fernando

  72. 72
    Simon Cooper
    August 9th, 2007 3:46 pm

    Ref. post #23 Jules Siegel

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

  73. 73
    Digital Street
    August 9th, 2007 6:40 pm

    Nice collection of fonts!

  74. 74
    Himanshu Kapoor
    August 9th, 2007 6:46 pm

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

    Super Collection

  75. 75
    Web design UK
    August 9th, 2007 7:01 pm

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

  76. 76
    Jacob
    August 9th, 2007 9:57 pm

    Awesome list! Thanks so much!

  77. 77
    gene
    August 9th, 2007 10:53 pm

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

  78. 78
    Pedro Assumpção
    August 10th, 2007 1:06 am

    Fantastic.

  79. 79
    huangism
    August 10th, 2007 1:45 am

    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

  80. 80
    Joshua Clanton
    August 10th, 2007 2:24 am

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

  81. 81
    Digitalrebellion
    August 10th, 2007 2:29 am

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

  82. 82
    Ian
    August 10th, 2007 2:58 am

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

  83. 83
    Mrad
    August 10th, 2007 4:14 am

    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 – SiFR.

  84. 84
    Mrad
    August 10th, 2007 4:15 am

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

  85. 85
    simple
    August 10th, 2007 9:58 am

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

  86. 86
    Eduardo Barrantes
    August 10th, 2007 4:08 pm

    Excelente página……………imprescindible.

    EDU

  87. 87
    barbaros pakar
    August 10th, 2007 4:43 pm

    ….So, great WORK!!!!

  88. 88
    jacuncao
    August 10th, 2007 7:00 pm

    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…

  89. 89
    rietz
    August 11th, 2007 1:51 am

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

  90. 90
    Kenneth
    August 11th, 2007 6:15 am

    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.

  91. 91
    ployyolp
    August 11th, 2007 9:05 pm

    COOL!!!!!!!!!!

  92. 92
    )O(
    August 11th, 2007 11:26 am

    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

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

    Just a thought…

    )O(

  93. 93
    madan
    August 13th, 2007 7:07 pm

    good list, but how can i download all those fonts

  94. 94
    Weber Design
    August 14th, 2007 4:52 am

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

  95. 95
    JT
    August 14th, 2007 10:35 am

    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.

  96. 96
    imp winartho
    August 28th, 2007 11:41 am

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

  97. 97
    Stewart Marshall
    August 31st, 2007 4:24 am

    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?

  98. 98
    Quincunx
    August 31st, 2007 5:39 am

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

  99. 99
    DT
    September 1st, 2007 1:23 am

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

  100. 100
    Ric
    September 4th, 2007 4:51 pm

    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!

  101. 101
    Eren Emre KANAL
    September 6th, 2007 3:51 pm

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

  102. 102
    James
    September 12th, 2007 6:07 am

    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?

  103. 103
    WEBARMY
    September 14th, 2007 4:29 am

    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.

  104. 104
    Jasper
    September 14th, 2007 4:52 am

    Man I love this site.

  105. 105
    jecrt
    September 15th, 2007 8:03 am

    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.

  106. 106
    Taume
    September 18th, 2007 2:27 am

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

  107. 107
    Alex Mos
    October 1st, 2007 6:35 am

    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

  108. 108
    Agust Gudbjornsson
    October 12th, 2007 2:09 am

    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

  109. 109
    Tiago Oliveira
    October 31st, 2007 11:53 pm

    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.

  110. 110
    takenews
    November 8th, 2007 4:36 am

    Great fonts. The best is 21 and 65

  111. 111
    Web design Bulgaria
    November 13th, 2007 4:21 pm

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

  112. 112
    Fontworker
    November 15th, 2007 1:22 am

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

  113. 113
    MikeDee
    November 15th, 2007 6:03 am

    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!

  114. 114
    PH
    November 15th, 2007 12:14 pm

    “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?

  115. 115
    Genc Rashiti
    November 27th, 2007 6:21 pm

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

  116. 116
    lasso
    November 29th, 2007 6:22 am

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

  117. 117
    Jeff French
    December 6th, 2007 12:49 am

    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?

  118. 118
    Jeetlo
    December 6th, 2007 2:23 pm

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

  119. 119
    Frode
    December 18th, 2007 12:14 am

    Olga isn’t published yet.

  120. 120
    kam
    December 21st, 2007 9:58 pm

    and where is Thesis?? ;)

  121. 121
    César Puertas
    January 10th, 2008 2:33 pm

    Urbana is now available for purchase at http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/cepuertas/urbana

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

  122. 122
    Jack
    January 17th, 2008 4:51 pm

    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.

  123. 123
    Mike Gaines
    January 22nd, 2008 2:57 pm

    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….

  124. 124
    Marta - Logotipos
    January 31st, 2008 2:37 pm

    Very good!! tanks !!!

  125. 125
    anna maria lopez
    February 6th, 2008 5:23 am

    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!

  126. 126
    juxta
    February 7th, 2008 9:16 am

    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

  127. 127
    Tom Woodgate
    February 17th, 2008 1:57 am

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

  128. 128
    Levi Figueira
    February 29th, 2008 12:24 pm

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

  129. 129
    Andy
    March 24th, 2008 12:27 pm

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

  130. 130
    Luís Reis
    March 25th, 2008 6:29 am

    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

  131. 131
    leslie
    March 25th, 2008 9:22 am

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

  132. 132
    Marvin Goldstein
    May 19th, 2008 6:06 pm

    I’m 72, unemployed, teaching myself Flash and other graphic software …
    So, where am I suppose to look for quality, downloadable, free fonts ????
    Or, is this simply a gimmick to keep me on your web site ???

  133. 133
    Samantha Green
    May 25th, 2008 5:05 pm

    @juzta:

    I think Mr Siegel has ‘left the building’ and will never return out of pure disgust for this post :P

    Oh well…

  134. 134
    Andy
    June 14th, 2008 5:36 am

    My favourites ar Myriad and FF DIN!

  135. 135
    Font Crazy
    June 22nd, 2008 2:53 pm

    The work is good but it is a pity that you have not included Knuth’s Computer Modern and Adobe’s New Century Schoolbook.

  136. 136
    fireart
    July 3rd, 2008 12:35 am

    Very good!!! please publish this as a PDF. Thanks

  137. 137
    YossiD
    July 16th, 2008 7:13 am

    Can anyone say which of the sans serif fonts have a capital “I” with serifs, such as in OfficinaSans and BellGothic? I am the documentation manager for a hi-tech company and we are redesigning our manuals. Frequently part numbers and specification numbers use Roman numerals so it’s important to have an uppercase “I” that can’t be confused with a lower case “L.”

    I am quite open to suggestions for fonts that cork well for technical documentation in print on the screen. My tendency is towards fonts that are somewhat condensed so I can fit a maximum of information on a page thereby minimizing pagination issues. The flip side is to avoid having pages looking too crowed.

    All recommendations gratefully accepted.

    TIA

    YossiD

  138. 138
    katfaruk
    August 4th, 2008 5:30 am

    please full type links…

  139. 139
    Derek
    August 18th, 2008 4:41 am

    so fitting that helvetica is number one.

  140. 140
    Jasi
    August 28th, 2008 4:15 am

    cool

  141. 141
    Mike Nichols
    August 28th, 2008 10:06 am

    Excellent list.

    I appreciate the effort put into making this list i will have this bookmarked and the list will most definitely help with my future endeavors.

    Keep it up!

  142. 142
    Hung Dinh
    September 3rd, 2008 6:28 pm

    “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!”

    Yes, I agree.
    Let’s look at the professional design of Georgia http://template15.joomlart.com/ja_pyrite/

  143. 143
    Symone
    September 8th, 2008 7:19 pm

    Please, i want the font family FF DIN free.
    Thank you!!

  144. 144
    masterza
    September 22nd, 2008 7:28 pm

    Excellent fonts thanks for the info

  145. 145
    TuNG
    December 6th, 2008 12:38 am

    Thank you for the nice collection

  146. 146
    stron-david
    December 28th, 2008 7:28 am

    this list is awsome, great article at the begenning, thank you so much for shearing

  147. 147
    mindxstudio
    January 21st, 2009 8:34 pm

    I like this long list of fonts

  148. 148
    Mark Oates
    March 4th, 2009 6:03 am

    As a poor designer, I have to rely on free fonts. These all look so sexy. It’s like looking at some kind of font-porn!

  149. 149
    Alex
    March 14th, 2009 8:53 pm

    Want a link to download these fonts. whats the point of of us seeing it? We NEED them lol

  150. 150
    Sunset
    April 4th, 2009 1:01 pm

    what? no Algerian?? ;)

  151. 151
    IgorOsa
    April 6th, 2009 12:22 pm

    Thanks for listing! Pretty typefaces;)

  152. 152
    tariqdesign
    April 6th, 2009 1:27 pm

    i feels (utopia) is missing

  153. 153
    Gustavo
    April 14th, 2009 7:42 am

    Hi this selection it’s great, but however i have one font for yuo:

    Archer font, By Hoefler & There Jones, this a amazing fonts, they have many serius font.
    I recomend you, visit they website…

    http://www.typography.com/

    Thanks again…

  154. 154
    Cody
    May 24th, 2009 8:25 am

    Someone should really package these together and sell them as a unit. Who wants to spend a week tracking down and buying these?

  155. 155
    typo
    May 29th, 2009 6:34 am

    what a crappy list, you forgot all the Hoefler’s and Emigre’s fonts…

  156. 156
    RK
    June 2nd, 2009 4:03 pm

    nice overview… but having a small set of additional NUMBERS would be even cooler. That would make an easier decision (in my case)

  157. 157
    mahalie
    July 9th, 2009 10:26 am

    I wish someone here were bored enough to go and price these out. Wonder what the total purchase cost would be!

  158. 158
    Anonymous Coward
    July 31st, 2009 4:10 pm

    I’ll cost them out if you pay me for my time.

    By the way, welcome to the internet – where everybody pirates everything.

    PS: Ashley Adams looks hot!

  159. 159
    dylan john western
    August 6th, 2009 4:23 pm

    way too many. you should at least cut this list in half.

  160. 160
    Carlos
    August 17th, 2009 12:51 pm

    hi. I need font 1983. Please help me. thank you.

  161. 161
    scaffas
    August 24th, 2009 11:17 pm

    Great list!!!

  162. 162
    Andy
    August 26th, 2009 8:54 am

    Helvetica as number one… what a surprise. *yawn*

    Helvetica is about as beautiful as a tax return.

  163. 163
    Alex O'Neal
    August 26th, 2009 9:38 am

    I love that you placed Helvetica at the top. I know it tends to elicit strong responses from designers, both good and bad, but I think that’s a symptom of its power in design. As part of my personal design growth, I have crossed over from the “can’t stand it” to “love it deeply.” (This happened about the same time I stopped having favorite colors and started having favorite color combinations. There is no ugly color, only a color in the wrong context.)

    There are many other amazing fonts on this list – thanks for the reference!

  164. 164
    Chris Burbridge
    August 29th, 2009 10:15 am

    Just, THANKS!!! A LOT OF HARD WORK HERE!

  165. 165
    Luislopez
    August 30th, 2009 5:51 am

    Does anyone have a link to download them all together? :)

  166. 166
    No thanks
    September 3rd, 2009 5:59 pm

    What!
    No COMIC SANS?
    hahahaha

  167. 167
    andrew
    September 12th, 2009 3:55 am

    absolutly fabulous

  168. 168
    hm
    September 24th, 2009 6:44 am

    About mr. Jules Siegel opinion: Yes, lads, he IS professional typographer -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Siegel

  169. 169
    Xander
    October 9th, 2009 11:22 am

    Sweet collection :) Thank you.

  170. 170
    Ignacio
    October 14th, 2009 9:29 pm

    Muy bien.

  171. 171
    Ashish
    October 20th, 2009 10:17 pm

    Awesome man! Really what a helping article!

  172. 172
    yoyostuff
    October 28th, 2009 1:18 am

    Nice list! but i think it should have more serif fonts. Garamond, dtl fleichmann, Didots, Archer and lot of the stuff from hoeefler & Fere jones!
    When it comes to the standart fonts like Helvetica and Futura, it is a reason that there are overused. Its because there are very good typefaces! I think they have to be on list of the best typography. no doubt! Its not the fonts thats bad its the designers job to be creative and use different styles and try out new idees!
    I have worked as a grafic designer for about four years now and experienced that those fonts are banned. That is stupid!
    They will always be there and think they look very god in combination with new fonts.
    Sorry for my bad english! Im from norway!

  173. 173
    beijing.mx
    October 28th, 2009 4:52 am

    不错,我喜欢。

  174. 174
    Strony internetowe
    November 1st, 2009 9:28 am

    Is it possible to download them all together?

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