80 Beautiful Typefaces For Professional Design
You don’t like to scroll? Be prepared. (We warned you.)
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
2. Helvetica Neue
3. Univers
4. Frutiger
5. Avenir
6. Myriad Pro
7. Neuzeit
8. Syntax
9. Proxima Nova
10. Proxima Sans
11. Glasgow
12. Charlotte Sans
13. Precious Sans
14. Gill Sans
15. Lisboa
16. Franklin Gothic
17. Futura
18. EF TV Nord 1
19. FF Scala
20. Rockwell
21. Eurostile
22. Warnock
23. FF DIN
24. FF Meta
25. Officina
26. FF Dax
27. DF Dynasty
28. Akzidenz-Grotesk
29. AG Book
30. Precious Serif
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
32. Seravek
33. FF Kievit
34. Ronnia
Typetogether
35. Stella
36. Le Monde Courrier
Le Monde Courrier, € 167.4 for 2 PCs
37. Parisine PTF
Parisine PTF, € 210 for 8 PCs
38. Freight
Source
39. Guardian
40. Anomoly
41. PMN Caecilia
42. Leitura
Source / DSType
43. The Mix
44. Stalemate
45. Neo Sans
46. Felbridge
Felbridge, £29.00 per font
47. Trade Gothic
48. Karmina
Typetogether
49. FF Milo
Source: Typographica.org
50. Auto
Source
51. Soho
52. Kepler
53. Depot
54. Relato Sans
55. Priva Pro
DSType
56. Relato Serif
57. Alber
58. Palatino Sans & Informal
59. Fedra Sans
60. Olga
61. Depot
62. Priva Pro
DSType
63. Whitman
64. Productus
65. Tempelhof
66. Amira
67. Krart
68. Tang
69. Dederon Sans
70. Samuels Family
(Images: MyFonts Newsletter)
71. Untitled
72. Greta Text
73. FF Sanuk
74. Houschka
75. Scene
76. Amplitude
77. Insider
78. Preface
79. Flex
80. Halvorsen
81. Xtra Sans
Foretaste for one of our next posts:
The Future of Typography
82. Obliqua (in development)
83. Muestra Urbana (in development)
83. Wingardium
84. Tauran Regular
85. Mello Sans
Eren Emre KANAL
September 6th, 2007 3:51 pmI think DIN font family is the most trendy typeface nowadays.
James
September 12th, 2007 6:07 amHoly 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?
WEBARMY
September 14th, 2007 4:29 amHey 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.
Jasper
September 14th, 2007 4:52 amMan I love this site.
jecrt
September 15th, 2007 8:03 amwow – 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.
Taume
September 18th, 2007 2:27 amSuperb list. BUt i dont see any script fonts :D
Alex Mos
October 1st, 2007 6:35 amVery 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
Agust Gudbjornsson
October 12th, 2007 2:09 amNice list, FF Dax (Dax) is used in the TV series Californication btw. Surprised me allot, since it´s used often in the Corporated world
Tiago Oliveira
October 31st, 2007 11:53 pmNot 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.
Eduardo
January 6th, 2011 2:24 pmTinhas de ser tuga!
É só tipos com a mania que são designers….:)
Gostos não se discutem…e quando aprenderes isso talvez olhes para o design sem essa visão elitista!
takenews
November 8th, 2007 4:36 amGreat fonts. The best is 21 and 65
Web design Bulgaria
November 13th, 2007 4:21 pmBOOKMARKED! This will be a bunch of tools that i might be requiring. You might want to take this url for added reference.
Fontworker
November 15th, 2007 1:22 amA 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.
MikeDee
November 15th, 2007 6:03 amI 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!
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?
Genc Rashiti
November 27th, 2007 6:21 pmFantastic list! I’ve already got some of them oO
lasso
November 29th, 2007 6:22 amGood list. I actually use most of them myself..
Jeff French
December 6th, 2007 12:49 amDoes 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?
Jeetlo
December 6th, 2007 2:23 pmI don’t think some thing better collection than it!
Frode
December 18th, 2007 12:14 amOlga isn’t published yet.
kam
December 21st, 2007 9:58 pmand where is Thesis?? ;)
César Puertas
January 10th, 2008 2:33 pmUrbana 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.
Jack
January 17th, 2008 4:51 pmI 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.
Mike Gaines
January 22nd, 2008 2:57 pmI’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….
Marta - Logotipos
January 31st, 2008 2:37 pmVery good!! tanks !!!
anna maria lopez
February 6th, 2008 5:23 amAmazing 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!
juxta
February 7th, 2008 9:16 amI 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
Tom Woodgate
February 17th, 2008 1:57 amI am a media studies lecturer and would disagree with this comment. The typfaces are most interesting and of great use.
Levi Figueira
February 29th, 2008 12:24 pmI agree that we should pay for these fonts, but making a nice package (paid!) for these fonts would certainly be a nice thing! :)
Andy
March 24th, 2008 12:27 pmVery nice fonts but peoples browsers only show fonts they have on there pc so for web design use very limited.
Luís Reis
March 25th, 2008 6:29 amUseful 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
leslie
March 25th, 2008 9:22 amScala is a beautiful serif font. You show Scala Sans in your samples for Scala.
Marvin Goldstein
May 19th, 2008 6:06 pmI’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 ???
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…
Andy
June 14th, 2008 5:36 amMy favourites ar Myriad and FF DIN!
Font Crazy
June 22nd, 2008 2:53 pmThe work is good but it is a pity that you have not included Knuth’s Computer Modern and Adobe’s New Century Schoolbook.
fireart
July 3rd, 2008 12:35 amVery good!!! please publish this as a PDF. Thanks
YossiD
July 16th, 2008 7:13 amCan 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
katfaruk
August 4th, 2008 5:30 amplease full type links…
Derek
August 18th, 2008 4:41 amso fitting that helvetica is number one.
Jasi
August 28th, 2008 4:15 amcool
Mike Nichols
August 28th, 2008 10:06 amExcellent 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!
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/
Symone
September 8th, 2008 7:19 pmPlease, i want the font family FF DIN free.
Thank you!!
masterza
September 22nd, 2008 7:28 pmExcellent fonts thanks for the info
TuNG
December 6th, 2008 12:38 amThank you for the nice collection
stron-david
December 28th, 2008 7:28 amthis list is awsome, great article at the begenning, thank you so much for shearing
mindxstudio
January 21st, 2009 8:34 pmI like this long list of fonts
Mark Oates
March 4th, 2009 6:03 amAs 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!
Alex
March 14th, 2009 8:53 pmWant a link to download these fonts. whats the point of of us seeing it? We NEED them lol
Sunset
April 4th, 2009 1:01 pmwhat? no Algerian?? ;)
IgorOsa
April 6th, 2009 12:22 pmThanks for listing! Pretty typefaces;)
tariqdesign
April 6th, 2009 1:27 pmi feels (utopia) is missing
Gustavo
April 14th, 2009 7:42 amHi 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…
Cody
May 24th, 2009 8:25 amSomeone should really package these together and sell them as a unit. Who wants to spend a week tracking down and buying these?
typo
May 29th, 2009 6:34 amwhat a crappy list, you forgot all the Hoefler’s and Emigre’s fonts…
RK
June 2nd, 2009 4:03 pmnice overview… but having a small set of additional NUMBERS would be even cooler. That would make an easier decision (in my case)
mahalie
July 9th, 2009 10:26 amI wish someone here were bored enough to go and price these out. Wonder what the total purchase cost would be!
Anonymous Coward
July 31st, 2009 4:10 pmI’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!
dylan john western
August 6th, 2009 4:23 pmway too many. you should at least cut this list in half.
Carlos
August 17th, 2009 12:51 pmhi. I need font 1983. Please help me. thank you.
scaffas
August 24th, 2009 11:17 pmGreat list!!!
Andy
August 26th, 2009 8:54 amHelvetica as number one… what a surprise. *yawn*
Helvetica is about as beautiful as a tax return.
Alex O'Neal
August 26th, 2009 9:38 amI 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!
Chris Burbridge
August 29th, 2009 10:15 amJust, THANKS!!! A LOT OF HARD WORK HERE!
Luislopez
August 30th, 2009 5:51 amDoes anyone have a link to download them all together? :)
No thanks
September 3rd, 2009 5:59 pmWhat!
No COMIC SANS?
hahahaha
andrew
September 12th, 2009 3:55 amabsolutly fabulous
hm
September 24th, 2009 6:44 amAbout mr. Jules Siegel opinion: Yes, lads, he IS professional typographer -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Siegel
Xander
October 9th, 2009 11:22 amSweet collection :) Thank you.
Ignacio
October 14th, 2009 9:29 pmMuy bien.
Ashish
October 20th, 2009 10:17 pmAwesome man! Really what a helping article!
yoyostuff
October 28th, 2009 1:18 amNice 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!
Strony internetowe
November 1st, 2009 9:28 amIs it possible to download them all together?
olis
January 8th, 2010 3:05 amgreat post, thx :)
also some nice free fonts fonts2u.com
spaceface
February 21st, 2010 5:22 amGreat.. but a good deal of them don’t have a download link? I don’t know about you but I don’t plan on paying for 50 fonts separately… torrents here I come <3
Ryan
March 16th, 2010 5:10 amInterstate is a really ugly font IMO. Gotham works much better, it could have been on the list! And Bodoni is definitely deserving too!
michael harrison
March 27th, 2010 9:27 amvery nice article. I made a mousepad with a periodic table of typefaces that i thought would be very helpful. it has example, type and name. check it out at zazzle.. http://www.zazzle.com/typeface_periodic_table_mousepad-144428648350802228
thanks,
mike
Berthold
April 30th, 2010 1:10 amNothing wrong with presenting a bunch of typefaces, but without any context it’s still hard to know what to do with each one and how to combine them.
I recently bought 1000 fonts by Martin, Dodd and Davis and was pretty dissapointed when so little info or examples was available on each font (the few examples that are there are for Helvetica and other commonly known and used fonts…) as to make deciding for or against it almost impossible without a deep typographic knowledge . If I had that already, I’d probably also know the typefaces I’d want for certain situation by heart. The ordering via alphabet in that book isn’t logical either, I would’ve loved them sorted by time period, or suggested use or even by x-height, anything but alphabetically. Oh and Display fonts are presented in paragraphs as well, which doesen’t make the least bit of sense to me. Sorry for the rant.
If I could just ask for one favour: please please never use the words “fresh” and “design” in conjunction again, unless there is some sort of fruit or bread involved. I get goosebumps whenever I hear or read these in a briefing. Nobody has ever asked for a stale design. It’s the most useless descriptor I could think of, moreso even than “modern” and “young”, which can actually be realised in a design.
Philip
May 2nd, 2010 8:41 amGreat post, although I was surprised NOT to see VAG in the list? or even MUSEO or DELICIOUS?!
Alex Yamaguti
May 18th, 2010 3:42 pmGreat article!!!
Rameexgfx
June 10th, 2010 8:20 pmAmazing Collection!
tim
June 22nd, 2010 1:47 pmMatthew Carter’s Verdana and Walker are amazing types
sam narippatta
July 13th, 2010 2:29 amTHANKS!!! A LOT
adlo creative
August 3rd, 2010 2:23 amLovely!!!
Rodger
August 6th, 2010 5:19 amVery nice article. I made a mousepad with a periodic table of typefaces check it out at popArt. Thank you very much.
Regards,
Rodger
Deko Web
August 15th, 2010 1:59 pmReally nice fonts, thank you so much..
Kimi
September 22nd, 2010 1:37 amyou forget to give source for AUTO font……………………..
filo
September 29th, 2010 1:36 pmvery nice article… thanks a lot….
andy
October 25th, 2010 7:54 pmthose fonts are best for logo and everything! :D
ramesh
January 7th, 2011 4:25 amvery good fontes
luis almeida
January 9th, 2011 9:06 amhi! i would like to know if possible, the name of the font that stays under the shown example?! The font subtitle..
Thank You
Daniel Valverde
January 18th, 2011 11:19 amWow, great font selection… You did more easy a few magazine re-design that i have to end this week… Though I’m still undecided… All good THX
Jurrit van der Ploeg
January 20th, 2011 5:38 amI would put Akzidenz Grotesk a little bit higher. It is a great font which can be used in many different ways. But I really like the list, although there are not many serif-fonts. But if you look at the design that is most attractive at the moment, that is logical.
Nick Hudson
February 13th, 2011 10:23 amAgreed. I’m not as crazy about Helvetica as most designers seem to be, but Akzidenz Grotesk is probably my single favorite sans-serif typeface.
Also, I’d say PMN Caecilia should be higher, I think it’s a great for display purposes…
Paresh
February 3rd, 2011 10:26 pmIt’s good list for magazine design & also use advertising design. Well done
VENKAT
March 8th, 2011 11:53 pmThis site is “REALLY SMASHING”
ULTIMATE – Good work pal.
thanks boss it is one of the second bible for all ranking designers.
PLZ POST ME THE UP DATES
Regards
Venkat
Manoj
March 29th, 2011 11:25 amI am designer with less than 2.5 years. I would like to upgrade my knowledge and would like to share my views. It’s really good article and provides all sufficient information. Which “font” you guys suggest, to give professional look for the website?
I will appreciate you, if anybody can provide their views.
Manoj
Web Designer
Alex Patin Design
June 25th, 2011 6:16 pmI think all of these typefaces are absolutely beautiful. I probably couldn’t come up with a better list myself.
If only I had the money to buy most of these!
Thanks for the inspiring list though!
Barry Schwartz
July 19th, 2011 10:13 amI am glad to see A-G listed among the sans serif contributions. No one has improved on it, as far as I can tell.
Barry Schwartz
July 19th, 2011 10:14 amI would like to add Storm’s Walbaum Text as an excellent web type. I already use it in a CSS overlay for all typography on Twitter.
Miss Moppet
July 24th, 2011 2:03 amThese are nearly all sans serif, no good for print. Nothing on Garamond, Plantin, Joanna, Sabon, Nimrod, Abadi – need I go on?