2024’s font trends are a typographic feast of ornate Gothic typefaces and elegant serif font styles. For seekers of beauty and romance, the 2024 font trends certainly won’t disappoint—delicate condensed serif fonts sit aside mixed weight typography to create stunningly beautiful layouts for websites, social posts and print designs.

As more brands swivel towards the commercial power of quiet luxury, the ‘stealth wealth’ trend emerging in fashion is filtering down to trending fonts, resulting in a wave of elegant, subtle font styles that look luxurious and aspirational.

For quirkier font choices, there’s also gently experimental fonts, grunge brush fonts and 70s flared fonts, to give your projects a point of difference.

• For timeless elegance, you can’t beat these 10 classic and beautiful italic fonts.

Read on to discover 7 fresh 2024 font trends to make the year ahead your most typographically stylish yet! For 2024, we expect these new font trends to make their mark in branding, print design and web design:

1. Modern Gothic
2. 70s Flared Fonts
3. Gently Experimental Fonts
4. Art Deco Condensed Fonts
5. Mixed Weight Typography
6. Casual Brush Fonts
7. Fluid Fonts

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1. Modern Gothic

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Go to the Gothic side with these modern Blackletter fonts, which provide the perfect blend of clean lines and Medieval edge.

We’ve seen Modern Gothic fonts already make their mark in branding and fashion (see the slickly Gothic brand identity for The Vampire’s Wife by Hingston Studio), and the font trend looks only set to continue in 2024. These blackletter font styles make for beautiful, ornate typography on website designs and packaging.

 

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Zeogari Font Envato Elements

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A modern Gothic font with clean lines and a folkloric mood, Zeogari is at its most striking set in high-contrast black and white.

 

 

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Reanimation Font Envato Elements

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Reanimation is an experimental display font that combines blackletter calligraphy with a clean sans serif font. The perfect combination of historic and modern!

 

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Realitas Display Font Envato Elements

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Chunky, dynamic and experimental, Realitas is an attention-grabbing display font made for website designs.

 

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Bazelle Font Envato Elements

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A hand-stamped typeface with blackletter forms, Bazelle is surprisingly modern when teamed with neon colors and stripped-back layouts.

 

 

2. 70s Flared Fonts

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1970s fonts have been big news in branding over the past year, but designers’ obsession with the Seventies seems set to only grow in 2024. This year we’ll start to see cleaner retro fonts appearing in editorial design, magazine layouts and website designs. Flared serif fonts are great for bringing a hint of nostalgia to print designs, while still maintaining an overall clean and minimal style.

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Maltiner Display Font Envato Elements

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A flared and condensed weird font, Maltiner Display has a distinctive ‘wedge’ style that keeps this font looking dynamic and impactful for headlines.

 

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Jaoren Font Envato Elements

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Rounded and retro, Jaoren is inspired by the movie fonts used in retro credits from the 1970s. Team with hazy photography and faded vintage textures.

 

3. Gently Experimental

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Experimental fonts often get a bad press, due to illegibility and general, well, weirdness. In 2024, we’ll see gently experimental fonts take over from their hard-to-read cousins, offering just a subtle point of difference for brand identities. Look for a simple quirk or unusual letterform to tap into this unique trend.

 

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Glasset Font Envato Elements

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Glasset is an experimental font with a distorted effect, making this cool font a stylish choice for movie credits, movie poster fonts or show credits.

 

 

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Maggies Font Envato Elements

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You wouldn’t necessarily frame Maggies as an experimental font, but its quirky conjoined ligatures mark it out as a font that makes a serious style statement.

 

 

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Karviet Font Envato Elements

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A kooky sans serif font that borrows from Mid-Century typefaces, Karviet is a gently experimental font that will bring quirky character to social media designs or email campaigns.

 

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Aviak Font Envato Elements

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A modern experimental typeface with a subtle Art Nouveau style, Aviak has notable quirky notches on some of the uppercase characters.

 

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Akrapovic Display Font Envato Elements

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A bendy, twisted font with a retro feel, Akrapovic Display makes a nod to the psychedelic fonts of the 1960s. Groovy, baby!

 

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4. Art Deco Condensed Fonts

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Revisit the decade of flappers, jazz and Egyptomania with these condensed Art Deco fonts. Fitting that we are now a century on from the Roaring Twenties, this vintage 2024 font trend is supremely stylish, bringing a touch of glamor to brand identities and website pages. Look for heightened, condensed font styles for 2024, which bring a lofty elegance to designs.

 

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Coreta Font Envato Elements

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Tall, rounded and loftily delicate, Coreta is an ultra-feminine take on early Art Deco font styles.

 

 

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Hatficeld Font Envato Elements

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Italic and sophisticated, Hatficeld is a subtly Art Deco typeface which would bring a luxurious mood to typography.

 

 

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Orlanda Font Envato Elements

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A geometric condensed font with Art Deco style, Orlanda has flowing ligatures and a formal mood.

 

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Firon Font Envato Elements

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Channel Egyptomania vibes with Firon, which pays tribute to the obsession with Ancient Egypt and archaeology in the 1920s.

 

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Pilated Font Envato Elements

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A modern serif font which makes a low-key nod to Art Deco, Pilated is rounded and condensed, making it highly legible.

 

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5. Mixed Weight Typography

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Mix up your italic fonts with bold weights to create an off-kilter style in your 2024 typography. This 2024 font trend retains an elegant spirit with serif type styles or calligraphy fonts. Perfect for bringing a high-end look to website designs or luxury packaging designs.

 

 

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Humble Nostalgia Font Envato Elements

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Tapping into 2024’s Seventies type trends, Humble Nostalgia is the perfect retro font for mixing weights. Combine a slanted serif with a regular weight and overlay on photography for an elegant effect.

 

 

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Going Golden Font Family Envato Elements

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The Going Golden font family has a huge selection of different weights, styles and alternates to create a unique mixed typography style in your designs.

 

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Gretha Font Family Envato Elements

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For a classical mixed typography look, try out the Gretha font family, which features a variety of serif styles to create playful typography.

 

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Armany Font Family Envato Elements

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Fluid and groovy, Armany is a display typeface made for high-impact mixed typography. Combine the four different weights included in the font family to create a stylish mixed type layout.

 

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6. Casual Brush Fonts

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Grunge typography is the 2024 type trend to turn to when ‘quiet luxury’ serifs feel a little too put-together and polished. For a cooler, more undone style, look to casual brush fonts. Hand-drawn, arty and eclectic, these grunge brush fonts look fantastic paired with moody backgrounds, gritty textures or black and white photography. Use for editorial designs, casual social media templates or alternative website designs.

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Lord Brush Font Envato Elements

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Take your brush fonts to the dark side with grunge brush typeface Lord. Chunky and anarchic, this is a great font for alternative branding or website design.

 

 

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Megumi Brush Font Envato Elements

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Striking and energetic, Megumi is a casual brush font with hand-crafted texture and a breezy style.

 

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Dashbird Font Envato Elements

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Dashbird is a modern brush font with a chunky, easygoing type style. Use to give character to headlines or pull quotes on magazine layouts or social media posts.

 

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Holigan Brush Font Envato Elements

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A rough brush font with a slight italic slant, Holigan feels dynamic and urgent. Use for sports branding, or to bring energy to print or online designs.

 

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7. Fluid Fonts

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Making a nod to Art Nouveau and the psychedelia font styles of the 1960s, these groovy fluid fonts feel almost liquid to look at. Tapping into the quiet luxury design trend, thse fluid fonts also bring a slightly more quirky character to this luxurious style of typography. Use to bring retro, languid style to lifestyle branding or fashion websites.

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Broone Font Envato Elements

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A fluid display font with a psychedelic spirit, Broone combines the Art Nouveau revival of the 1960s with a contemporary, clean form. Use to bring groovy interest to social media designs or website landing pages.

 

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Blue Bridge Font Envato Elements

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Loop your ligatures in free abandon with Blue Bridge, a beautiful display font with an ultra-fluid Nouveau style.

 

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Nayuki Font Envato Elements

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A Japanese-inspired display font, Nayuki combines fluid features with sharp serifs, creating the perfect balance between formal and easy-going.

 

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Meconte Font Envato Elements

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Ultra-fluid and liquid, Meconte is a trippy display font with a distorted liquid type style. If you’re looking for a quirky font on just the right side of experimental, try Meconte for that project you’ve been unable to find the perfect typeface for.

 

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Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes. The kit comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a printable book and as a reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB (eBook), ready for uploading to book retailers such as Apple Store, Kindle Store, Kobo and Google Play. Click here to find out more and benefit from an exclusive discount.

The post 7 Fresh Font Trends for 2024: The Best 2024 Fonts to Know Now appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Discover our edit of the best Fall fonts for making your autumn designs cosy and cosseting this season. Perfect for bringing typographic flair to Fall event flyers, Autumn social media designs or seasonal posters. So grab your most snuggly sweater, light the fire and hunker down to read up on these autumn font trends! 

What is the best Fall font style? From chunky woodcut fonts to cosy script typefaces, the best autumn fonts all feel comforting and warming, perhaps with a little vintage character for old-school cosiness. Below, you’ll find a selection of 10 Fall fonts to bring Hygge charm to your designs, including some free Fall fonts for budget-friendly projects.

10. Modern Calligraphy Font Bundle 

Calligraphy fonts are so synonymous with the vintage spirit of the autumn season. Bring a romantic, wistful vibe to your Fall projects with this bumper bargain bundle of calligraphy fonts. Including more than 45 calligraphy fonts, you’ll find ornate scripts, rough brush fonts and swooping signature fonts to embellish every one of your designs this autumn.

Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes. The kit comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a printable book and as a reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB (eBook), ready for uploading to book retailers such as Apple Store, Kindle Store, Kobo and Google Play. Click here to find out more and benefit from an exclusive discount.

The post The 10 Best Cozy Fall Fonts for Autumn appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Known for curating one of the most stylish aesthetics in modern cinema, director Wes Anderson certainly has an eye for outstanding typography. Vintage fonts are a key feature of the Wes Anderson aesthetic, with the director favoring quirky retro fonts that have a sense of time and place.

To celebrate the release of Asteroid City (2023), we’re looking to recreate the look and feel of Wes Anderson’s style in our own projects through typography. Read on to discover our edit of the best Wes Anderson fonts with a vintage feel, to recreate the aesthetic of movies like Asteroid City, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonlight Kingdom.

10. Great Lakes (FREE)

Remember the scenes in The Grand Budapest Hotel when the hotel is pictured in its faded 1970s era? Great Lakes would be a fantastically retro fit for the Wes Anderson typography in these scenes. You could also use free font Great Lakes to recreate the Moonlight Kingdom font style, particularly the scenes from the boy scouts’ camping ground.

Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes. The kit comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a printable book and as a reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB (eBook), ready for uploading to book retailers such as Apple Store, Kindle Store, Kobo and Google Play. Click here to find out more and benefit from an exclusive discount.

The post 10 of the Best Vintage Fonts for a Wes Anderson Aesthetic appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These 10 trending fonts are your passport to cutting-edge typography in 2023. From Medieval serifs to stripped-back scripts, there’s a type trend to suit every project.

Looking for the best font trends 2023 has to offer? Discover on-trend typefaces for editorial designs, branding, websites and social media with our edit of the very best 2023 fonts from our partner Envato Elements.

10. Rustea Envato Elements

Retro and simple, typefaces like Rustea give a nostalgic nod to earlier decades—a major font trend for 2023—while maintaining crisp lines and excellent readability. Pair these simple retro fonts with strong colours and photography for a bold, impactful look.

Download Now

Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes. The kit comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a printable book and as a reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB (eBook), ready for uploading to book retailers such as Apple Store, Kindle Store, Kobo and Google Play. Click here to find out more and benefit from an exclusive discount.

The post 10 Must-Have Fonts for 2023: Fresh Font Trends to Know Now appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From condensed italic typefaces with impact to handwritten italic scripts, these 10 italic fonts show that italic type styles are anything but dull.

If you’re looking for an italic font that brings both elegance and personality to your designs, consider these alternative italic fonts that range from chunky display fonts to retro italic typefaces. Scroll down for our edit of the best italic fonts from our partner Envato Elements.

• For classic elegance, you can’t beat these 10 timeless and beautiful italic fonts.

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1. Facile Italic Envato Elements

Facile Pro is a simple, bold, and still playful take on an all-caps sans serif italic font. If Helvetica grew up in southern Europe and took an entirely edgier path in life, it would be this. Who needs a serif italic? Facile is beautiful and audacious and perfect for just about any project.

Download Now

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2. Oliviar Italic Expanded Envato Elements

Looking for a wide, expanded italic font for your next project? Look no further than Oliviar, inspired by geometric fonts with a Grotesque touch. Features 7 weights, and is just one of the most beautiful italic fonts around.

Download Now

 

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3. Quatera Italic – Elegant Classy Serif Italic Envato Elements

Quatera gives that retro, rounded, elegant feel to an italic font, but it most certainly would be a great additon to your collection of beautiful italic fonts. It’s elegant, timeless, and perfectly italic!

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4. Claire Murphy – Stylish Italic Serif Envato Elements

Claire Murphy is an amazing italic handwriting font with style! No, really, the alternates and swashes here make this one of the best italic fonts in word or anywhere else. It’s got multilingual support and is already PUA encoded, so you just install and go!

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5. Rosign – Bold and Italic Envato Elements

Rosign is a perfect member of the bold italic fonts society, and it’s pretty obvious why! It’s modern and retro, it’s clean and yet practically begs for some grungy layer to be slapped on top. One of the most versatile and beautiful italic fonts around!

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6. RAVINE ITALIC – Modern Serif Envato Elements

Ravine’s italic fonts style is just… breathtaking. It features both upper and lowercase, numerals, and punctuation, and is truly a beautiful italic fonts set. Features international glyphs in Russian characters and is perfect for a retro feel.

Download Now

 

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7. Houston Italic Font Family Envato Elements

Houston, we do not have a problem — with this blocky, condensed, bold italic fonts set! Featuring regular, double, outline, and shadow fonts, you’re looking for a sans serif that goes with just about anything and you’ve found it right here!

Download Now

 

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8. RNS Camelia Envato Elements

If Helvetica were a cute, curvy italic serif fonts set, it would be Camilia. A demi-slab display type family with reversed strokes give an unexpected look and beautiful rhythm. Inspired by the geometric italic fonts of the 1920s and 1930s, it comes in 14 weights and styles. Pure perfection!

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9. Quatest – elegant beauty italic font Envato Elements

Quatest is one of those semi-calligraphic, beautiful italic fonts that features ligatures and styles that are just elegant and unexpected. It’s a light weight italic serif fonts that exudes class and beauty all at once.

Download Now

 

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10. Roystorie Bold / Black Italic – Retro Font Envato Elements

We are on our hands and knees worshipping the ligatures in this Renaissance black bold italic fonts set. Rounded serif elements mixed with sharp pointed finishes make this one unique, retro italic font that’s perfect for your collection.

Download Now

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Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes. The kit comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a printable book and as a reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB (eBook), ready for uploading to book retailers such as Apple Store, Kindle Store, Kobo and Google Play. Click here to find out more and benefit from an exclusive discount.

The post 10 of the Best Alternative Italic Fonts appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to discover our edit of the best free fonts for agency-standard design projects, from brand identities to websites, alongside examples of these free fonts in use for professional projects. All of the fonts listed below are free to download as commercial fonts, meaning you can use them on all types of projects with no need to pay for a licence. Win win.

1. Bluu Next

A sharper, edgier take on serif styles with a hint of blackletter, Bluu Next will bring headlines and logotypes to life. The typeface was created by French designer JB Morizot and is available through BlackFoundry. It makes a great contrasting pairing with round sans serifs or curvy, distorted fonts. 

2. Open Sauce Sans

Designed by Alfredo Marco Pradil as an in-house typeface for Creative Sauce, Open Sauce Sans is one member of a broader Open Sauce family. Featuring distinctive ink traps and a Helvetica-esque look, Open Sauce Sans is the most stylish of the family and makes for an interesting yet still tone-appropriate typeface for corporate branding or designs that require a clean and minimal style. 

3. League Spartan

Clean and minimal with a bit of bounce, League Spartan is a friendly and open sans serif typeface released by The League of Moveable Type. that makes for ultra-legible branding and website copy. True to its name, the font has a sporty and energetic personality, making it a great fit for sports brands or projects that require an endorphin boost.

4. Cormorant

Created by Christian Thalmann, Cormorant pays tribute to the elegant inheritance of Garamond while retaining a clean, contemporary feel. Slim and wispy, Cormorant makes the perfect typeface choice for brands that require a little more refinement, from luxury lifestyle to university websites. 

5. League Gothic

A revival of Alternate Gothic, which was designed by Morris Fuller Bentonfor the American Type Founders Company in 1903, League Gothic was reworked and released by The League Of Moveable Type in 2009. Condensed and highly legible, with plenty of vintage impact. It pairs well with geometric sans serif fonts or romantic serifs. 

6. Muli

A minimalist sans serif designed by Vernon Adams (a prolific designer of various open-source typefaces on Google Fonts), Muli is an ultra-simple typeface that can be used across a broad range of projects. The 14-weight family is in a similar vein to other minimalist-favourites Avenir and Proximan Nova, and makes an excellent companion font to more flamboyant display type.

7. Reforma

A bespoke typeface created by Pampatype for the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, Reforma is split into three families which lift characteristics of the type era—1918, 1969 and 2018. For a more traditional look, try Reforma 1918, a curvier serif typeface which has a gentlemanly and serene nature. 1969 and 2018 are, respectively, increasingly more simplistic in style, while retaining the font’s carved form. 

8. Metropolis

Metropolis is a modern geometric typeface designed with readability in mind, created by Chris Simpson. If you’re looking for a similar feel to brand-favourite Gotham, Metropolis is an excellent alternative. Use for serious, impactful branding, such as political campaigns, newspaper websites or financial firms.

The post The Best Free Fonts for Agency Work (That Rival Paid-For Foundry Fonts) appeared first on InDesignSkills.

All of the fonts featured below are completely free to download as commercial fonts, meaning you can use them on all types of projects with no need to pay for a licence. 

1. Mondia

A modern serif typeface with an 18-weight family, two weights are available to download for free from here. High-contrast characters and a tall x-height give this elegant font an airy, breezy feel. Subtly romantic, this is a good choice for giving brand designs or ads a quietly romantic mood.

2. Reey

If you’re looking for a hand-drawn font that feels natural and authentic, Reey is a great choice for giving romantic designs a casual personality. Try Reey in place of handwritten text or more formal calligraphic styles to invest your designs with easygoing romance. 

3. Playfair Display

Playfair Display is a transitional serif typeface inspired by 18th century type styles. A display font that’s suitable for large-scale designs, this classically romantic typeface can be used to give an old-fashioned quality to posters, websites or social media posts.

4. Harting

Created by David Rakowski, Harting mimics the result of typing with a secondhand typewriter, with jaunty letterforms and low-ink texture. Characterful and romantic with an authentic vintage personality, Harting can give your designs the wistful feel of a wartime letter. 

5. Cormorant Garamond

A supremely elegant serif font developed by Christian Thalmann of Catharsis Fonts, Cormorant Garamond consists of 9 weights and styles that range from Light to Bold Italic, giving your projects plenty of versatility. This is the ideal typesetting font for romantic-themed projects, from books to wedding invitations. 

6. Fondamento

Fondamento and Fondamento Italic are simplified calligraphic typefaces based on the writing style developed by Edward Johnston in the early 20th century. Clear and legible, the font has a quietly romantic personality, and makes an excellent alternative to more elaborate French-inspired calligraphic fonts. 

7. Mrs Saint Delafield

Mrs Saint Delafield is inspired by the tradition of hand-lettering and calligraphy in America in the early 20th century. From the early 1930s until World War II there were around 200 professional hand letterers working in New York City alone. This free script font pays tribute to this golden era of hand-lettered invitations and calling cards. It has an exaggerated slant, giving Mrs Saint Delafield an exceptionally feminine and romantic style. 

8. Neonderthaw

Inspired by neon signage, Neonderthaw helps you to channel the edgy romantic style of Tracy Emin light installations, giving your designs an artful mood. Enhance the light-up mood with neon color palettes and dark, inky backgrounds.

9. Sacramento

An inline, hand-lettered font with a mid-century character, Sacramento is informal and easy-going, making it perfect for designs that need to feel intimate and warm. Created by Astigmatic, Sacramento is a characterful alternative to more formal script typefaces. 

10. IM Fell English SC

Named after the typefaces created by Dr. John Fell who was Bishop of Oxford and Dean of Christ Church in the mid-17th century, IM Fell English SC is a digital font imbued with traditional character. If you want to typeset a Jane Austen-esque letter to your intended, this free typeface will give your text an old-fashioned romantic character.   

The post The Best Free Romantic Fonts appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From quirky display type for The French Dispatch and Captain Fantastic to retro slab text for Justice League, you’ll find a font to suit any genre, from space-set sci-fi and blockbuster adventures to retro comedies and gun-slinging westerns.

1. Indepedent/Wes Anderson: The French Dispatch

What is the font on The French Dispatch poster? The pressing question of font identity always arises when the next eagerly anticipated Wes Anderson movie poster is released. The title type has been custom-created by illustrator Javi Aznarez, but a close match for the style is signage-inspired typeface Evanston Tavern 1893 Medium. The actor captions and body copy is a hand-drawn slab serif. Mimic the look with Geometric Slabserif 703 Std or Beton.

2. Family Independent: Captain Fantastic

A perfectly designed indie poster, the artwork for Captain Fantastic references vintage styles and childlike, naive design. The main title font is a custom typeface, inspired by Woodkit fonts. Bosque also has a similar feel.

Subtitles are set in Bookman Old Style, the perfect supporting font for a vintage-influenced poster design.

Affordable Alternative: Detroit

Detroit is an almost western-like slab serif that carries many of the characteristics of the font used in Captain Fantastic.
Detroit is available with an Envato Elements subscription.

 

3. Blockbuster Adventure: Kong: Skull Island

Big blockbusters need equally big fonts. This slab display typeface is the perfect choice for making an impact. The custom font used for the movie title is a variation on Forza Black, but Eurostile Bold also has a similar feel.

Affordable Alternative: Arkibal

Arkibal is a short sans-serif that could easily have been used, had it been modified with the triangular shapes in the Kong poster.
Arkibal is available with an Envato Elements subscription.

 

4. Documentary: Wiener Dog

This charming, vintage-styled poster uses equally charming serif typefaces, which bring a touch of elegance and intellectualism to the poster design. The movie title and supporting text is set in Horley Old Style.

Affordable Alternative: Pioggia

Pioggia is a playful serif that shares many of the same characteristics as the ones used in Wiener Dog
Pioggia is available with an Envato Elements subscription.

 

5. Retro Indie: The Lobster

The retro trend in poster design continues with The Lobster, which has a distinctly 1960s feel in its choice of colors, cut-out imagery and modernist typography. To mimic the look, set your headers in the Extra Bold weight of Avenir Next.

Affordable Alternative: Colombo

Colombo is a gorgeous geometris sans serif that could easily be used to replace what’s going on in the movie poster with Avenir.
Colombo is available with an Envato Elements subscription.

 

6. Retro Comedy: The Nice Guys

Amping up the references to the disco era, Pump Pro Triline is the perfect choice for this Seventies-tribute poster design. Teamed with a retro orange and yellow color palette, this artwork is the ultimate nostalgia trip.

Affordable Alternative: Argon

Argon is a great alternative to Pump Pro Triline as it carries the same multi-lined font design.
Argon is available with an Envato Elements subscription.

 

7. Superhero: Justice League

There’s more than a sniff of retro about the upcoming Justice League movie’s branding. The title font is custom, but borrows generously from League Gothic, which has an old-school comic book feel.

Affordable Alternative: Vancouver

Vancouver is another tall font that could work wonders in a similar superhero poster.
Vancouver is available with an Envato Elements subscription.

 

8. Thriller: Sully

Emotional dramas and thrillers suit the serious impact of a traditional serif. Sully‘s main title is set in elegant Sabon Roman, with supporting text in Gotham Light, which keeps the design looking clean and contemporary.

9. Romantic Drama: Loving

The artwork for acclaimed drama Loving uses photography cast in a dreamy, nostalgic light, teamed with romantic serif type. If you recognize the font, that’s because it’s well-loved Adobe Caslon Pro Italic, which brings an elegant and bookish touch to the layouts.

10. Western: The Salvation

New gritty Western The Salvation uses appropriately vintage-inspired type for its evocative, high-impact poster designs. The typeface is custom, but you can recreate the Wild West look with Gunfighter Academy or Dead Saloon.

11. Historic/War: Hacksaw Ridge

War movie posters often suit ultra-modern typefaces, which helps to make the story feel relevant and immediate to modern-day audiences. Hacksaw Ridge uses a clean and discreet sans serif, Fette Engschrift D, which looks fantastic against dramatic action photography.

12. Sci-Fi: Arrival

Sci-fi movies need typography that’s as futuristic as the subject matter. Recent years have seen films like Gravity and The Martian resurrecting the sort of sans serif type styles made popular by seminal sci-fi flicks like Alien. Futura is a failsafe choice for achieving the contemporary sc-fi look, but new movie Arrival uses a customized version of Gotham Light.

13. Action: Logan

It can be tricky for movie studios to create designs for spin-off characters that feel completely fresh and unique. For X-Men relative Logan, the designers have managed to create a fresh-feeling brand for the movie with a chunky, informal slab typeface. Recreate the look with Maple, which has a bouncy, Saul Bass-inspired feel.

14. Musical: La La Land

The marketing artwork for romantic musical La La Land owes numerous debts to vintage poster design. Simple scenic photography is paired with Art Deco titling set in Yasashii, and teamed with subheadings set in simpler yet still vintage-inspired Neutraface.

Looking for more design inspiration? Dive into even more poster design inspiration, or find the perfect vintage font for your next project.

The post The Best Fonts for Movie Poster Design appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From classic serifs for typesetting to quirky fonts for children’s books, historic novels or vintage covers, below you’ll find the perfect bookish typeface for your next project.

• Designing a cover? Discover fantastic fonts for book covers here.

Anko Envato Elements

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Anko is a mixed up, old style Roman serif font family. It’s one of the best fonts for book covers because it comes in 8 weights and features more than 450 glyphs to support extended Latin language, plus OpenType features such as ligatures and numeral variations. It’s clean and easy to read with smooth strokes, moderate stem contrast, and soft edges.

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Adobe Garamond

Designed by Robert Slimbach and released in 1989, Adobe Garamond is an updated take on the typeface styles created by Claude Garamond, which date back to the sixteenth century. An utterly classic and failsafe choice for typesetting books, Garamond also features gorgeous italic glyphs which can be used to embellish chapter headings or cover titles.

Addington CF | beautiful serif font family Envato Elements

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The best font for writing a novel is one that’s reliable, comes alive with character and attention to detail, is beautiful but practical at the same time. A versatile typeface with calligraphic elements, serifs, and new ideas. That’s Addington. Comes in 7 weights, roman and italic sets, and advanced OTF features.

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Caslon

An Old Style serif originally created in 1722 by English typefounder William Caslon, Caslon is a beautiful and traditional typeface for typesetting. Most famously used as the type style for the Declaration of Independence, this timeless typeface is consistently used by designers looking for classic literary style.

Storystone Serif Font Envato Elements

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As you know, serif font are the best fonts for book covers, and Storystone combines classic style fonts with a touch of minimalism to get you to a beautiful, elegant result. This isn’t your average Georgia font, not even close. It’s absolutely one of the most perfect fonts for books, though!

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Troye Font Trio – Clean & Luxury Envato Elements

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Who doesn’t love a meticulously pulled together font trio like Troye? It’s got your sans serif fonts for books, plus script and serif styles too! It’s a modern, clean, and distinctive set of the best fonts for book covers for sure! Features upper and lowercase, alternates and ligatures, and multilingual characters, too!

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PS Fournier

PS Fournier is centuries in the making. Originally based on the type designs of Pierre Simon Fournier from the eighteenth century, the first version of Fournier was released in 1924 by Monotype. In 2016, Stéphane Elbaz of Typofonderie revisited Parisien Fournier’s work and released a polished, contemporary version for print and web. A transitional serif, PS Fournier balances tradition with humanist character, making it an elegant and versatile font for book design.

Bondie Slab – Condensed Slab Serif Font Envato Elements

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Combine Bondie, the condensed slab serif font with something rounded and geometric like Helvetica, and you’ve got two of the best fonts for books you could imagine! Seriously, this is quite the elegant, solid books fonts around!

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Baskerville PT

Originally inspired by the work of english type designer John Baskerville, Baskerville PT was created by Dmitry Kirsanov, Arina Alaferdova and published by foundry ParaType. While Baskerville PT can be used for typesetting it has been created with larger display text in mind. Cover titles, chapter headings and author names will all benefit from its darkly dramatic elegance.

Bondie Envato Elements

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If you love the idea of Bondie condensed slab serif, check out Bondie’s condensed sans serif! It’s similar to FF Din, but kind of better, really. Pair it up with Georgia fonts for books and you’ll have a combination that’s hard to beat for sure.

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Times New Roman

An enduring classic serif that will never go out of style, Times New Roman is literary, authoritative and ultra-legible, making it an excellent all-rounder font for book design. A transitional serif released by Monotype foundry in 1931, created by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent, the typeface is best known for its use in newspaper design. Today, it endures as a classic and clean typesetting font for books, magazines and eBooks.

BoldenVan – Chubby Children Font Envato Elements

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BoldenVan is an incredible comic book font style that would be the best fonts for book covers for kids! It’s rounded corners and chubby boldness brings instant joy, excitement, and you just can’t help but smile in anticipation for what’s next!

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ITC Avant Garde Gothic

Based on the typeface created for Avant Garde magazine, ITC Avant Garde Gothic is a sultry Seventies font which would bring vintage flair to book cover designs. Team with contemporary colour schemes to dilute its retro edge or pair with sepia-tinted photography for authentic retro style.

Frisky Puppy Envato Elements

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Another amazing comic book font style is found here, in Frisky Puppy. It’s even named like it’s one of the best fonts for book covers with a children’s story! We love the 3D, bubbly effect that you just can’t get anywhere else.

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Albra

A fluid, organic serif with high legibility, Albra is a retro-tinted serif font that works beautifully for both display text and typeset pages. A unique alternative to more traditional serif fonts, this is a great font choice for book designers looking for something subtly different.

Shigatsu Envato Elements

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This elegant italic font belongs in a calligraphy fonts book PDF because it’s just perfect on so many levels. It’s a classic, luxury serif font with beautiful rounded features that combined with something like Helvetica (which also features a lovely rounded look) would just be absolutely amazing.

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Etna Sans Serif Envato Elements

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When you’re searching for the perfect fonts for books, one of the best fonts for book covers would be Etna here. It’s bold, sharp, and comes with over 400 glyphs! It was custom made with maximum precision and high aesthetics, and would absolutely highlight the best font for writing a novel, Georgia.

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Linotype Centennial

Designed by Adrian Frutiger Linotype Centennial was released in 1986 and celebrates a century since the invention of linotype printing. A celebratory serif that showcases features of classic American type design, this is the cool alternative to traditional serifs like Caslon and Baskerville for typesetting book text.

Gunterhaus – Modern & Transitional Serif Envato Elements

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A modern and transitional serif font like Gunterhaus would be another great font for books, because it’s easy to read, clean, and features modern and transitional serifs, italic styles, and extensive multilingual support.

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Dominica – Bold Italic Retro Vintage Envato Elements

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Oh, Dominica! Your thick, rounded features make you one of the best fonts for book covers we’ve ever seen! Just look at the flow of letters… it belongs in a calligraphy fonts book PDF, don’t you think? It’s a little bit retro, a little bit modern, and a whole lot of beautiful.

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Skolar Latin

Looking for a typeface for a non-fiction book? Skolar Latin is direct and factual, with exaggerated, sculptural serifs that make data-focussed text feel more authoritative. Try teaming with infographics or setting image captions in this effective, simple serif.

Breadley Sans Envato Elements

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Equipped with 5 levels of thickness, when you’re looking for minimalism in the best fonts for book covers, Breadley Sans is the perfect fit. It’s professional, yet modern and full of character! It’s got multilingual support, too.

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Montage Serif Font Envato Elements

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Can’t you just see Montage, a delicate serif font, combined with Helvetica for the best fonts for book covers award (were there such an award)? Get free updates on this one, too, and comes in OTF and TTF format.

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Quatera Italic – Elegant Classy Serif Italic Envato Elements

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We’re not sure why Quatera seems sort of 1970s to us, but it most certainly would be a great additon to your collection of fonts for books, don’t you agree? It’s elegant, timeless, and perfectly italic!

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Silk

True to its name, Silk is a fluid, organic serif typeface with a delicate, elegant appearance. Created by Rakel Tómasdóttir, Silk is available in 14 weights, making it a versatile book font for typesetting inside pages or creating beautiful chapter titles. Romantic or historic novels will bring out the best of this elegant typeface.

Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes.

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The post 25 Perfect Fonts for Books appeared first on InDesignSkills.

If you’ve got a cover to design but need some direction for the typography, let us give you some inspirational suggestions.

1. If you’re designing a cover for a Classic…

Follow the example of the iconic Penguin covers and choose the traditional sans serif typeface Gill Sans. More recent interpretations of the covers by Levente Szabo still use the same typeface, and look just as relevant today:

The revised covers, also published by Penguin, for classic titles such as Moby Dick use Wile, a lovely serif font with a clean, classic look:

These covers, designed by Jessica Hische, reinterpret a very traditional hardback format, and use vintage-style typography for an authentic, ornate look. To mimic this look, try Nexa Rust, a more modernised version of a slab style, or Asterx, for adding a gothic twist to your text:

2. If you’re designing for a Contemporary Fiction title…

For a more serious title, choose Trajan Pro or Adobe Caslon Pro to command attention:

For a design that places the emphasis on simple, elegant typography, you can’t go wrong with ITC New Baskerville. Or try Hebrew Michol for a similar vibe:

For some titles, a simple sans serif can look really effective without being overwhelming. Try FF Nexus Sans for a clean look that will complement just about any cover design:

A romantic or nostalgic fiction cover needs a font with more emotion. If you don’t want to venture into handwritten territory, try adding in italic caps like this cover for Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman, published by Grove Press UK with illustration by Emiliano Ponzi. Adobe Caslon Italic Swash will achieve the same effect:

3. If you’re designing a cover for a Non-Fiction title…

Non-fiction titles tend to be more serious and less fantastical than their fictional counterparts. Try a digital, soviet-inspired typeface like BF Anorak to achieve a similar look to this cover, designed by Jason Ramirez:

For a traditional yet beautiful serif font, try Classical Garamond or Adobe Garamond Pro. Contrasting large-scale text against a pale background can be really high-impact, as demonstrated in this cover design by Cristopher Brian King:

Try Trade Gothic for a serious sans serif style that complements travel and political commentary books best:

For travel books or nostalgic historical titles, a font with a nod to retro design will bring your cover to life. Try K22 Didoni or Cabernet to achieve a similar look to this cover:

Looking to Create Your Own Book Designs?

Create your own pro-standard books and book covers in Adobe InDesign with the NEW Self-Publish Starter Kit. Included in the Self-Publish Starter Kit are 7 cover and inside page templates for InDesign, with a choice of 7 cover design styles, sized to standard US and UK/European sizes.

The kit comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a printable book and as a reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB (eBook), ready for uploading to book retailers such as Apple Store, Kindle Store, Kobo and Google Play.

Click here to find out more and benefit from an exclusive discount code.

The post Fantastic Fonts for Book Covers appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Did we mention these stylish and minimal architecture fonts are all totally free for commercial use? Go forth and find the perfect font for your architecture portfolio.

The new Architecture Template Kit includes a complete range of Adobe InDesign templates for architects looking to present and brand their work beautifully and professionally. Discover the kit here.

1. Karla

Designed by Jonathan Pinhorn, Karla is a grotesque sans serif in the tradition of Helvetica and Futura. Distinctly modernist in style, Karla is a versatile sans serif with a subtly retro flavour. Corbusier would approve. Available in four weights, you can download the print typeface from FontSquirrel.

You can also find Karla as a web font on Google Fonts, meaning you can streamline your type choice across both print and online architecture portfolios.

2. Reforma

Created by Pampatype foundry, Reforma is a bespoke typeface originally designed for the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina. A humanist sans serif, Reforma combines the simple appeal of sans serifs with a little more warmth and character. At once both classical and contemporary, this is a great font choice for architects looking for more personality in their portfolio type.

You can download the complete suite of 18 weights (and yes, for free) from Pampatype’s website here.

3. Aileron

Aileron is a neo-grotesque typeface with a clean, futuristic personality. Designed by Japanese foundry Dot Colon, the Aileron font family consists of a whopping 16 weights, making it a highly versatile and free font alternative to traditional neo-grotesques such as Univers or Helvetica.

A perfect pairing with post-modernist or futuristic architecture portfolios, Aileron is understated, elegant and minimal.  

4. Gilroy

Looking for an architectural sans serif with a little more character? Gilroy is a geometric typeface with a modernist style. While it wouldn’t look out of place on mid-century signage, Gilroy is determinedly contemporary and looks fantastic set as headlines or pull-quotes. This stylish typeface, created by Radomir Tinkov, is available in 20 weights, two of which are free to download from FontSpring.

5. D-DIN

D-DIN imitates the style of architect font favorite DIN. Taking its name from the Deutsches Institut fur Normung (German Institute for Standardization), DIN was widely used for traffic and administration signage from the 1930s onwards. The typeface was designed for technical purposes, which gives it its simplified, ultra-legible style.

Completely unadorned and minimalistic, D-DIN is a faithful tribute to the 1930s original typeface, and looks just as effective on the captions of architecture portfolios as it does for architectural brand identities. 

6. Bellefair

Architects are often averse to serif typefaces, but the right serif font can bring understated elegance and a high-end feel to presentation boards, architecture portfolios and practice websites. Bellefair is a clean, sculpted serif font which strikes a balance between traditional and contemporary. Use for impactful headings or elegant captions. 

You can download Bellefair Regular, designed by Nick Shinn, for free from FontSquirrel.

7. Work Sans

A trusty sans serif font based on early grotesque sans serifs, Work Sans has wider letterforms than Futura or Univers, making it feel solid, stable and ultra-legible. Available as a free font family of 21 weights, Work Sans has been optimised for screen displays (with larger diacritic marks, for example, to boost readability at small-scale), but can also be used for print portfolios and presentations with equal ease.  

Designed by Wei Huang, you can download the complete Work Sans font family for free here. 

8. Proza Libre

With a similarly sculptural style to Reforma, Proza Libre is another fantastic alternative for architects looking for something a little different to the usual Helvetica and Futura tributes. An elegant humanist sans serif, Proza Libre would make a great partner for eco architecture or organic building styles. 

Created by Jasper de Waard, Proza Libre is influenced by Old Style Renaissance typefaces, but with the serifs removed, created a cleaner, more fluid appearance. The font is available to download for free in 12 weights from FontSquirrel. 

9. Jost*

With a striking similarity to Futura, Jost* was designed by Owen Earl of font foundry indestructible type. Combining its early modernist influences with more rounded letterforms gives Jost* its signature bouncy and effortlessly stylish personality. 

If you love the look of Futura and Univers, but are seeking a more extrovert interpretation, Jost* will bring both personality and a minimalist aesthetic to the table. Available as both a web font and print typeface, Jost* can be downloaded from the indestructible type website here.

10. Spartan MB

A geometric sans serif font with a rounded, open character, Spartan MB is inspired by the American Type Founders Company (ATF) classic typeface, Spartan. Aesthetically simple with subtle curves, Spartan MB blends mid-century styling with contemporary geometric touches. 

An open source, free font designed by Matt Bailey and Mirko Velimirovic, Spartan MB is available in 7 weights from Bailey’s portfolio website here.

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Included in the Architecture Template Kit are 4 presentation boards, full portfolio with 40 pro-designed pages, introductory portfolio template, 5 business card templates and 4 letterhead options for Adobe InDesign, sized to a wide range of US, European, UK and Australian standard sizes.

Find Your Perfect Font Match

Discover more fantastic font recommendations, from the best free serif fonts to trustworthy, timeless typefaces. Or browse thousands of inspiration articles to spark your next creative idea.

The post The 10 Best Free Fonts for Architects appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Why buy fonts when you could be putting that money towards your dream dress or to save for the honeymoon of a lifetime? These free fonts have romance and style by the bucketload, and make perfect finishing touches for wedding invites, RSVP cards and table settings.   

Scroll down to discover our pick of the 15 most delightful and dreamy fonts to enhance your wedding stationery. 

Discover a Complete Set of Wedding Stationery Templates…

Find all your wedding stationery in one place with InDesignSkills’ new Wedding Stationery Template Kit. A stylish and versatile set of printable Adobe InDesign templates, created by our in-house team of designers, and easy to customise with your own details. 

The kit includes 8 printable templates in US and UK/Europe standard sizes, with 20+ colour options to choose from. Discover more details here.

1. Butler

Described by its designer, Fabian Desmet, as perfect for ‘fancy stuff’, Butler is true to its name—a polite and elegant font with high legibility. Inspired by the old-world elegance of the Bodoni family, Butler is a contemporary update on a traditional serif. Perfect for place settings and titling on invitation cards, this is a classic choice that will never date. 

2. Dubiel

Created by David Rakowski, Dubiel is a condensed serif with an old-fashioned personality. Didone in style, this would make the perfect companion to Art Deco invitations or black-tie events.

3. Mondia

Quirky and characterful, Mondia is inspired by transitional typefaces, giving it an exceptionally stylish demeanour that is reminiscent of 1930s type styles. A perfect font for city wedding invitations, able to bring a touch of old-fashioned glamour. 

The full font family of 18 styles can be found on MyFonts, with two weights—Thin and Thin Italic—available to download for free.

4. Otama e.p.

Described as a ‘quiet but confident’ typeface by its creator, Tim Donaldson, Otama is in its infancy as a commercial font, but you can find the free early production (Otama e.p.) here on FontSquirrel.

Luxurious and highly legible, it’s a great choice for titling and place names on wedding stationery.    

5. Chantelli Antiqua

A simple calligraphic font with a medieval soul designed by Bernd Montag, Chantelli Antiqua allows you to imitate the look of time-consuming (and expensive) calligraphy with a digital font. A good fit for traditional wedding stationery or table settings.

6. Latin Modern Mono

Typewriter fonts can bring a touch of vintage romance to wedding invitations, and also work beautifully for wedding favour labels. Latin Modern Mono is one of our favourites, with a broad range of 17 styles that range from caps to condensed for extra versatility. 

Download the complete family for free from FontSquirrel.

7. Tenderness

Faithful to its name, Tenderness is a soft and subtle sans serif with an early 20th Century aesthetic. If serifs feel too formal and handwritten styles too casual, a warm sans serif like Tenderness could strike the right tone. 

Download the Regular weight of the font from FontSquirrel. 

8. Playfair Display

Taking inspiration from the typefaces created by John Baskerville in the late 18th Century, Playfair Display is nonetheless a thoroughly modern serif font suitable for display type. Playful and romantic, Playfair Display was created by Claus Eggers Sørensen, a type designer based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

9. Proza Libre

Proza Libre is a humanist sans-serif typeface created by Jasper de Waard. The designer was inspired by Renaissance-era type styles, but removed the serifs to create a more clean and contemporary effect. 

Timeless and elegant, Proza Libre is a fantastic all-purpose typeface for wedding stationery. 

10. Tangerine

A handdrawn script font with a romantic style, Tangerine is perfect for typesetting names on invitations. Pair with serif body type for an elegant and balanced result. 

11. Restora

An old-style serif with a subtly Seventies vibe, Restora is nostalgic and fun—the perfect font to get your guests in a party mood. Two weights, Thin Italic and Extra Light, are available to download for free from FontSpring.

12. Quintessential

Quintessential is a classic and faithful calligraphy typeface with a slight italic, making it a sophisticated and traditional choice for wedding stationery. Easy-to-read, even at small size, Quintessential can be used for titling or body text. 

13. Bellefair

Designed by Nick Shinn, Bellefair is a supremely elegant serif with a lofty x-height. Slightly condensed, it saves space while presenting your type beautifully. 

Also available as a Google webfont, you can match your invite typography to the type on your wedding website.

14. IM Fell French Canon PRO

Based on a wide body of typefaces from 17th Century typographer John Fell, IM Fell French Canon Pro is a faithfully old-fashioned serif with jaunty, rounded letterforms. Romantic and kooky, this font would be perfectly paired with rustic invites and country wedding stationery. 

15. Fanwood

Created by Barry Schwartz, Fanwood is a revival of Fairfield, a serif typeface designed in 1940, which in turn was inspired by Old Style Venetian type styles. Breezy and effortlessly romantic, Fanwood is an elegant choice for setting body type on wedding invitations.  

Discover the Wedding Stationery Template Kit

Perfect for busy and budget-conscious brides and grooms looking for a comprehensive stationery set for their big day, the Wedding Stationery Template Kit contains 8 printable InDesign templates in US and UK/Europe standard sizes, with 20+ colour options to choose from.

The post The Best Free Fonts for Wedding Invitations appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These free fonts can be used for commercial or personal projects, and come with no strings attached. Simply download, install and use! Read on to discover our pick of the best 15 free fonts you can download and use in your projects in 2021.

Sans Serifs

Clean, contemporary and enduringly stylish, sans serif are the workhorse of any designer’s font catalogue. The newest free sans serif fonts are distinctively characterful, with a retro mood for 2021.  

1. Malik

Designed in 2020 by Andrea Tartarelli, Malik is a ‘flared’ serif, with a retro-meets-bookish feel. The lighter weights in the sixteen-style family are perfect for subtle and chic typesetting, while the bolshier display styles have an assertive, 70s-tinted character that would look fantastic on packaging and logo designs.

Download a single Book weight for free here.

2. Klein

A thorough and contemporary tribute to Futura, Klein is a geometric typeface with humanist touches. A workhorse superfamily of 54 fonts, this is the ultimate sans serif for designers who appreciate adaptability.

Designed by Francesco Canovaro, Cosimo Pancini and Andrea Tartarelli, you can download two weights, Text Book and Text Book Italic, for free from Fontspring.

3. Palo

A semi-grotesque sans serif with a huge range of 72 styles, Palo combines heavily condensed syles with wide weights to achieve a diverse and on-trend type style. Download Palo Wide Light and Palo Compressed Medium for free, and combine to create eye-catching typography for editorial layouts or poster designs.

4. Alata

Alata is a geometric sans serif with classical undertones, drawing its inspiration from early 20th Century poster lettering and Greek type styles. A subtly quirky and friendly sans serif, the font is highly legible, making it a great choice for signage or body text.

Download Alata Regular for free on FontSquirrel.

5. JT Energy

Inspired by the work of German typeface designer Paul Renner, the designer of iconic sans serif Futura, JT Energy pays tribute to the early Modernist heritage of geometric sans. Complete with slanted edges and a distinctly Swiss style, this is a super-stylish sans serif that is available as a complete family of seven styles. Download the Extra Light weight for free here.

6. Shapiro Pro

Shapiro Pro is a diverse modern Grotesque sans serif with an extremely broad range of 74 styles. Designed with advertising and editorial layouts in mind, the varying weights of the typeface make for a high-contrast, contemporary pairing.

You can download the Shapiro Pro 22 Super Fly and Shapiro Pro 34 Bantam weights for free from Fontspring.

Display Sans

Looking for something a bit bolder and more dramatic for large-scale type projects? These new free sans serif fonts for display will help to bring your headlines bang up-to-date. 

7. Hagrid

Designed by Cosimo Pancini, Hagrid is a celebration of typographic extremes, with high-contrast contact points and exaggerated curves giving it a vintage character that nonetheless feels clean and cutting-edge. Use on designs that require immediate and off-beat visual impact, from packaging to web banners.

Hagrid Regular, Hagrid Italic, Hagrid Text and Hagrid Text Italic are available free of charge here. 

8. Stinger

Combining thick verticals and thin horizontals, Stinger is a cool and quirky typeface inspired by Wild West and circus typography. With its vibrant personality, Stinger is best suited to headlines and logos—it also looks fantastic teamed with energetic photography on magazine and poster layouts.

The Slim Italic, Bold Italic, Fit Light and Wide Thin styles are all completely free to download here.

9. Gogh

Chunky and playful, while retaining a clean, minimal look, Gogh is a versatile sans serif suited to both body text and display. With an open design, Gogh is highly legible and is also available as a variable font, suitable for flexible web design.

You can download two weight, Extra Bold and Extra Bold Italic, from Fontspring. 

10. Garbata

A sans serif font with a slightly serif character, Garbata is a curvy and calligraphic typeface. The perfect font for designers torn between using a sans or a serif, this free display sans font is an exercise in balance and typographic artistry.

Garbata Regular is free to download from Fontspring.

Serifs

While serifs used to be the traditional and conservative counterpart to sans serifs’ modernist personalities, 2020 has proved that serifs are ever-evolving. With exaggerated inversions, quirky ligatures and elegant calligraphic influences, these free serif fonts will bring beauty and elegance to any design.

11. Fiorina Text

A sophisticated, Didone-style serif designed by Andriy Konstantynov, Fiorina Text is a classic serif font that can be used for typesetting magazines or books. With its slightly compressed x-height, this free serif font has a more contemporary character than traditional bookish serifs.

The Light and Light Italic weights are free to download here. 

12. Mondia

Designed by Nasir Udin, Mondia is a serif typeface with a sans serif character, combing clean, modern styling with 1920s influences. A tall x-height gives this free serif font an elegant, almost haughty character, making it an excellent fit for high-end branding or luxury packaging.

Download two styles of Mondia for free from Fontsquirrel.

Display Serifs

A chunkier, more dramatic serif is required for large-scale type, such as headlines, logos and posters. These new free serif fonts are optimised for display, with 70s-inspired styles set to be popular over 2021. 

13. Bogart

A distinct and retro-flavored display serif which pays tribute to 1960s and 1970s typefaces, in particular Cooper Black, Bogart has an effortlessly cool and classic style befitting of the actor after which it was named.

Posters, logos and websites will be the best canvas for Bogart, and you can download two weights, Light Italic and Semi Bold, for free here.

14. Amagro

Bold, theatrical and with a stone-carved style, Amagro is a classical-infused display font designed by Fabio Servolo. A cooler and more contemporary take on the Roman style of Trajan Pro, this free serif font will suit posters and landing pages which require a monumental mood. 

15. Vendura

Vendura is a didone-style display serif with a fashionable character. Crisp, sharp edges and a compressed x-height increases the style and legibility of the font, making it an ideal serif for apps, blogs or magazines.

Designed by Marc Lohner, two styles—Vendura Demo Semi Bold and Vendura Demo Semi Bold Italic—are available for free download here.

Looking for more great free fonts? Discover the 10 Best Fonts on FontSquirrel, and our edit of the best free fonts for logos.

The post The Best Free Fonts for 2021 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From rounded sans serifs to fun and frivolous display fonts, there’s something here to suit every children-focussed project, from picture books to learning websites.

1. Quicksand

Rounded fonts don’t feature ornate serifs or complex letterforms, making them exceptionally easy to read for early learners. Quicksand manages to balance a rounded design with a stylish, minimal aesthetic.

Free to download from FontSquirrel, the download includes a broad range of seven weights and styles, including glyphs and dashed. A versatile all-rounder for setting text in children’s books.

2. Caroni

Named after a bird sanctuary on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, Caroni has a suitably natural, laidback feel. A handwritten script font that’s generously spaced and full of naive charm, this is a lovely novelty font for using across a range of media aimed at younger audiences.

Multilingual support is also included for Western, Central and Eastern European languages, making this a versatile font choice for those looking to translate their publications.

3. Comfortaa

Designed by Johan Aakerlund, Comfortaa has a nostalgic personality. Reminiscent of rounded font styles favored during the 1960s and 1970s, the font combines retro styling with readability, making it a perfect fit for designers who want to give their children’s publications wistful appeal.

Available in three weights, Comfortaa is highly legible set at both body and headline size, making it a versatile font choice.

4. Linotte

Described as ‘sweet and naive’ by its designer Joël Carrouché, Linotte feels friendly, open and warm, as well as being extremely easy to read, making it a good choice for designs aimed at younger children. Geometric elements are balanced with subtle quirks in the type design, making Linotte feel at once both stylishly contemporary and a whole lot of fun.

The Semibold weight is free to download from FontSpring.

5. Spilt Ink

Designing a children’s book with themes of school, art or crafts? Spilt Ink is a messy, mischievous font with heaps of personality. Best used as a display font for titles or headlines, rather than as smaller body text, maximise its charms by experimenting with bright, bold colours.

Designed by Walter Velez, Spilt Ink is free to download from FontSquirrel.

6. Woodford Bourne

Designed by Paulo Goode, Woodford Bourne is a sans serif font family with a vintage character. Based on 19th century grotesque type styles, the result is a clean and contemporary take on old-fashioned signage fonts. Exceptionally readable, this would make an excellent font for publications and media aimed at slightly older children.

You can download 6 weights of Woodford Bourne, including Regular, Bold and Italic, from FontSpring.

7. Helsinki

A minimalist twist on comic book style, Helsinki is a refined version of the designer Vic Fieger’s own handwriting. Chunky and slightly slanted, the font is ultra-legible and has a fun, intrepid spirit. Try using this font in picture books themed on adventure and escapism.

This handwritten font is free to download on FontSquirrel.

8. Headhunter

Ignore the mildly threatening title for a moment—Headhunter would be the perfect font choice for designs themed on dinosaurs or dogs. Inject your design with a sense of fun and novelty with this free font designed by David Rakowski.

9. Firecat

The purrrfect fit (sorry) for children’s books about animals or outdoor adventure, Firecat has a wild spirit that has a slightly retro feel. Embellish your book cover designs, posters or cartoon strips with this carefree, jungle-inspired font, available to download for free here.

10. Lilly

A cute and bouncy rounded sans serif font, Lilly is saccharine sweet and easy to read for young learners. Created by Apostrophic Labs, Lilly has a versatility for smaller body text or titles, making it a good all-rounder for children’s design. Download Lilly at FontSquirrel here.

11. Short Stack

Designed by Sorkin Type Co, Short Stack is a naively-drawn handwritten font with childlike, rounded letterforms. Generously spaced between letters, Short Stack would be the ideal font for demonstrating the letters of the alphabet or for teaching new words to younger children.

With a compressed x-height, Short Stack feels less intimidating and more relaxed than some jauntier handwritten fonts, making it an excellent font choice for very young audiences.

12. Playtime With Hot Toddies

Available as a free download in three styles, Playtime With Hot Toddies is a playful and casual handwritten font based on cartoon type styles. Individual quirks on letterforms give the font a more authentic look, while the rounded letterforms and thick, marker pen lines preserve legibility. An adaptable and joyful font for children’s books or children’s websites.

Looking for more great free fonts? Discover the 10 Best Fonts on FontSquirrel, and our edit of the best free fonts for logos.

The post The Best Free Fonts for Children’s Books appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Versatile enough to use across a range of projects, from print design to websites, read on to discover our edit of the 10 best serif typefaces.

1. Ashbury

Published by Hoftyle foundry, Ashbury is a decorative serif typeface with a versatile set of ten styles. Although inspired by the transitional type styles of the 18th century, such as Caslon, Ashbury has a more flowing, organic aesthetic which makes it appear warm and contemporary rather than formal. A good alternative typeface for typesetting books and magazines.

2. Theano Old Style

Released by type designer Alexey Krukeyov, Theano Old Style is one of three Theano families, including Theano Didot and Theano Modern. All are in the tradition of revival serif typefaces, with the designer looking to historic samples to create these tribute fonts.

Theano Old Style is a polished ‘Old Style’ Greek typeface, and due to its historic heritage it comes complete with a large number of historic ligatures and alternate forms.

3. Bellefair

A creation of Nick Shinn of Canadian type foundry Shinntype, Bellefair is tall, elegant and romantic, lifting inspiration from 19th century and Art Nouveau type styles. Originally designed as a Latin typeface, Liron Lavi Turkenich later designed a Hebrew version of the typeface, which proved to be an excellent match in terms of weight and style.

If you’re on the hunt for a good alternative to modern or Didone typefaces like Didot and Bodoni, Bellefair would be an excellent substitute.

4. Libre Baskerville

Published by foundry Impallari Type, Libre Baskerville is based on the American Type Founder’s 1941 version of Baskerville. With a taller x-height and greater contrast, this serif typeface was created with web design in mind. The result is a serif font that reads equally well in print as it does on screen.

5. Lovato

A contemporary take on incised, Roman-style typefaces, Lovato was published by Philatype and consists of five styles. Geometric and ultra-stylish, the font was designed with branding, books and posters in mind.

Only the Light weight is currently free to download on Fontspring, but this still functions as an outstanding display typeface.

6. Lora

Released by type designer Cyreal, Lora is a quiet, traditional serif font that lifts influences from calligraphy. Lora combines painterly curves with stronger ligatures, resulting in an exceptionally balanced type style.

With its literary mood, Lora would be the perfect serif font for typesetting books or articles.

7. Cormorant

The most comprehensive of all the serif fonts featured on this list, Cormorant consists of forty-five free-to-download font files, spanning nine different styles and five different weights. The style Cormorant Garamond is a contemporary tribute to the famous Old Style serif, while other styles provide variations on Cormorant’s delicate, flowing aesthetic.

Designed by Christian Thalmann of Catharsis Fonts, Cormorant is a fantastic all-round serif that would work just as well for print media as online.

8. Restora

Restora is the result of a finely-tuned blend of Old Style Roman serifs and 1970s advertising type styles. This serif font feels distinctly retro yet also contemporary and sophisticated.

Created by Nasir Udin, it’s clear that Restora was designed with display in mind, and it certainly wouldn’t look out of place on a website header or billboard. However, its sixteen styles gives it the versatility for body text too. The Thin Italic and Extra Light weights are free to download on Fontspring.

9. Crimson Text

Crimson Text is described by its creator, Sebastian Kosch, as a font family for book production. An extremely adaptable workhorse font, Crimson Text has been designed with ‘extras’ inspired by traditional Old Style typefaces, such as small caps, figures, feurons and mathematical characters.

If you’re typesetting a book or creating a text-heavy document like a report or proposal, Crimson Text would be a sensible and aesthetically-appealing option.

10. Reforma

Reforma was designed as a brand identity font for the 400-year old Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina. In honour of the university’s centenary in 2018, the foundry PampaType looked to historical type styles, calligraphy and stone-carving to inspire the serene forms of the typeface characters.

Why is a font this beautiful free to use? Following the Argentinian national policy of inclusive education, Reforma was released for public and private use under a Creative Commons license. Consider Reforma for your own branding, print and web projects to strike the perfect balance of tradition and modernity.

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here. 

The post The Best Free Serif Fonts appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Below you’ll find the very best free logo fonts to use in a range of branding projects, from corporate identities to cafe branding.

If you’re creating an identity for a corporate company, restaurant or bar, or a fitness or health business, you’re sure to find something here to make your project shine.

Make sure to check out Part One of our branding fonts edit too.

If you’re designing for a…corporate brand

Corporate branding doesn’t have to be stuffy. Keep the professionalism high and the style even higher with an intellectual serif or a punchy condensed type style that shows you mean business.

1. Metropolis

Clean, minimal and with a definitely corporate feel, Metropolis is a geometric sans serif with versatility for use in logos or body copy.

Download the full 18-style family here.

2. Bebas Neue

Condensed sans serifs lend a no-frills, business-forward mood to logos and websites. Bebas Neue retains readability and simplicity while making an impact.

3. Forum

Channel the ambitious spirit of the  Roman Empire with this classical-influenced serif. Perfect for creating respectable yet stylish logos for accountancy firms or legal practices.

Download one style of the font for free on FontSquirrel.

4. Junicode

Looking for the perfect serif to use on corporate materials? The simple serif with a contemporary spirit, Junicode will give corporate stationery an elegant edge.

Eight weights and styles are available for free download here.

If you’re designing for a…restaurant, cafe or bar

Restaurant, bar and cafe branding can vary widely, depending on the cuisine on offer. However, there are a select group of styles which will always look fresh and relevant for food branding.

Vintage-inspired display sans serifs give logos a bistrot flavour, while Art Deco-influenced fonts will always be a classy choice for cocktail bars and cafes.

5. Porter Sans

A sans serif display family with a variety of inline and shadowed styles, Porter Sans would be the perfect choice for branding a bistrot, steak house or hip bar.

With a masculine, assertive feel and vintage influences, this is a stylish branding font with a down-to-earth energy.

6. Paciencia

A serif with character, Paciencia is a humanist style with calligraphic roots. Developed and refined by the designer, type foundry Typographias, over the course of 8 years, the final result is a beautiful and comprehensive family of 8 weights.

This font would be a great fit for more high-end restaurants or fancy cafes.

7. Hominis

A bold and heavy industrial-flavored display font, Hominis would be a traditional yet stylish fit for a casual eatery or pub.

8. Poiret One

Cocktail bars and clubs can attract well-heeled clientele with an Art Deco typeface. Poiret One is an ultra-simple, geometric style that references Jazz Age type design.

9. Voltaire

Another Art Deco-inspired style, Voltaire is chunkier and more rounded, giving it more versatility as a font for use in body copy on menus as well as on logo designs.

Download the Regular weight of the font for free here.

10. Znikomit No 24

A stylistic and more decorative version of GLUK fonts’ original Znikomit, this ornate typeface makes a nod to the Art Nouveau era. A beautiful and welcoming font that would suit the branding of cafes or bakeries.

If you’re designing for a…gym, fitness or wellness brand

Branding a gym can be tricky. Fonts which have a motivational energy are desirable, but overly aggressive fonts can be off-putting for potential customers.

Below you’ll find a range of stylish fonts for creating logos and brand identities for gyms, health centers and wellness-related businesses.

11. Code Pro

Simple, striking and condensed, Code Pro has a transparency that feels refreshing and appropriate for gyms, while its rounded style keeps everything looking friendly and cheerful.

Two weights, Light and Regular, are available to download from Fontspring.

12. Reey

Stylish script fonts can be hard to come by, but Reey manages to achieve that elusive goal..and it’s free to boot! If you’re creating a brand for a surf business or health bar, Reey will help you craft a beautifully laidback logo.

13. Loew

A firm favorite here at InDesignSkills, Loew is a geometric display serif influenced by vintage industrial design. Small humanist details on each letter give the font an honest and eager mood, making it the perfect balancing act for branding gyms.

14. Minotaur

Designed by Walter Verez, Minotaur is an ultra-heavy display font inspired by 1930s and 1980s type designs.

Chunky yet quirky, the simple geometric letters would work beautifully for signage or clothing branding at a gym or juice bar.

15. Langdon

A public-domain font since 2013, Langdon still retains a fresh and  contemporary feel that draws comparisons with the designer-favorite, Gotham. Just the right side of condensed, Langdon is a fuss-free type style that would be great for branding longer business names.

Download the Regular weight from FontSquirrel.

15 more Logo & Branding Fonts – Read Part One

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here.

The post The Best Free Fonts for Logos & Branding: Part Two appeared first on InDesignSkills.

If you’re creating an identity for a high-end brand, tech business or retail or beauty company, you’re sure to find something here to make your project shine.

If you’re designing for a…luxury brand

High-end brands require logo fonts that are as luxurious as the products and services on offer. Convey an impression of aspiration and luxury with typefaces inspired by elegant eras.

Delicate sans serif fonts with traces of Art Nouveau and Art Deco styling look unfailingly stylish, while geometric sans serifs with a humanist touch balance contemporary design with a hand-crafted look.

1. Imperia

Influenced by Roman-lifted Trajan and infused with a classical, 1930s spirit, Imperia is a sans serif font with a traditional and noble feel, making it the perfect partner for luxury branding.

One style is available for free download here.

2. Mostra Nuova

Authentically Art Deco in nature, Mostra Nuova is inspired by lettering found on Italian Art Deco posters and advertising.

With a huge range of weights, all of which are free to download as web fonts, this is a flexible and charming typeface, ideally suited for online luxury branding.

3. Contax Sans

Created by Alex Kaczun in 2011, Contax Sans is a humanist geometric sans serif logo font with 1930s heritage.

Easy to read and quietly luxurious, this would work beautifully for high-end packaging and logo design.

4. Infini

An oblique, humanist sans serif logo font, Infini’s chunky character makes it supremely satisfying to look at, as well as offering excellent readability.

Four weights are available for free download from FontSquirrel.

5. Proza Libre

This elegant humanist typeface balances gentle curves with geometric proportions, making for an extremely chic font.

Lending subtle 1920s styling to logos, Proza Libre balances vintage character and contemporary crispness for a cutting-edge look.

6. Julius Sans

A delicate and ultra-minimal font from Chilean type foundry LatinoType, Julius Sans takes inspiration from 1930s display typefaces.

Best rendered in uppercase, this font would work particularly beautifully for hotel or spa branding.

If you’re designing for a…start-up or tech brand

Contemporary, cutting-edge and user-friendly—attributes many start-ups and tech brands aspire to, and these qualities should apply to your choice of logo fonts too.

Rounded typefaces communicate friendliness and usability, while clean and minimal sans serif styles keep logos looking fresh and tech-oriented.

7. Inter

Owing a stylistic debt to Helvetica and Avenir, Inter is a highly legible and clear sans serif logo font with an efficient and industrial design.

Adaptable for a range of media, from signage to apps, this typeface would be an excellent workhorse for an IT or engineering business.

8. Museo Sans

Sturdy, geometric and ultra-clear, Museo Sans is based on the extremely popular Museo, developed by Exljbris foundry.

Slightly rounded letterforms give the typeface a friendly and open look, and two weights, 500 and 500 Italic, are available for free download.

9. Cambay

A clean, no-frills font created by Indian type designer Pooja Saxena, Cambay features subtle curves and slants, to create a simple logo font with quirky relatability.

Team with a display font for brand identities to make the most of its highly legible and sensible nature.

10. Simpel

Designed by Janko Jovanovic, Simpel is a low-contrast, geometric sans serif with a liberal dose of diagonal angles, giving it a playful look. Perfect for branding apps and websites when a bit more personality is required.

If you’re designing for a…retail or beauty brand

With many retail and beauty brands turning their sights onto the millennial market, it pays to use a font that resonates with this audience.

The logo fonts below vary in style, but what they retain in common is a hefty dose of character and personality. From 70s-inspired chunky serifs to bouncy rounded sans, these fonts will inject your brand with energy and optimism.

11. Gilroy

A rounded geometric display font brimming with personality, Gilroy is youthful and bouncy while retaining clarity and cleanliness.

The perfect typeface for logo design, two weights, Light and Extra Bold are free to download from Fontspring.

12. Quicksand

Rounded logo fonts are exceptionally approachable because they mimic the naive qualities of type styles which are usually created with children in mind.

Quicksand manages to balance youthful naivety with a clean and contemporary style, making it a great pick for creating logos which are both friendly and professional.

13. Gnomon*

Created by Owen Earl of InDestructible Type*, Gnomon* is a web font with an added quirk—the shadow of text set in the font changes location throughout the day in relation to the time.

Novelty aside, Gnomon* is in itself an excellent display font, with a chunky, friendly and highly readable style.

14. Corda

Tap into the trend for contemporary 1970s styling with Corda, an elegant and breezy serif family with a flowing, curvy ductus.

Designed by Dieter Hofrichter and published by Hoftype, the Light weight is currently available for free download on Fontspring.

15. Nunito

A rounded typeface with varying thick and thin strokes, Nunito has a retro-inspired style which would look fantastic paired with more contemporary styling.

Available in eight, free-to-download weights, this is a versatile font which could be used across logo or branding design.

15 more Logo & Branding Fonts – Read Part Two

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here.

The post The Best Free Fonts for Logos & Branding: Part One appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Skip the disappointment and the time-wasting by checking out our edit of the italics fonts with the best and most beautiful italic and cursive styles.

Below you’ll find italics fonts that can be synced from Adobe Typekit, some long-established classic typefaces and our pick of the very best free fonts with irresistible italic weights.

1. Latin Modern Roman Italic (FREE)

Designed by GUST e-foundry, Latin Modern Roman is a classical-inspired serif with five sub-families. Look to the Roman Dunhill 10 Oblique style (pictured) for the perfect vintage-flavoured italic.

2. Orpheus Italic

A contemporary reworking of the original 1920s Orpheus typeface design by Walter Tiemann, Orpheus Pro is presented by Toronto-based foundry Canada Type as a fresh take on the minimal serif which enjoyed brief circulation in Germany in the 1930s.

Blending classical elegance with a clean inter-war aesthetic, the italic weight is both romantic and functional.

3. Baskerville Italic

This transitional serif typeface, which borrows and develops traits from its old-style predecessors (like Caslon, see below), Baskerville brings together the best of two worlds—classic and modern.

Baskerville is elegant and intellectual. Use the italic weight to typeset literary quotes or poster typography.

4. Reforma Italic (FREE)

Reforma was created by Argentinian foundry Pampatype for the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, an institution with a 400-year history.

Inspired by the lengthy and rich history of the university, the designers leaned towards Roman type styles to create the Reforma letterforms, which, according to the designers, embody ‘dignity, authority and sobriety’.

5. Mrs Eaves Italic

Inspired by Sarah Eaves, the housekeeper who became John Baskerville’s wife, Mrs Eaves is the companion font to retro-tinted sans serif Mr Eaves.

Designed by Emigre, the italic style of Mrs Eaves is clean and legible, while still retaining the romantic formality of Baskerville.

6. Kepler Italic

Designed by Adobe type designer Robert Slimbach, Kepler is a classic serif inspired by modern 18th Century type styles.

More humanistic than Baskerville, Kepler is warm and energetic, with the italic weight feeling particularly fresh and optimistic.

7. Cormorant Italic (FREE)

A very pleasing alternative to Garamond, Cormorant is a modern serif created by Christian Thalmann of Catharsis Fonts. Light and airy, with rounded letterforms, the bright and breezy spirit of the regular weight is translated beautifully to the italic style.

Use on elegant stationery or retail websites to make the most of this stylish, light-as-a-feather italic.

8. Caslon Italic

Another well-loved classic, Caslon is the name given to the family of serifs designed by London-based typefounder William Caslon.

This old-style serif is loved by designers for its ability to add warmth and romance into their designs. It’s a versatile font, suitable for typesetting both body text and headlines, and its italic weight also happens to be one of the most beautiful around.

9. Freight Text Italic

A serif with a difference, Freight Text is a characterful and super-legible typeface which was designed with the reader in mind.

Its highly readable qualities makes the Freight Text italic well suited for typesetting long quotes or extracts for newspapers, books or text-heavy websites. Published by foundry GarageFonts, it also features an extensive character set comprised of five weights.

10. Crimson Italic (FREE)

Designed by Sebastian Kosch as a typesetting font for books, Crimson Text is a modern take on Old Style serifs.

Complete with all the extra glyphs like small caps and fleurons which make traditional serifs extra-special, the italic weight of Crimson is also highly legible and works brilliantly for longer chunks of text.

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here. 

The post The 10 Most Beautiful Italics Fonts appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These are the styles which we think you’ll see everywhere across print and web design, so it pays to get ahead and tap into these trends while you can.

From the welcome return of serif fonts to rich blue palettes, these are the trends we’re tipping to be influential in 2019.

1. Circles

If you want an edgy, trend-forward look for your poster and flyer designs in 2019, the lesson for next year is to use circles as your starting point.

This simple shape looks fantastic paired with colored gradients, like in these poster designs for Trieste Estate Summer Festival by Studio Mut.

Be playful with splitting your circle designs and bringing in different colors and textures. In this cover design by Slanted Publishers, the designers team metallic foiling with inky black and photographic images to create a Seventies-inspired look.

2. Flexible Type Logos

2019 will see brands continue to demand more from their logo designs, mainly in response to digital platforms. Flexible type-based logos, in which letters can rotate and switch position, give brands more freedom with how a logo can be used.

Whether it’s creating an animated version or adapting to limited space on an app design, these flexible type logos are going to be big news next year because of the exciting options they present for brands.

2019 graphic design ‘flexible type’ trend examples: Look to the visual identities for Agora by Graphéine and 48North by Bloc Design for flexible logo inspiration.

3. 50 Shades of Blue

If there’s one colour that’s going to dominate graphic design in 2019 it’s blue. While any shade of blue, from pale sky to deep teal will hit the spot, it’s the very strong, rich shades of blue like cobalt and indigo which are going to look the most trend-forward.

Team with neons or metallics for beautiful contrast, or pair up with coral reds like in these brand designs for Tallinn Music Week by AKU, and poster designs for the 751 International Design Festival by Zhu Chao.

4. Pictogram Logos

Icon-based logos are nothing new, but in 2019 we’ll start to see more brands adopting pictogram-style logos which express a concept or theme more symbolically. These logos are designed to work in isolation from text, which means they have to be very strong visually.

Simple silhouettes are softened to create witty animal-based designs, like in these logo designs for Co. Means Coffee by Canape Agency and for NetEase Kaola by Plus X.

5. 1930s-Inspired Illustration

If you’re a fan of vintage design, you’ll love this 1930s-inspired trend for illustration. Inspired by Soviet-era and late Art Deco poster art, designers are starting to revisit the grainy gradients and strong, abstract shapes of this era of design.

Add extra noise to your illustrations to nail the look, and bring in richer, more modern color palettes to keep the designs feeling fresh.

These advertising illustrations by Mads Berg for Orangina and season identity for Le Cargö concert hall by Murmure show how gradients and noise textures combine to create beautiful graphics with a vintage edge.

2019 vintage design trend examples:

6. Curvy Serif Typefaces

Serifs are back, big time. After decades of sans serif dominance, serifs are starting to take back the limelight. The new incarnation of spot-on serif typefaces are curvier and more organic than traditional Didot and Garamond.

Look to Art Nouveau-inspired styles to tap into this 2019 trend. They work particularly beautifully for editorial design. This brand design for London-based photographer Agnes Lloyd-Platt by Seachange Studio and magazine design for Nido by Asís show how the new curvy serifs go hand-in-hand with gorgeous photography and pared-back color palettes.

7. Experimental Type

In line with the leaning towards all things maximalist, 2019 will be the year that designers continue to push the boundaries with typography. The lesson to take away is that anything goes. Good taste and/or legibility be damned.

Warp, stretch, distort and overlay your type, like in these poster designs for Nantes-based music campus Trempolino by Murmure, to tap into the trend.

8. Rainbow Gradients

Gradients have been a huge trend this year, and designers are still finding that multi-colored backgrounds and type looks fun and optimistic. in 2019 the trend takes on a retro spirit with a spectrum of rainbow colors. Be inspired by the rainbow iridescence of petrol to really nail this style.

For extra brownie points incorporate metallic print textures, like in this visual identity for Cadabra by byHAUS Studio.

9. Bauhaus Revisited

Germany is celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the world-famous Bauhaus school in 2019. While Berlin will be hosting a centenary event next year, graphic designers will also find fresh inspiration in the Bauhaus movement for their designs.

Look to primary color palettes, Brutalist-inspired styling and modernist fonts to give your layouts a Bauhaus-worthy look.

10. Margins Be Gone

Throw the grid rules you know out the window. Next year, experimental type (see Trend 7, above) goes hand-in-hand with a playful dismissal of margins.

Allow your type to overlap the trim edge, like in these business card designs for ArchitectsEAT by Hue Studio.

Or push your text to the very fringes of your poster layouts, like in these designs for Théâtre de Quat’Sous by Maxime David.

Hungry for more? Discover more graphic design inspiration here.

The post 2019 Graphic Design Trends You Need to Know appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here’s our edit of the 10 best fonts on Fonts.com.

1. Typold

A rounded geometric sans serif, Typold has just the right dose of childlike playfulness. Use on branding and packaging designs to give instant optimism.

2. Le Havre Layers

With Mid-Century and Art Deco references, Le Havre Layers is a more versatile, stylised version of the Le Havre typeface. You can download the Primary weight of the font for free here.

3. Aspira

A highly legible geometric sans serif, Aspira takes its cues from modernist signage and advertising. Available in a wide range of 113 styles, you can download the demo version for free here.

4. Le Havre Hand

Another branch of the Le Havre family, Le Havre Hand is the quirkier take on the type style. Use to bring hand-crafted charm to logos and signage. You can download the Hand Fill weight for free here.

5. Quasimoda

Unifying more traditional Grotesque styling with on-trend geometric elements, Quasimoda is at once both elegant and cutting-edge. Highly legible, you can download the Light weight for free here.

6. Simplo

Coined by its designers as the ‘Italian Futura’, Simplo is a stylish tribute to 1930s type styles. Ideally suited for display scale, blow up the free-to-download All Caps weight to make the most of this elegant font.

7. Corsica

Looking for a geometric sans serif with a traditional twist? Corsica is simple and stylish, with classical flair. There’s no need to invest in the full family to take advantage—the versatile Regular weight is available for free here.

8. Quant Text

A rounded and chunky serif, Quant Text would be a great alternative to Garamond or Fournier for typesetting large sections of text. The Light weight is free to download on Fonts.com.

9. Fibra

Inspired by Herb Lubalin’s Avant Garde typeface, Fibra is a friendlier, bouncier take on the classic rounded geometric style. With more than a dash of 90s flair, this would make the perfect font to use on retro-inspired designs.

10. HT Erato

Designed by Dieter Hofrichter in 2011, HT Erato has become a modern classic. A great alternative to old-school serifs, it’s highly readable and looks great set as body text or blown up to display scale. Go grab the Light weight for free pronto from Fonts.com.

Looking for more typeface inspiration? Discover our pick of the best free fonts on Font Squirrel and DaFont.

The post The Top 10 Free Fonts on Fonts.com appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here you’ll find our expert edit of the best ten fonts on Font Squirrel, which a) you won’t see used everywhere, b) look expensive and c) are completely free to download. It’s a win-win-win.

1. Spartan MB

Clean, geometric and inspired by 1960s Modernist typefaces, this versatile sans serif would suit corporate branding as much as design-forward layouts.

Wensley Modern Serif Font Family Premium Font

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Wensley is a popular serif font family that has picked up a lot of traction these past few years. It honors the classic stencil fonts such as Bauer Bodoni and Didot.

2. Bellefair

Our top pick from Font Squirrel’s serif offerings, Bellefair has a simple, easy elegance. With minimally-styled ligatures, its tall and breezy attitude would suit luxury branding or book design.

3. Railway

Inspired by vintage transport signage, Font Squirrel favorite Railway is a cooler and more contemporary take on Gill Sans. Subtle quirks in the styling, such as the pleasingly sharp superscript dots give this font a bit of edge.

BERLIN – Minimal Sans-Serif Typeface Premium Font

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Berlin is a powerhouse sans that can easily be picked up in favour of Open Sans, Raleway or Helvetica. A minimal typeface with 4 weights spanning from light to extra bold.

4. Karla

Owing stylistic traits to Grotesque sans serifs like Helvetica, Karla is Font Squirrel’s take on the style with a rounder, friendlier feel. Use on your designs to give them a retro spin.

5. Cagliostro

Inspired by the lettering designs of American type designer Ozwald Bruce Cooper, Cagliostro borrows from Art Nouveau and Art Deco, while maintaining a hand-drawn look. This undiscovered gem from Font Squirrel can be used on stationery designs and signage for an instant prettifying effect.

Birmingham – Signature Script Premium Font

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Birmingham is a classic script font that unlike many other script fonts out there, actually works quite well for full sentences. This one is not just a worthy choice for logos.

6. Theano Modern

Another addition to the growing Theano family, Font Squirrel offers Theano Modern is our top pick for balancing Didot-esque formality with modern proportions. This font would be the perfect partner for menus or high-end website design.

7. Picadilly

Both rounded and geometric at the same time, Picadilly is a cheerful and playful take on the Gill Sans genre. Quirky slashes and diamond superscript dots make this a sans serif with a truly distinctive style.

8. Orkney

Designed by foundry Hanken Design Co., Orkney is a jolly and bouncy geometric sans serif. Sharp edges balance against rounded letters, expertly juggling childlike style with a grown-up sentiment, thanks Font Squirrel!

9. Gilroy

Font Squirrel allows you to download two weights of Gilroy for free—Light and ExtraBold—giving you two contrasting styles to play with. A rounded font with a slightly 70s feel, this would be a sharp and stylish choice for logos or packaging design.

10. Clarika

Available in two different styles, the minimal Geometric and more traditional Grotesque, Clarika could be the perfect sans serif (or at least our current favourite on Font Squirrel). Exceptionally versatile, you can use this font across body text or headers with equal impact.

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here. 

The post The 10 Best Free Fonts on Font Squirrel appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Luckily we’ve scoured the DaFont collection and done the hard work for you, creating an edit of 10 fantastic fonts available on DaFont. And yup, they’re all free to download. Boom.

1. Lemon Milk

This jaunty geometric typeface from DaFont comes in six weights, making it ultra-flexible for design work. Try it on packaging and branding designs to make the most of its friendly, highly legible style.

Osgard Pro | Font Premium Font

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Osgard is a font with a modern mix of old scandinavian runic carvings and the didot-like contrasts often found on Bodoni fonts. Add swirls to the mix and you have a powerful typeface indeed.

2. Louis George Café

This rounded sans serif is DaFont’s nod to mid-century influences. This font’s quirky character would make it a great pick for video work or poster designs.

3. Timeless

A serif with a bookish style, Timeless is true to its name. However, it has a distinctly modern feel, thanks to its pared-back, simple design. Use anywhere a traditional serif feels too formal, to give an air of easy elegance. (Thanks DaFont!)

NORD – Minimal Display Font Premium Font

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Nord is a minimalistic typeface that works wonders when properly kerned to give it room to breathe. If you’re looking to break way with the traditional Open Sans and Helvetica, perhaps Nord is worth picking up.

4. Myron

Owing stylistic traits to Didot and Bodoni, DaFont’s Myron font is a more imperfect take on the modern serif. We love its old-fashioned sensibility and casual elegance. Use across luxury branding or fancy stationery to add a touch of class.

5. Hotel de Paris

Looking for that perfect display typeface?

The search is over, as Hotel de Paris might just be the best free vintage-inspired display font on the internet. It looks particularly good set on logos and landing pages, where its chunky impact and slick texture can be fully appreciated.

Upgrade to the full commercial version for an additional weight.

Rinstonia Signature Premium Font

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Rinstonia is a signature font, and its swirls and rhythm makes for an awesome simulated signature.

6. Wonderland

Another imperfectly perfect serif from DaFont, Wonderland has naive charm by the bucketload. Use for unique branding projects, or team with illustrations to highlight its hand-crafted qualities.

7. Livia Medium

Skinny and italianate, Livia Medium is a beautiful display serif that needs to be blown up big to make the most of its striking silhouette. Try using the font on magazine layouts or business cards to make a refined statement.

8. Porter

Chunky and assertive, Porter is a masculine sans serif from DaFont with retro influences. Destined for signage and logos, this display typeface looks way more expensive than it is.

9. Baron Neue

More elongated than Porter, Baron Neue has a similar retro-inspired vibe, but its condensed, slightly slimmer design makes it a better pick for when you need to economise on space. Nice one again DaFont…

10. Wes

Inspired by the credits, posters and movies of the King of Quirk, Wes Anderson, this sweetly jaunty typeface is our pro designers’ final top pick from DaFont.

DaFont is chock-a-block with novelty fonts, but Wes neatly treads the line between novel and functional. Use across any layouts that are crying out for a dose of quirky vintage chic.

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here. 

The post The 10 Best Free Fonts on DaFont appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From the sans serif fonts we can’t live without to the serif fonts we turn to time and again, you’ll want to bookmark this page.

1. Futura

Released by Paul Renner in 1927, Futura is one of the earliest modernist typefaces inspired by the ideology of the Bauhaus movement in Germany.

It’s also one of the most versatile sans serif fonts still available, and has the power to make any layout look contemporary without stealing the show. Use it to add a futuristic or clean look to any layout.

2. Didot

If you want to make a design appear more luxurious or aspirational, Didot is a font that will have an instant transformative effect on the elegance of your typography.

The refined version, Linotype Didot by Adrian Frutiger, is based on typefaces developed by the Parisian-based Didot family in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

3. Garamond

Garamond refers to a group of Old-style serifs based on the designs of 16th-century French engraver Claude Garamond. Old-style serif fonts have a more organic design than their humanist and transitional successors, which makes them appear more curved and romantic.

Use Adobe Garamond Pro to give books, magazines and stationery a quiet intelligence. It’s also an unparalled choice for typesetting body text, being exceptionally legible and easy on the eye.

4. Caslon

Caslon is the name given to the family of serifs designed by London-based typefounder William Caslon. Although Caslon was created in the 18th century, it retains an organic, beautiful style that still feels fresh and relevant today.

This old-style serif font remains a popular choice for designers who want to inject warmth and romance into their work. It’s a versatile font, suitable for typesetting both body text and headlines, and its italic weight also happens to be one of the most beautiful around.

Adobe Caslon Pro is the best contemporary incarnation of this well-loved typeface.

5. Freight Sans

Designed by Joshua Darden in 2009, this cheerful sans serif font takes inspiration from the humanist style of Gill Sans, but has a more friendly, almost cartoonish feel. This makes it a perfect fit for millennial-aimed advertising and branding, which require legibility and characterful personality in equal doses.

If Futura feels a little too clinical for your design, try out Freight Sans for a quirky alternative.

6. Open Sans

Open Sans makes the perfect pairing with flat design. It’s a humanist sans serif font in the mould of Freight Sans, but has a cleaner, more neutral appearance. This makes it utterly versatile, and due to this you’ll see it used everywhere across print layouts and web design.

However, it’s neutrality doesn’t make it overly recognisable, which makes it a great fallback font for almost any design project.

7. Gill Sans

If one font could sum up the mood and culture of the British, Gill Sans would be it. Designed by Eric Gill in the late 1920s, it’s crisp and clean lines are balanced by a distinct warmth and humanity.

Although it was widely used across transport signage in England in the 1930s, Gill Sans has been used widely across the world, throughout the last hundred years. In contemporary design, it’s found fresh life splashed across food packaging and book covers, bringing a cosy nostalgia to artwork that needs subtle demodernising.

8. Gotham

Inspired by the lettering style seen across New York signage, Gotham has a functional, authoritative style that has quickly made it a go-to typeface for top print and web designers.

The font comes in a huge selection of weights and widths, ranging from narrow to ultra, making it possible to use only Gotham across an entire design, creating a unified, ultra-modern look.

9. Bodoni

Many designers will flirt with both Didot and Bodoni to achieve a certain luxe, aspirational look in their designs. Bodoni is more compressed and exaggerated than Didot, which gives it a slightly quirkier, more retro air.

Designed by Giambattisa Bodoni in 1798, it’s a transitional serif font which takes inspiration from more staid and serious Baskerville. If you want a design to look expensive, high-end or well-educated—a common request for brand marketers—this is the font to use.

10. Univers

Univers may not muster the kind of affectionate emotion for designers that Gill Sans and Futura do, but it’s arguably the most useful font on our list.

Originally designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1957, Univers is the ultimate modernist font. Clean, functional and almost blindingly legible—there’s nothing superfluous about Univers.

Use it liberally across magazine layouts, flyers and websites. Make the most of its readability by applying it large-scale on posters and signage.

Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here. 

The post The Only 10 Fonts You Need to Get Started as a Designer appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here you’ll find the best font recommendations for every mood and media, helping you nail spot-on typography for your print designs. Whether you’re on the hunt for a perfect headline font for a magazine cover or that elusive serif for gorgeous typesetting, you’ll be sure to find something of interest right here…

25 Best Fonts for Magazine Covers

With a focus on fantastic display fonts and headlines, you’ll discover the typefaces favored by the goliaths of magazine publishing, including Esquire, Wallpaper* and Empire.

15 Best Fonts for Magazine Design

Whether you’re designing a foodie or lifestyle title or crafting the look for the next big fashion bible, you’ll find the best for use across magazine layouts here.

10 Best Fonts for Book Covers

Designing a cover for a fiction or non-fiction title? Or perhaps giving a fresh twist to a classic? Find your ultimate cover typeface inspiration here.

The 5 Best Fonts for Book Design

Discover five of the best tried-and-tested fonts which the pros turn to every time they’re tasked with a typesetting job.

14 Best Fonts for Business Cards and Resumes

Ace that job application with one of these professional serifs or clean sans serifs. These best fonts are also all free to download.

The 20 Best Fonts for Movie Poster Design

Channel the cinematic in your designs with these typefaces lifted from the artwork for some of the best recent releases.

6 Best Fonts for Creative Branding

Designing a logo or putting together a new brand identity? These high-impact fonts always hit the right note and look amazing on marketing materials and branded media. 

Top 10 Lettering & Calligraphy Fonts

These beautiful fonts bring hand-crafted charm to designs. Use them as a display font or set body text in a lettered style to add rustic charm.

The Best 15 Vintage Fonts by Historical Era

Looking for the best font to do your Art Deco or Mid-Century design justice? You’ll find the most authentic vintage fonts here, arranged in chronological order from Victoriana to Seventies Disco. 

11 Fonts With the Best Glyphs\

Glyphs are your secret shortcut to easy graphic elements without resorting to downloading stock vectors. These are our pick of the best. 

18 Fonts With the Best Ampersands

Don’t waste time searching for fonts with stunning ampersands. We’ve done the hard work for you—here you’ll find seventeen of the best fonts with the most swoon-worthy ampersands around.

Looking for even more typography inspiration? Click here to see more great typefaces in action.

The post The Best Fonts for Every Occasion appeared first on InDesignSkills.

The best bit? Most of these fonts are completely free to download!

1. Le Paris

A joyful, jaunty font with a retro vibe, this cheerful lettering style is a great companion to flat design illustrations and a mid-century color palette.

Price: $15

Kaiyaland with Envato Elements

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Kaiyaland is a gorgeously dry brush font filled to the brim with edgy lettering and rustic characteristics. The font comes with multilingual support so the font is usable in just about any language!

2. Sweet Ink

Clean and very modern, Sweet Ink is a more slick take on calligraphic style. This typeface would be perfect for logo design and branding projects.

Price: $20

3. Harlott

A chunky script font with a masculine edge, this typeface will enhance designs that need a touch of informality, without edging into wedding font territory.

Price: FREE

Befitting Script with Envato Elements

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Befitting Script is a gorgeous script font with a thick brush stroke throughout the entire typeface. If you’re looking to combine the beauty of a sans serif font with that of a script, Befitting is a great choice.

4. Aidan Script

Aidan Script is a modern copperplate calligraphy typeface with romance and elegance by the bucketload. This would be the perfect finishing touch to a watercolor-style wedding invite or a beautiful events programme.

Price: FREE

5. Meddon

Inspired by the handwriting discovered in an 18th Century legal document, Meddon is a traditional script typeface that works just as well for large headlines as it does for longer paragraphs of body text.

Price: FREE

Amithen Brush Font with Envato Elements

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Amithen is a handmade brush font that is rough but at the same time carries a familiar weight to it. The font comes with a complete set of upper and lowercase and has ligatures, numbers and punctuation to boot.

6. Notera

A very attractive script font which balances feminine and masculine tones, and retains a sense of tradition while looking ultra-contemporary. You could use this font almost anywhere and it would up the elegance factor of your design, making it appear instantly high-end.

Price: $55

7. ShellaHera

With its dancing baseline and unbroken flow, this font feels feminine and youthful. Its distinctive style works best for headlines and shines brightest in strong, contrasting colors.

Price: FREE

Billy Ohio Typeface with Envato Elements

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Billy Ohio is a playful script typeface that is almost built entirely for fancy quotes, t-shirt designs and coffee mugs! Pick up one of the many variants and get to work with a swirly script font guaranteed to make a great impression.

8. Brigitte

If you’re on the hunt for the perfect pen script font, your search may be over. Brigitte is a simple lettering font with ink-bled edging and a comforting, friendly style.

Price: $15

9. Futuracha

Based on Claude Garamond’s typefaces, this unique font references Art Nouveau styling to create something utterly stunning. Reserve this special type style for headlines—it will look incredible on poster layouts.

Price: FREE

Otella Signature Font with Envato Elements

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Otella is an emulated signature font, and one that packs plenty of realism in its thin weight and naturally transitioning lettering mechanics. A great choice if you need to add a signature-like vibe to your work.

10. Duckbite

A similarly informal script style with a jaunty baseline and playful design, Duckbite would suit a range of projects that would benefit from a more casual typeface.

Price: $15

Want more great fonts? You’ve come to the right place! Check out our pick of the best vintage fonts or discover typefaces with the best ampersands.

The post Top 10 Lettering & Calligraphy Fonts appeared first on InDesignSkills.

To help you find the most authentic fonts for your vintage designs, here we present a chronological break-down of the best (and often free!) fonts for creating period-specific typography. Hop into our very own typeface time machine…

VICTORIANA 

De Vinne

Typical of 19th Century serif fonts, De Vinne’s slender stems give it a distinctly Victorian look that would make a great body text choice for posters. Considered as difficult to print and read by its creator, Theodore Low De Vinne, who designed Century to replace it, De Vinne is now considered an authentic tribute to formal Victorian type styles.

Mesquite

No Victorian font set would be complete without a Wild-West-worthy poster typeface. Mesquite is actually an Adobe Originals typeface designed in 1990, but its stylistic ancestry is in the woodcut and poster type styles of the old American West. Perfect for headers and poster art which need a saloon bar twist.

Ronaldson

This is the digitized version of the American classic Ronaldson Old Style, a metal face dating back to 1884. This elegant, beautiful typeface bridges the gap between more formal early Victorian styles and their more fluid, curved successors, which were influenced by the Art Nouveau movement (see below). Ronaldson is a great typeface for adding Victorian authenticity without the stiffness and formality of older serif styles.

ART NOUVEAU 

Goudy Sans FS

Designed by Frederic W. Goudy in 1929, Goudy Sans FS is a cleaner, more minimal interpretation of the romantic, nature-inspired typefaces of the earlier Art Nouveau period. Its humanist design makes it an approachable typeface, which adds an authentic element to Art Nouveau designs but equally would add a beautiful touch to more modern designs.

Soria

Inspired by Didot-style typefaces, Soria font features teardrop serifs and curved bridges that are completely in tune with the Art Nouveau aesthetic. It’s free to download from here.

Clementhorpe

Designed by the Greater Albion Typefounders, Clementhorpe is inspired by the minimal Art Nouveau typefaces favored for shop signage at the turn of the 20th Century. You can download the Italic weight for free here.

ART DECO 

Esencia

Inspired by a typeface found on an antique Spanish stock certificate, Esencia is a fluid, European-style interpretation of the geometric Art Deco style. This free-to-download typeface will add elegance and character to decorative invitations and stationery.

Le Havre Layers

Le Havre Layers gives an Art Deco twist to a minimal sans serif style, which makes it feel both authentic to the Jazz Age era and refreshingly modern. You can download the full set of twenty-one styles, including outlines, shadowed and dotted weights, here, which includes a free download of the original Primary weight.

Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a modern interpretation of the New York-style Art Deco fonts, which you can still see in use across Twenties-era skyscrapers in the city today. A clean sans serif with some lifted and underlined characters, this typeface is perfect for headers.

MID-CENTURY 

Birra Stout

A free-to-download font from Darden Studio, Birra is currently available in one Stout style, which is prefect for 1950s-inspired layouts. Bouncy and characterful, this font will give headers instant mid-century charm.

Roos

Inspired by Renaissance typefaces, Roos was designed and produced during the years of the second World War, and launched in 1947. It has a subtle mid-century style that verges towards the more conservative type styles of the early Fifties. Use Roos in body text to produce legible type that looks effortlessly mid-century.

Toronto Subway

This digitized font is based on the lettering originally used for station signage by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in the Toronto subway system. The first subway line opened in 1954, and the typeface has a lovely clean, rounded style which draws comparisons with Gill Sans and Helvetica. However, because Toronto Subway is less widely-recognized than the latter fonts, it has a distinctive style that would lend itself well to any mid-century-inspired design.

1970s 

Grumpy

Based on an original 1970s font, ITC Grouchy, Grumpy is a more graphic, polished version which maintains the distinctive Seventies vibe of the original. Tight kerning and chunky black weights make this the perfect retro choice for headlines.

Agenda

A simple true-to-Seventies font, Agenda is inspired by Cooper Black and related families which were incredibly popular during the decade across advertising and publications. This chunky, legible font is great for typesetting large chunks of text in a retro style.

ITC Lubalin Graph

A modern take on the New York families of graph typefaces which were best-sellers in the 1970s, ITC Lubalin Graph has a digital-inspired design and round, childlike proportions which give it a hip retro look—it still looks relevant and on-trend today.

Can’t get enough great fonts? Browse our selection of spot-on fonts for magazine design and unique typefaces for book covers. Or head back to our inspiration page to keep your creative juices flowing.

The post The Best Vintage Fonts by Historical Era appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Scroll down to discover some of the best fonts beloved by stylish, design-forward publications.

1. Fonts for…Fashion Covers

Fashion magazines, aimed at both men and women, use typefaces that are elegant, stylish and cool. Scroll down for our pick of some of the best cover fonts coveted by high-end fashion and lifestyle titles.

To imitate the classic, elegant type look of L’Officiel, turn to ever-faithful Didot (try out Linotype Didot Headline Roman for your magazine title), or Theano Didot for a free, hard-to-tell-the-difference alternative.

UK-published Porter magazine has a similarly classic, high-end look across its typography. This is a custom font, tailored specially for the title, but you can steal the look with Monotype Modern.

Sometimes a traditional serif font won’t communicate the feel of a fashion title that’s more experimental and anarchic. Take a leaf out of Interview‘s book, and try Still Time to mimic the look of their custom font BaronMTModern.

Esquire is a great example of a magazine that experiments with typefaces in a way that never feels overdone—it’s always cool, stylish and contemporary. To mimic the famous ‘Esquire’ title font, try out Esquivel, a retro tribute to the title’s carefree, scripted type style.

The magazine also likes to build contrast on their covers with ultra-clean sans serifs, like Brandon Text, or EmBauhaus. The publication also often uses Mercury Text on some of their covers, alongside their custom font Granger for sub-headings.

2. Fonts for…Entertainment & Pop Culture Covers

Fashion magazines, aimed at both men and women, use typefaces that are elegant, stylish and cool. Scroll down for our pick of some of the best cover fonts coveted by high-end fashion and lifestyle titles.

Empire‘s title typeface has undergone a recent makeover, but the classic version of the title is based on Relay; try out Relay Bold for size. Look to EE Kaffeesatz for a funkier version, which is closer in style to the newer headline type.

While Billboard‘s logo was given a brand refresh in 2013 using a custom typeface design, you can give your own entertainment covers Billboard-worthy flair with Lyon Display and attention-grabbing Ziggurat.

To make a strong, urban-inspired statement like Complex magazine, Plastik Alternate is the way to go.

3. Fonts for…Commentary & Business Covers

Commentary and business magazines used to look dull, but recent years has seen an impressive design overhaul at a number of traditional, heavy-weight titles. Look to modern serif typefaces for type that’s serious with edge.

Even if Forbes gets playful with typefaces for subheadings on their iconic covers, the classic masthead still remains intact. Buenard Bold is a great free alternative to the modified version of Publico Headline Bold used by the publication.

The New York Times Magazine masthead logo has very recently (February 2015) undergone a subtle transformation, but the gothic roots of its type style remain intact. English Towne is a fabulous free font that is a fitting tribute to NY Times Magazine‘s nod to classic, old-world type design.

To give your magazine cover an elegant, Art Deco-inspired masthead, take a leaf out of The New Yorker‘s book and try out the commercial version of their custom typeface, New Yorker Type.

4. Fonts for…Lifestyle & Technology Covers

While fashion covers need to look commercial and aspirational, and business covers need to look serious, lifestyle covers tend to have a more design-forward aesthetic. Their fonts of choice often follow suit, favoring clean, modern type styles.

Wallpaper* magazine is known for its cutting-edge approach to magazine design, and only ultra-expensive Lexicon would suffice for its main masthead. Jannon Sans is a respectable alternative, with a similarly clean, serif style.

For a stylish, clean type that will suit interiors and design magazines like dwell, look to Trade Gothic (dwell’s masthead is a manipulation of this), or the free and fantastic Franklin Gothic FS.

Wired uses an eclectic mic of typefaces to create their quirky header, including Exchange and Brandon Text. Imitate the look by mixing a futuristic, tech-forward font like Museo Sans with a confident serif like FF Scala OT Bold.

Discover even more great fonts for magazine design here, or head straight to our Inspiration page to get your creative juices flowing.

The post Perfect Fonts for Magazine Covers appeared first on InDesignSkills.

We judged the legibility, beauty, simplicity and variety of weights available of a huge range of fonts, and whittled them down to these faithful five. They’ll never let your typesetting down, guaranteed.

1. For Literary Fiction: Baskerville

A ‘transitional’ serif typeface, which borrows from its old-style predecessors (like Caslon, see below), Baskerville brings together the best of two worlds—classic and modern.

Baskerville is unfailingly elegant and intellectual, but also highly readable when set at small size, which makes it the perfect choice for literary fiction.

Find out more about setting your book type at the right size with this helpful guide.

Download Baskerville Font

2. For Romantic Fiction: Sabon

Whether it’s a classic Austen re-print or a contemporary teen romance, you want to find a typeface with femininity and elegance in abundance. Enter Sabon, a 1960s update on Claude Garamond’s design.

This serif is simple and clear, while retaining a definite touch of grown-up romance. You can’t go wrong with setting a romantic epic in Sabon.

Download Sabon Font

Title and headings: Cansu with Envato Elements

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The Cansu font family is a clean, plated typeface with a minimalistic feel to it, working wonders when properly kerned and especially in all-caps. The clean and geometric aesthetic, complements Baskerville quite well.

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3. For Thrillers and Airport Page-Turners: Garamond

Used across all kinds of can’t-put-down paperbacks, from Dan Brown to Gillian Flynn, Garamond is a versatile, easy-to-digest classic typeface, which has a neutrality and versatility that makes typesetting with it a breeze. Based on the Roman typefaces of Claude Garamond, the updated version of the typeface, Adobe Garamond Pro, offers six weights.

Team with more experimental sans serif chapter headings to add a modern flavour to thrillers and action fiction.

Download Adobe Garamond Pro

4. For Academic Non-Fiction: Caslon

The sight of this typeface may, for some, bring back painful memories of sweating over text books in Double Chem, but you can’t deny that Caslon is the perfect choice for academic non-fiction. Set journals, encyclopaedias, text books and articles in Caslon and its subtle seriousness will convince any reader of its intellectual weight.

Adobe’s update (Adobe Caslon Pro) adds a touch of modernity and improved digital adaptability, without compromising on the charm of the 18th Century original.

Download Adobe Caslon Pro

Title and headings: Modelica with Envato Elements

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If you want a catchy headline properly decorating the cover of your book, the Modelica is a gorgeous geometric contrast to the classic and more conservative expression of Sabon.

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5. For General Interest: Utopia

For typesetting the newest Richard Dawkins or Jared Diamond, you’ll want a typeface with a broad, approachable appeal. Just as general interest books seek to present factual information or opinion in an accessible format, so your font should strike a balance—not too intellectual, but not too dumbed-down either.

Typesetting devotees will no doubt still turn to a loyal serif for the task, and Utopia strikes the balance perfectly.

Download Utopia

Title and headings: Bison with Envato Elements

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Bison is a tall sans-serif typeface that many designers herald as the next Bebas Neue, and would look tremendously well paired with the classic that is Garamond.

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Now you’ve got your fonts ready, you can get started with creating a book in InDesign, and work out the perfect font sizes for your design.

The post Best Fonts for Books: The Only 5 Fonts You’ll Ever Need appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to find out our pick of the best free fonts available for you to download in 2015—some brand-spanking new, others quickly becoming must-have new classics…

1. Slick Sans Serifs 

A well-chosen sans serif typeface can make your designs and layouts look modern, minimal and cutting-edge.

Try Comme for an ultra-minimal, clean font which is ideal for modernising resumes or business cards.

Gadaj takes the simplicity of a sans serif style and transforms it into rounded edges, that make this typeface feel informal, youthful and friendly. Try using the typeface in informal designs, like flyer designs and logos.

Sometimes sans serifs can look a little cold, but Arcon has a distinct personality, referencing 1930s type styles to create a jaunty, geometric-inspired type look.

2. Spectacular Serifs 

An elegant serif font can look both traditional and relevant if you go for the right type style.

Try out Born for a subtle and modern take on a traditional serif style. A fantastic choice for text-heavy design projects, such as designing magazine layouts.

Vinta will give an aged, authentic look to vintage-style designs. Inspired by 17th Century typefaces, it’s a polished way to give a historic twist to your designs.

It’s rare to find a serif font that perfectly balances tried-and-tested traditional type design with a crisp, modern finish. No worries – Lovato is here, and it does just that! You can download the Light weight for free.

3. Dramatic Display Fonts

Display type can give a special edge to headers and titles, and can even become an attention-grabbing substitute for photos and graphics in your InDesign layouts.

Feminine and elegant, Delicate is a beautiful typeface from Bordeaux-based studio FAAK&PAAT. Make a feature of the typeface by blowing it up to large-scale to create stunning magazine and brochure layouts.

A little bit Western-inspired and a little bit Art Deco, Porter Sans is a high-impact display typeface with a 3D effect and a clean, unfussy look. Try adorning book or magazine covers with the font for a typographic effect that can’t be missed.

A simple display font can be really versatile for print design. Bebas Neue has five weights, suitable for all sorts of headers and titles. Try filling the Bold weight with photos or graphics in InDesign (type out your text, then go to Type > Create Outlines, and finally File > Place, selecting your chosen image).

We’re always on the lookout for new fonts that can transform your InDesign layouts! Share your favourite fonts for creative branding in the comments below, or drop us an email. Check out more font inspiration, for magazines, here.

The post Typography: The Best Free Fonts for Print appeared first on InDesignSkills.

If you’ve got a creative company—perhaps a graphic designer, an architecture firm or an artist’s studio—in need of a fresh brand look, let InDesignSkills give you some inspirational suggestions for the typeface to try.

1. Try Out the Best of Both Worlds… 

…Professional-looking fonts certainly don’t need to be dull!

Particularly if you’re designing marketing or branding materials for a creative individual or company, you want the typeface to strike the perfect balance of minimal professionalism and look-at-me creativity.

When Art Director Iñaki Saiz Roiz came to design the branding for architect Laura Solana, he turned to Futura Bold to give the logo and stationery a clean yet modern look.

2. Simple + Calligraphic = Branding Success!

Teaming a pair of fonts together, one more corporate, the other more decorative, can be a great choice for designing brands for more creative companies.

Here, for an Artist Management company, Australian Designer Matt Vergotis paired a clean sans serif for the bulk of text with a more decorative calligraphic typeface in the main logo. It makes for a really successful typographic team, and is a great formula to follow for your own brand designs—choose a calligraphic or brushstroke font that looks slick and modern, and pair with a more conservative sans serif. Job done!

For a similar look to the decorative calligraphic font used here, try out the classic-yet-modern Dynalight or the retro-inspired Yellowtail.

For the cleaner, corporate typeface, Matt used Ubuntu.

3. Make Retro Modern

The retro revival in typography keeps getting stronger by the day. An added bonus—retro fonts can give your brand designs a touch of nostalgia, which makes the brand seem instantly more appealing and emotive to the customer.

The key to using retro-inspired fonts successfully in creative branding is to keep them looking fresh and modern. None of those scratchy vintage textures or distressed effects—keep them crisp and polished for a corporate-appropriate vibe.

Also from Australian Designer Matt Vergotis comes this fantastic demonstration of using retro fonts in a modern way, for web development company Betafirm. To imitate the font, give Lobster a whirl, or take Pacifico for a spin.

We’re always on the lookout for new fonts that can make your InDesign work shine! Share your favourite fonts for creative branding in the comments below. Check out more font inspiration, for magazines, here.

The post Typography: Awesome Fonts for Creative Branding appeared first on InDesignSkills.

The following examples showcase playful type effects that are actually very simple to achieve. Be inspired to get more playful with your own typography efforts! Read ahead for tips on how to achieve the effects in InDesign.

1. Out of Eden Cover Design

A scientific report on contemporary ecology, the cover for Alan Burdick’s book is adorned with a long, curling snake. Looping across the front and back of the cover to make a dramatic wrap-around design, the cover designer has also arranged the type to complement the shape of the image. White space is filled with a classic serif typeface (try Janson Text Roman for a similar look) and a tight text wrap on the back gives the cover a unique edge. Recreate this effect in InDesign by using the Pen Tool (P) to draw organic shapes that fit uniquely to your images. Select the Type Tool (T) and click into the shapes to transform them into text frames. Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

2. Harper’s Bazaar España

Spanish Harper’s Bazaar should receive more attention for the experimental but ever-stylish way it pushes the conventional rules for magazine typography. Its archive is a wealth of beautifully designed covers that make subtle statements with their type choices. We couldn’t choose just one cover to share with you; and the magazine’s interior layouts are equally stunning. The images interact with the type to create dynamic, fun-filled designs, and well-judged experiments with sizing, rotation, color, shifting of the baseline, and tracking keep the designs elegant, not flashy. Using InDesign you can recreate most of the effects below quite easily. Set characters in separate text frames to maximise editing flexibility, and make good friends with the Type on a Path Tool (Shift + T) to set text along curved lines and shapes. Magazine: Harper’s Bazaar España; Publisher: SpainMedia

3. The Art of Immersion Cover Design

Frank Rose’s book speculates on a future world that is dominated by the internet, and how we are all becoming the media through the use of social networking websites. Justifiably so, the cover design is abstract and dreamy, a simple silhouetted head surrounded by mind-bending repetitions of lines. What we’re really interested in is the way the text very subtly interacts with the central image. A thin, tall sans serif typeface (try FF Scala) is set at small-scale in the centre of the head. A critic’s review cleverly winds it way along the top of the cover, wrapping closely against the edge of the image. To recreate the text wrapping effect in InDesign, use the Pen Tool (P) to trace a series of anchor points along the edge of your image. Then use the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T) to transform the line into a text path. Designer: Jason Booher; Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

4. Morberg Magazine (Magasin Morberg)

Swedish celebrity chef Per Morberg has launched his own lifestyle and foodie magazine, Magasin Morberg, which has a beautifully considered print design. True to the stylish and famously minimal Swedish aesthetic, white text (try Freight Big Pro Medium for a similar aesthetic) is set against high-definition photography. Layering text with transparency effects, and mixing up uppercase and lowercase styles, creates a layered, three-dimensional appearance. Go to Object > Effects > Transparency to reduce the Opacity of text in InDesign. Use the Swatches panel to pull out single characters in a bright, bold colour for contrast. Magazine: Magasin Morberg; Publisher: Spoon

5. The New Yorker Magazine

The February 2013 issue of The New Yorker has a decidedly vintage-inspired cover. The image of the skier ripping a trail across the front, revealing text beneath, is a bold and clever design that recalls the arguably more creative magazine designs of the 1920s and 1930s, which relied on the creativity of illustration alone. However, with the modern advances of publishing software, you can create this kind of effect easily, through careful building of layers in your designs. To create a similar effect in InDesign, create a sequence of two layers in the Layers panel (Window > Layers). Place a body of text on the bottom layer. On the top layer, place an image frame using the Rectangle Frame Tool (F), and File > Place an image with transparency (such as an EPS or PNG) that allows parts of the layer below to peek through. Add depth to the design by applying a Drop Shadow to the top image (Object > Effects > Drop Shadow). Magazine: The New Yorker; Publisher: Condé Nast We’ve explored how playful text can make a huge difference to your designs. Even better, complex-looking designs can often be achieved quickly and easily using tools and effects available in InDesign. Find more design inspiration here.

The post Typography: Playful & Creative Type in Print Design appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Restricting yourself to InDesign (with a workspace orientated towards text manipulation and layout) can provide excellent discipline for logo design and in turn lead to high-impact results.

We’ll show you five different brands that have skillfully utilised typography in their logo designs. Along the way we’ll pick out 10 valuable lessons, all of which can be applied using InDesign.

Rio Galeão Airport, Brazil

This modern logo for Rio Galeão airport plays on the famous mountainous landscape of Rio. The design combines colourful abstract illustration with bold grey text. Design by Ana Couto.

What can we learn from this design?

Lesson 1:

When combining a graphic with text, choose a font that matches the character of the illustration. Here, the playful curves of the Pluto font family echoes the style of the colourful waves. Mixing up different weights, Bold, Semi-Bold and Regular, of the same typeface is a simple way to create a hierarchy.

Lesson 2:

Think about structure. The left alignment of the lines of text forms a hard edge that holds the composition together. The edge maintains just enough order in an otherwise fluid design.

Absolut.

At the beginning of 2014 Swedish vodka house Absolut unveiled this refined version of their logo. The single line of extra bold type set in all caps encapsulates the no-fuss purity and iconic status of their product.

What can we learn from this design?

Lesson 3:

A row of tight, condensed capitals can create a powerful block-like composition. The uniform height of the characters combined with tight kerning gives the word a graphic feel.

Lesson 4:

Creative use of punctuation can lend personality to your design. Here the full stop further adds to the statement made by the heavy type.

Cardiff Metropolitan University

The logo of the prestigious Cardiff Metropolitan University gracefully incorporates two different languages in a stylish, custom-made serif typeface.

What can we learn from this design?

Lesson 5:

Small details can make a big difference. Here a thin and precisely placed line helps to impose order in a logo that combines multiple elements.

Lesson 6:

Repetition can add rhythm. In this design, highlighting the word Cardiff in both English and Welsh adds symmetry to the design, holding the composition together.

 Food Network

The original food television channel’s logo, design by Troika.

What can we learn from this design?

Lesson 7:

Does the logo work at small-scale? Most logos need to be just as effective (and legible) at thumbnail size. Here the dramatic hierarchy of words prioritises the legibility of the word food when the logo is reproduced at a smaller size. The circle behind the text also increases visibility against any complex background.

Lesson 8:

Simple shapes can be an effective way of transforming text into something that looks more like a branded icon. A note of caution – using a shape just for the sake of it can look clumsy; here the tail of the f and the stem of the d are neatly framed by the circle.

 Yves Saint Laurent

The iconic logo for Yves Saint Laurent was created by Cassandre, a Ukranian-French commercial artist and typeface designer.

Finally, what can we learn from this classic logo design?
(To be attempted by brave logo designers only…)

Lesson 9:

Break the rules. In the fashion industry, Cassandre’s design broke away from the norm of modern serifs (think Calvin Klein, Armani, Vogue) and uppercase Grotesques (such as Chanel, Hugo Boss, D&G), the result is truly outstanding and unique.

Lesson 10:

Treating each letter as a separate object can open the door to creativity. Be warned though, placing letters this way is much easier to get wrong than to get right… the harmony and balance achieved in the YSL logo is nothing short of typographic genius!

That’s all folks, now go forth and start creating superior typographic logos!

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