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.

How to Run a Creative Business on Your Terms: A Guide for Artists, Designers and Solopreneurs

‘A must-read for any aspiring creative looking to establish a solo business, as well as an accessible and inspiring guide to starting a passive income venture.’

‘Hygge meets entrepreneurship in PASSIVE ACTIVE CREATIVE. A holistic approach to running creative businesses which prioritises personal wellbeing and building a business with purpose and longevity.’   

 

This short book is a guide for the designerly disenchanted, the creatively frustrated and the artistically isolated. Not the cheeriest of openers, but being a ‘creative’ can have its drawbacks.

Discover a simple three-step system for turning creative dreams into reality, and a way of working and living that allows you to be your true creative self.

If you were born with a paintbrush in hand or couldn’t resist doodling in class, it’s likely you have been bitten by the creative bug from childhood.

Perhaps you currently work in a creative role, run your own creative business or are a student of graphic design, illustration or fine art. Perhaps you have a creative hobby and are wondering how to transform it into a commercial business. Perhaps you are one of the hidden creatives who have never shown their practice to anyone. Shout out to those with a secret ‘craft’ cupboard.

However you create, there’s a reason this book may have piqued your interest, and that’s because you are—in whatever guise, whether professional, semi-professional, aspiring professional or hobbyist—a creative.

Why do we work?

Why do we create?

Why are these two things often felt to be in conflict with each other?

If you were told when you were young that artists don’t earn any money or crafts were a fun pastime but not a career option, you’ve been a victim of the Great Creative Career Myth. The gist of the myth is that creative jobs are not financially viable, professionally fulfilling, or both of these things.

In PASSIVE ACTIVE CREATIVE designer Grace Fussell aims to dispel the myth of creative businesses being difficult to sustain. In place, she presents a simple, three-step process for establishing and running a successful creative business, rooted in passive income, building creative skills and prioritising personal wellbeing (Slow Living / Slow Working) to create a profitable, self-sustaining and long-lasting creative career.

Inside the book you’ll find: Advice on Finance, Support and Business Essentials; How to Build Passive and Active Income Businesses; Helpful Links for Creative Solopreneurs; Printable Business Plans

This download includes:

• eBook
• Interactive PDF Book
• 2 Printable Business Plans

Print your large-scale business plans to keep your ideas close to hand in your home office, studio or workplace.

Download PASSIVE ACTIVE CREATIVE

About the Author

Grace Fussell is a designer, illustrator and writer based in Manchester in the UK. Head of design agency Blue Whippet Studio and founder of leading design blog InDesignSkills, Grace has written about design psychology and design business for a wide range of publications and blogs, including Adobe, Shutterstock, Envato and InDesign Magazine.

In PASSIVE ACTIVE CREATIVE, Grace combines her background in anthropology with her experience of running creative businesses. Her aim? To help creative professionals build stronger and happier careers that prioritise personal wellbeing above all else.

The post Passive Active Creative 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!

Download Now

 

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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!

Download Now

 

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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!

Download Now

 

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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!

Download Now

 

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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.

As we move further away from the pandemic, designers are seeking to look ahead with innovative approaches to branding, print and digital design. The graphic design trends for 2023 are set to showcase creativity at its most unbridled in years, with a distinctly digital and futurist feel to logos, apps and brand identities. Font trends in 2023 will also play a starring role as the keystone to brand identities, with distorted type and condensed fonts bringing unique personality to projects.

Read on to discover the biggest graphic design trends, cutting-edge brand trends and inspiring typography trends for 2023 as well as trending graphic design styles to use in your projects.

The 10 Biggest Graphic Design Trends and Branding Trends of 2023

To compile our annual 2023 graphic design trends report we analyse search data from across the web, look at the latest agency projects and hotly anticipated rebrands of the months ahead. We also research larger cultural and social trends that may influence graphic design trends and font design trends in 2023.

The 10 most inspiring graphic design trends and branding trends in 2023 include:

1. Minimal Vintage
2. Photographic Branding
3. The Return of the Sans Serif
4. Rich Jewel Colours
5. Distorted Type
6. Liquid Gradients
7. Flared Fonts
8. Metaverse
9. Sci-Fi Logos
10. Condensed Typography

Scroll down to discover more about each 2023 graphic design trend and what’s trending in type, with analysis of trending graphic design styles and techniques for graphic designers, brand directors, creative agencies, photographers and illustrators.

Trend 1: Minimal Vintage

In line with a general move towards minimalist styling in print design, the minimal vintage graphic design trend makes a subtle nod to the vintage design styles of the 20^th century.

The key approach with this trend is that designs shouldn’t look immediately retro or vintage in style; rather a quietly chosen colour palette or type style can reference a particular decade. We love the blink-and-you’d-miss-it wartime aesthetic of the KEW 3101 Coffee packaging, see below, and the clever nod to 1970s journalism with CNET’s rebrand, undertaken with contextual care by design studio Collins and the resulting website being a blend of vintage-influenced illustration and contemporary sleekness, with the flagship headline set in press-friendly red and suitably nostalgic Sentinel typeface.

Trend 2: Photographic Branding

Illustration has enjoyed a huge resurgence in recent years, but in the branding sector it faces stiff competition from photography, which will be used to give brand identities an immersive and human quality in 2023. A case in point is PayPal’s choice to refresh their branding with a ‘people first’ photo-centric set of campaign imagery devised by New York-based studio Gretel. In 2023 branding trends will steer towards photography as a more tangible and immediate medium than illustration, and one that translates seamlessly to motion video for ad campaigns and social media.

It’s not all gloom for illustration however, with more brands expected to blend illustrations and 3D graphics into photographic settings, creating a surreal or playful result. Think of IKEA’s longstanding ‘The Wonderful Everyday’ campaign (masterminded by Mother London), and take this kooky, human-centric approach into static ads or video socials. 

Trend 3: The Return of the Sans Serif

After years of serif dominance the tide is beginning to turn back towards trusty sans serif typefaces, beloved by graphic designers, minimalists and accessibility-conscious web designers. Serif logos are beginning to reach saturation point, which is why designers are starting to find freshness in geometric sans or grotesque Swiss-style typefaces (or indeed, a more evolved version of the serif, see Flared Fonts, below). 

Sans serifs not only curate a clean, minimalist style for branding, packaging and other print designs, but they also improve legibility and accessibility on apps and websites. As more brands tune into the need for digital output to be fully accessible, we can expect sans serifs to take on a more dominant role online. Look to classic sans serif fonts in the Swiss school tradition such as Neue Haas Grotesk and Univers, or take a quirkier sans for a spin such as Ginto or Everett.

Trend 4: Rich Jewel Colours

We’re starting to move away from both the brash neons of the late 2010s and the putty colors of the early 2020s, and enter a much more interesting and chic era for colour in graphic design. This 2023 graphic design trend encourages designers to explore the paintbox with more creativity and openness. While neons served an attention-grabbing purpose on early apps and neutrals provided a calming palette in the wake of the pandemic, the new rich jewel colours of 2023 are infinitely more elegant, tonal and sensual.

Inspired by 1930s palettes, rich crimson, burnt orange, forest green or powdery lavender allow colour to do the talking for advertising, websites and packaging. These are colours you want to envelop yourself in, with a cosseting and indulgent quality that makes them the perfect match for high-end branding or luxury packaging design. 

Trend 5: Distorted Type

Stretched letters and knotted typography contribute to one of 2023’s quirkiest font trends, with traditional font styles given a literal twist with ligatures that knot, melt or fade into oblivion. This 2023 graphic design trend prompts viewers to take a second look, and taps into the Metaverse trend, giving your designs a fractured reality.

There is a growing range of existing distorted fonts available for ready-made twisted type, such as Cobya, or experiment with distorting conventional fonts by stretching letterforms or melting sentences into disappearing opacities.  

Trend 6: Liquid Gradients

Molten and languid, liquid gradients are the latest way to give a spin on the long-running gradient colour trend. Whether glossy and oily or given an artsy edge with painterly texture, liquid gradients feel more liberated than their perfectly blended predecessors, and translate seamlessly from static to animated. These artful colour effects give instant interest to packaging and backgrounds, or why not lend logos and websites a sci-fi spin by dipping typography into a liquid gradient effect?  

Trend 7: Flared Fonts

With serif saturation reaching breaking point across the branding board, designers will be on the hunt for typefaces that have a point of difference. Flared serifs are the next evolutionary step from serifs, merging the cleanliness of sans serifs with the quirky character of serif styles. A kicked out ligature gives shape and character to logo designs and headlines for packaging, websites or magazines. 

Flared serifs are great for fostering a friendly and optimistic typographic mood, making them a great fit for family branding or children’s products while retaining polish. A case in point—Border recently replaced their traditional serif typography with a chunky flared serif, making for a joyful and pulled-together identity for the biscuit brand.

Trend 8: Metaverse

With leading tech companies backing the metaverse to be the next incarnation of the internet, it would seem we are not far away from being able to interact with others in this VR-generated online universe. In 2023, the metaverse buzz is only set to continue, and with NFTs, VR games and even AI fashion models filtering into the popular cultural psyche, graphic design is likely to take cues from this futuristic cultural trend.

In terms of graphic design trends in 2023, a creative interpretation of the metaverse will be conjured up with futuristic styling, including sci-fi typography, 3D avatar illustrations and Matrix-style black and neon colour palettes. Give photography a glitch-style effect to mimic an eerie deep fake mood or use dark mode designs for print and websites to make them feel more virtually immersive.

Trend 9: Sci-Fi Logos

As more brands look towards a post-pandemic future marked by climate change and ever-evolving technology, it’s no surprise that we’re going to see brand identities with a distinctly futuristic flavour emerging in 2023. For businesses there’s certainly an advantage in embracing a futuristic approach to branding. With consumers now actively seeking out sustainable, all-electric or tech-innovative products, brands that appear to be lightyears ahead of competitors will have a strong foothold in the eco- and tech-conscious markets of the near future.

Car brand Škoda’s recent rebrand is a case in point for futuristic design. As the business moves towards pushing all-electric vehicles, the sci-fi logo created in-house communicates the brand’s digital future, and pulls it into line with the identities of other tech-centric car brands such as Tesla.  

Trend 10: Condensed Typography

Commanding, bold and impactful, condensed typography has always been a secret weapon for designers looking to attract attention even when space is limited. In 2023, in line with the move towards metaverse and futuristic styling, we’ll see condensed fonts and compact typography take center-stage on editorial designs and ads.

Condensed typefaces can have a slightly aggressive, in-your-face tone, so temper the drama with simple neutral colour schemes or go full science-fiction with black and neon. 

The Most Inspiring Graphic Design Trends for 2023

Trends are not simply passing fads—these 2023 graphic design trends and font trends set the benchmark for designers to produce creative work that feels fresh, relevant and cutting-edge.

With futuristic design trends likely to make a sci-fi statement in 2023, alongside colourful liquid gradients and immersive brand photography, there’s plenty to get excited about in the year ahead.

On the hunt for more design inspiration?

Discover more inspirational graphic design trends, font edits and endless creative inspiration on our Inspiration page.

The post The 10 Most Inspiring Graphic Design Trends for 2023 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Discover 16 Cinematic Movie Poster Templates

In spite of the 2020 pandemic slashing cinema revenue, the movie industry is bouncing back with enthusiasm. 2021 and 2022 have seen a slew of arthouse gems, blood-rushing blockbusters and no doubt future classics (see Promising Young Woman). With such a diverse range of films being released, the movie poster art is equally varied, giving viewers an immersive preview of the movie from only one static image.

• How Did They Do That?: Exaggerated Spacing for Epic Movie Posters

1. Promising Young Woman (2020)

Released at the tail end of 2020, Promising Young Woman was a Christmas present for fans of twisted and offbeat cinema. The film is a darkly provocative thriller written and directed by Emerald Fennell, that narrates the revenge story of its protagonist, Cassie. If you’ve not yet seen it, no spoilers to be revealed here, but rest assured, it’s well worth your time. 

The poster art is just as absorbing as the film itself, with an 80s-inspired style that playfully references movies such as Dirty Dancing as well as vintage horrors and hardcore movies. The alternative poster sees a blurred-out Carey Mulligan writing lipstick text onto a bar bathroom mirror, again expertly blending girlish and horror elements to intriguing effect. 

The cinematography in Promising Young Woman also has a satisfying graphic style, with the characters framed against pastel-soaked backdrops, making an unsettlingly saccharine contrast with the disturbing content of the plot.

2. The Batman (2022)

This dark and edgy take on the DC Comics franchise is deserving of dramatically moody poster art, and the designs don’t disappoint. Simple character posters are presented in a stark red and black palette, with both Batman and Riddler posing in suitably enigmatic form. White space is used generously on the designs to further emphasise the bleakness and drama of the Gotham-set film. 

3. X (2022)

A slasher movie with quirk, X follows a group of actors as they set out to make an adult film in rural Texas in the 1970s. Before long the plot descends into pure horror territory, and for slasher fans the film certainly delivers on retro gore.

The poster designs for X balance nostalgia with a contemporary immediacy. Photography is high-definition and intimate, with a barn-inspired ‘X’ aggressively placed across the portrait shots. A simple and memorable poster design that pays tribute to retro slashers. We also love the alternative poster created for the film by Sean Lazonby, which dials up the retro factor with pulp fiction styling and flat acid color.

4. Everything Everywhere All At Once

A sci-fi black comedy from the Daniels—directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—Everything Everywhere All At Once follows the multi-universal adventures of a Chinese immigrant, played by Michelle Yeoh. The mesmerising poster artwork created by Taiwanese-American artist James Jean is true to Jean’s signature fantastical comic book style, with the eclectic insanity of the film reimagined in 2D format. No mean feat, but Jean’s immersive illustrations do a stellar job.

5. The Northman (2022)

The character posters released by the studio for Viking epic The Northman were edging on generic historic-action fare, but an alternative poster design created by Edgar Ascensao gives the movie’s runic typography a more fitting graphic setting.

A vintage-inspired flat style, sparse and dramatic use of primal color and story-telling imagery makes for a poster that communicates a sense of folkloric adventure.

6. Blonde (2022)

Directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Ana de Armas as the doomed Hollywood icon, the Netflix Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde sets out to present Marilyn’s life story in a different, self-narrated light, in particular exploring the ‘widening split between her public and private selves’. 

The teaser poster for Blonde outstyles the later official posters, with its newspaper collage design, giving the audience a sense of How Marilyn was hounded by the press and her own famous persona at the height of her stardom. 

7. ELVIS (2022)

Baz Luhrmann’s highly-anticipated musical biography ELVIS is a multi-decade epic, charting the rise of the King of Rock n’ Roll, from his childhood in Mississippi to his conquering of Las Vegas as the leotard-clad legend the world eternally remembers.

The character posters for ELVIS pay tribute to the musician’s iterations, from Fifties blues singer to his bejewelled days in Vegas at the twilight of Elvismania. Ornate and baroque, with a nod to brash Las Vegas decor, the poster designs act as near-devotional tributes to the different ages of Elvis. 

8. The Green Knight (2021)

The Green Knight is an epic medieval fantasy starring Dev Patel as Sir Gawain, the headstrong nephew of King Arthur. He embarks on a quest to seek out and confront the Green Knight, a legendary figure with emerald skin, who is a tester of men. The movie is undoubtedly a bit weird, but nonetheless absorbing, and the poster artwork captures the offbeat feel of the film. Game of Thrones territory this is not, but rather an arthouse take on medieval folklore.

Graphic and restricted use of color takes a leaf out of Tarantino’s poster artwork playbook, with simplified Blackletter-inspired typography creating a finely-tuned balance between period and modernity. 

9. Little Fish (2020)

A romantic movie with a gently sci-fi character, Little Fish tells the story of a couple struggling to keep their relationship intact as a memory loss virus spreads worldwide. With an eerily similar theme to the real-life pandemic, Little Fish was nonetheless in development beforehand, but perhaps leaves a more menacing aftertaste than originally intended. 

The movie poster designs for Little Fish communicate a sense of intimate wistfulness and indie romance, rather than anything too dark, and the painterly design of the first poster is suitably ethereal. The second poster design has a more collage-inspired style which sets a more romantic mood, albeit in arthouse fashion.

10. Anonymous Club

An intimate portrayal of elusive singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, Anonymous Club takes the audience inside the world of the enigmatic Australian indie rockstar over a three-year period. Beset with self-doubt and anxiety, Barnett’s highs and lows are revealed in unflinching detail, resulting in a film that is as much about the torment of creativity as the mental pressures of fame and performance. 

The poster artwork for Anonymous Club has an elusive and spiritual style, while staying true to the trademarks of indie style, such as rough-printed typography and grunge collage. The poster communicates Barnett’s sense of self-analysis and isolation, while enticing the viewer into wanting to know more about this elusive musician.

The post The 10 Best Movie Poster Designs of 2022 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.

Whatever your vibe, whether minimal or ornate, you can give your designs an instant update with a stylish pattern. Scroll down to find inspiration for using a range of design-forward patterns on backgrounds and layouts for both print and web.

Inspiration: Geometric patterns

Geometric patterns use simple shapes in a repetitive style, building up to colorful and sometimes highly elaborate designs that still retain a minimalistic quality. Geometric patterns often feature symmetry and regularity, making them feel particularly pleasant and calming to look at. 

These types of pattern work effectively for brand identities, as it is easy to apply a branded color scheme to the series of shapes in a consistent manner. Geometric patterns are a simple way to give designs a mid-century look, and take on a more vintage character when set in subdued, tonal colours such as mustard, brown, olive or navy blue.

Inspiration: Watercolor patterns

Ethereal and airy, watercolor patterns lend a handcrafted feel to packaging designs. They have a delicate, delectable mood, making them a natural fit for food and drinks products, and when used in strong monocolour they give more graphic impact and look particularly effective. 

This delicate pattern trend is effortlessly pretty and makes for designs that are airy and ethereal. Create your own watercolour patterns using watercolour paints or inks dipped in water, before colourising them in Photoshop for a more striking look. 

Inspiration: Illustrated Patterns

You can bring character and narrative to a range of designs with illustrated patterns. Illustration also allows your designs to feel more personalised and unique, as well as to give a specific mood to a layout. Woodland scenes bring a rustic, folk feel while naive, abstract designs lend a design an artsy look. 

To avoid an overly fussy style, use a limited colour scheme in your illustrated patterns and promote symmetry and repetition to make an ornate design feel calming to the eye. 

Inspiration: Marbled Patterns

Marbling is a centuries-old technique for giving paper a dreamlike, swirling, multicoloured effect. Originally used to decorate the covers and inside pages of books, marbled patterns retain a literary personality, making any design feel more luxurious and intellectual. They are the perfect fit for high-end products or artistic branding, and have a subtle adaptability that makes them more versatile than other ornate patterns. 

The post Pattern in Branding, Packaging and Graphic Design 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.

The biggest graphic design trends of 2022 include a range of exciting styles and approaches that push the boundaries of print and brand design, with beautiful embossed packaging, pictotype logos, Mincho typefaces and kooky brand mascots set to define the face of graphic design and print design in the coming months. 

Read on to discover our prediction for the ten biggest design trends in 2022 as well as tips for illustration trends and branding trends to help bring your 2022 design projects to life.  

The 10 Biggest Graphic Design Trends and Branding Trends of 2022

We analyse search data and emerging project work across an international roster of creative agencies to compile our annual design trend report. We anticipate the biggest graphic design trends of 2022 to include: 

1. Embossed Packaging
2. Pictotype Logos
3. Refined Retro
4. Noisy Gradients
5. Brand Mascots
6. Mincho Typefaces
7. Red
8. Cut-Away Type
9. Sinuous Serifs
10. Endorphin Design

Scroll down to read more about each graphic design trend in detail, and discover tips for putting each trend into practice in your own design projects.

Trend 1: Embossed Packaging

Texture will be a widespread yet understated trend in design in 2022, with embossed packaging bringing quiet luxury to lifestyle and food products. Embossed illustrations and graphics, as well as logos and typography, help to bring depth and tactility to packaging designs, and they look even more ethereal without colour variation.

This design trend requires a confident approach to print—in absence of colour the whole focus will be on the quality and physical appeal of the paper stock. Avoid print-on-demand services and consult local suppliers for the best results.

Trend 2: Pictotype Logos

With type-based logos still retaining popularity into the coming year, designers will start looking for new ways to differentiate typographic designs. Introducing the pictotype logo—these type-focussed logos include a graphic reference to the brand name or theme of the product. Whether it’s a subtle crescent moon in the logo of lifestyle brand Moonglade or a knitted texture woven into the fabric of the Hug Scarves logo, 2022’s pictotype logos manage to steer away from novelty territory with subtly stylish details.

Trend 3: Refined Retro

As the recent rebrand for Burger King demonstrates, the power of nostalgia marketing still stands in 2021, and we expect to see a range of similarly retro-tinted designs across branding in particular in 2022. The timing for a resurgence of retro-influenced design is no coincidence—after the pandemic, consumers are particularly receptive to nostalgic products and brands, which offer emotional reassurance and comfort in an uncertain modern world.

However, rather than an authentic reiteration of the past, logos, graphics and type will have a more refined retro feel in 2022, with sleeker lines, contemporary color palettes and a notable absence of vintage textures. 

Trend 4: Noisy Gradients

Can any graphic designer remember a time when gradients weren’t on-trend? From 80s-inspired neon sunset styles to pastel-hued washes of colour, gradients have been a near-permanent fixture of design layouts over the last few years. Gradients aren’t going away anytime soon, but they are evolving into something a little more interesting. Introducing grainy, noisy texture into your gradients gives designs a vintage, airbrushed style, as well as adding more depth to illustrations and graphics. 

Introduce texture to gradients with overlay images or noisy glows, or go one step further and experiment with a texture-boosting print technique such as risography or letterpress. 

Trend 5: 3D Brand Mascots

We’ve come a long way since Microsoft’s Clippy, even though Microsoft have recently threatened to resurrect the loveable annoying paperclip character. Luckily, today’s brand mascots are much more fun and dynamic. A number of brands have introduced 3D mascots—often created using CAD software and animated to accompany marketing videos, apps and websites—which take inspiration from gaming, cartoons and Japanese anime. A crossover design trend that seems to have emerged from the gaming and TikTok world, these cute characters add extra energy and interest to digital designs. 

Trend 6: Mincho Typefaces

Mincho, which translates to ‘Song’ in Japanese, refers to a traditional form of type design that is used to display Chinese, Japanese or Korean letters. Characterised by high-contrast strokes and a tranquil, calligraphic style, the modern wave of Mincho typefaces are being used to set English-language content on otherwise simple websites and print layouts. Combine these Japanese-inspired fonts with monochrome color palettes and black-and-white photography to maximise their elegant appeal.   

Trend 7: Red

Strong, graphic and to the point, red has never completely fallen from fashion but this impactful colour is definitely having a moment across branding and marketing. This warm and potent hue feels like a breath of fresh air when used in isolation, bringing a commanding mood to websites and print layouts. 

In 2022, expect to see red being used in a more confident and graphic style, whether set as a simple backdrop for brand communications or used as a powerful accent colour on packaging, logos or stationery. Red’s versatility can be seen in the designs below, whether giving a retro feel to poster designs for MESiBA, a sense of playfulness to packaging for Dino Burger or fuss-free graphic simplicity to the brand identity for Jump by Uber. Combine large washes of crimson color with white for a crisp, clean feel.

Trend 8: Cut-Away Type

Whether a curvy sans serif or a sculptural serif, give your typography an instant update for 2022 by introducing cut-away sections. This striking and graphic font trend gives lacklustre type more character and quirk, prompting viewers to look twice. Be bold and cut away a section from your letterforms or logos to create a geometric effect or for curvier typefaces increase the contrast of strokes to dramatic effect, to create a stencil-style effect. 

Trend 9: Sinuous Serifs

One of the biggest design comeback stories of recent years is the triumphant return of the serif after decades in the wilderness. While sans serifs will always offer clean and contemporary minimalism, a beautiful serif typeface can really bring something extra to designs that require a high-end or luxurious look. 

In 2022, we’ll see the serif trend pushed even further with ever more sinuous and sensual serif typefaces that playfully melt and curve, creating a modern interprettaion of calligraphic 1970s-inspired type styles. Use for social media, lifestyle branding or retail products to elevate designs instantly.

Trend 10: Endorphin Design

We could all do with a mood boost post-pandemic, so it’s no surprise that optimistic and ultra-colourful design is set to continue into 2022. Multicolored rainbow-hued palettes and childlike graphics characterise this playful design trend, helping to spark joy across a range of designs, from packaging to websites. 

Go Forth and Try Out a New Graphic Design Trend

Whether you’re looking for an endorphin boost or a fresh update for your typography, 2022’s biggest design trends have plenty to offer for your design projects. Try out a Mincho typeface to give a sculptural edge to website text or go all-out with a bold crimson palette to give your print designs and web designs more style and substance over the coming months. 

Looking for more design inspiration?

Discover inspiring font lists, graphic design tips and endless inspiration on our Inspiration page.

The post The 10 Biggest Graphic Design Trends of 2022 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.

Find inspiration for your next publishing project with our pick of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous cookery books out there…

1. Fäviken 

Swedish chef Magnus Nilsson shares some of the recipes that make his restaurant Fäviken Magasinet world-famous, and presents it in a wonderful ‘Skandi-chic’ format.

A simple, vintage-inspired fabric hardcover is adorned with quaint illustrations and minimal text. Inside, the layouts are traditional but unfailingly stylish, with photographs and type framed by putty-coloured borders and backgrounds.

More vintage-influenced book design.

Design: Phaidon Press

2. Classic Cookbooks by Juniper Books 

A well-judged spine design can really give the ‘wow’ factor to a cookbook, transforming them into decorative items you’ll cherish forever on your kitchen shelf.

These stunning cover designs from Juniper Books extends the spine theme across a series of cookbooks to create cookbooks that are as unique as they are beautiful.

Design: Juniper Books

3. Vefa’s Kitchen 

A contemporary book with a distinctively old-fashioned feel, Vefa’s Kitchen brings Greek chef Vefa Alexiadou’s extensive knowledge about authentic Greek cooking to a new audience.

The art-inspired cover is matched by equally pretty pages inside, which display Vefa’s lovingly prepared dishes via rustic photography with a homely feel.

Design: Phaidon Press

4. Book Design by Hieu Nguyen 

Australian-based art director Hieu Nguyen has a tried-and-tested approach to cookbook design that’s always accessible, on-trend and relevant.

His role as Creative Director for ACP Magazine’s book division has allowed him to foster a strong brand look for their cookbooks, which marries grungy type styles with rustic food photography.

Discover some equally awesome fonts to use in your print designs.

Design: Hieu Nguyen

5. Mexico: The Cookbook  

No doubt a future modern classic, Mexico: The Cookbook has a strikingly modern, funky cover that breaks the usual ‘rustic-is-best’ rule of contemporary cookbook design.

Inside, the layouts are just as vibrant, combining colourful, silhouetted graphics with street-style photography and collage-inspired typography.

Read our tutorial on how to use colour and swatch combinations effectively in your designs.

Design: Phaidon Press

Have these cookbook designs got you fired up for creating your own gourmet graphics and tastebud-tingling typography?

Find more inspiration for book design and discover the best mazing fonts for book covers. Develop your book design skills with our introduction to creating books in InDesign.

The post Cookbook Design Inspiration 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.

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 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.

Present and Brand Beautifully with the Architecture Template Kit for Adobe InDesign

InDesignSkills’ new Architecture Template Kit contains a complete range of InDesign templates for architects, practices and architecture students.

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.

Here, discover 12 of the very best architecture portfolios for your inspiration, as well as a handy InDesign template kit to help you create a stylish portfolio in a fraction of the time. 

When it comes to print or web format, traditional print is still the industry-standard, but more architects are showcasing digital portfolios that allow them to connect with viewers instantly and incorporate interactive content such as video and UX elements. 

Scroll down for our edit of the best architect portfolios, from artfully minimal styles to unique and design-forward layouts that linger in the memory.

Print Portfolios

Printed portfolios, consisting of a series of simple sheets or bound into a book, are still a standard portfolio format for architecture students and interviewees. Established studios also often produce their own printed portfolios, which can be used as a client brochure…or simply as a treasured keepsake. Below, discover inspirational examples of printed portfolios that feature a range of layouts and styles. 

1. Angélica María Ruiz Forero

An architect from Bogotá, Colombia, Angélica María Ruiz Forero uses illustration to create immersive, beautifully presented visuals of her projects. Allowing detailed plans to fill whole spreads, and with a quirky embossed cover, this portfolio design balances architectural imagery with an illustrative approach.

2. Lilla Turi

Budapest-based illustrator Lilla Turi lends her colorful and atmospheric style to this portfolio magazine for a Motion Center Design in Budapest, designed by architect Akos Onodi Szabo.

Architecture portfolios are often lacking in color, with minimal neutral tones favoured instead. This portfolio design shows how colour can give life to illustrated visuals. Paired with minimally-presented plans and diagrams, it’s the perfect balancing act.

3. Architecture Template Kit: InDesignSkills

InDesignSkills’ new Architecture Template Kit contains a complete range of Adobe InDesign templates for architects and architecture students. 

Created by our team of in-house designers in consultation with architectural practices, the kit includes two portfolio template options, for comprehensive portfolios or condensed versions for attaching to emails. 

The layouts have a versatile and stylish design, allowing you to easily incorporate your own images and text. Take a look at the portfolio previews below, and find more details here.

4. Spasoje Radomilovic

A graphic approach in this architecture portfolio combines impactful typography and a stark black and white palette. This portfolio, which belongs to Spasoje Radomilovic, an architect based in Frankfurt, Germany, also uses a range of image types, from photography to isometric plans, to create a strong narrative throughout each project.

5. Rebecca Gaffiero

Soothing colour accents of buff, grey and khaki provide the earthy backdrop to the work of Rebecca Gaffiero, an interior and product designer from Malta. The warm tones of the 3D renders are echoed in the soft, rounded typography and carefully-considered diagrams. 

Rebecca’s layouts are often divided into three, with each element—whether photograph, render or plan—combining to create a complete account of the project. 

6. Ruxin Xie

While dark backgrounds might not be the obvious choice for portfolio layouts, this contrasting portfolio design from Ruxin Xie might persuade you to move to the dark side. 

Monochrome pages in subtle shades of olive and grey are followed by dark spreads, which feature chalk-white plans for dramatic impact. A visually interesting way to present plan-heavy portfolios.

7. Handoyo Lawiguna

Presented as a keepsake mini-book, the architecture portfolio of Handoyo Lawiguna is quietly beautiful. Pairing building visuals in a flat illustrated style with Swiss-inspired typography, the result is a portfolio that’s sure to be treasured for years to come.

8. Giovanni Franzini

Architectural photographer Giovanni Franzini uses rounded image frames and selective pops of colour to complement his elegant images of facades and architectural details. Serif typography adds to the refined and sophisticated style of the layouts, while a warm pink backdrop makes a refreshing alternative to paper white.

Portfolio Websites

The advantage of portfolio websites is that they can be instantly accessed with the click of a link. Convenient for sending over email, digital portfolios also have the capacity to have more interactivity, such as videos, animated illustrations or user-friendly hover effects. The portfolio websites below demonstrate how beautifully projects can be presented on-screen.

9. Kanstantsin Remez

Cool, calm and collected would be suitable adjectives to describe the online portfolio of Kanstantsin Remez, an architect and interior designer living in Minsk. Full-colour portrait photography sits alongside ultra-minimal webfonts on expansive layouts. This portfolio site is an artful exercise in less-is-more.

10. Norm Architects

With a website created by UX designer Denis Stekhin, Norm Architects are an established practice with a wide range of projects. In the case of numerous projects, online portfolios can help to create a sense of order and calm, categorising related projects together and allocating multiple images to each scrollable page. 

Despite its overall minimal appearance, the website design uses layered photos and different image dimensions to create visual interest. The occasional pop of bold orange, which highlights key statistics and dimensions, adds extra creative flair to portfolio pages. 

11. Saunders Architecture

The full-screen photography used on the website of Saunders Architecture helps to immerse the viewer completely in the Canadian Studio’s often nature-focussed projects. Dark-toned images emphasise the cosiness of cabin-inspired designs, while light backgrounds on project pages help to give an airy and expansive feel to photography shot in daylight hours.  

The website was created by digital designer Kirill Dubrovsky.

12. Kevin Krautgartner

A typographic approach is taken by UI/UX designer Karina Opanasyuk for the website of award-winning architecture and landscape photographer Kevin Krautgartner. Kevin’s photographs often focus on the intricate textures and colours of landscapes and buildings, with the black-and-white palette chosen for the website allowing the images to shine. Scrollable pages are filled with two columns of images, varying in size to bring interest to the layout.

Present and Brand Beautifully with the Architecture Template Kit for Adobe InDesign

InDesignSkills’ new Architecture Template Kit contains a complete range of InDesign templates for architects, practices and architecture students.

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.

The post The Best Architecture Portfolios: 12 Examples to Inspire 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.

An escapist and magical mood pervades our trend forecast, with tranquil graphics, optical illusion illustrations and fantasy 3D renders set to help us to switch off the noise for a short while next year. Alongside this runs a thread of trends that are reactionary to 2020 in hopeful and solution-giving ways, with clean infographics, simplified medical branding and activist-influenced design aiming to address the problems that a pandemic year has brought to the fore.

Design is so often the looking glass through which we engage with the world around us, and in our increasingly engaged world the way that things are presented online, in print and in our daily lives has never been more important or revealing. While 2020 might be a year we’d all like to forget, designers are at the forefront of ensuring that 2021 will be a memorable era, for good reasons this time.

Read on to discover our trend forecast for graphic design, illustration and advertising design, and get ahead of the curve in your own projects.

Trend 1: Calm and Tranquillity

Serene and soothing, 2021’s design mood will be a salve to the upheaval of 2020. Neutral colors, minimal layouts and meditative graphics are welcome responses to the daily onslaught of online news and information saturation.

With many of us spending more time at home in 2020, there’s also been an increasing focus on self-care, wellness and cultivating sanctuary spaces at home (at least one wall away from the inescapable WFH zone). With screens now an intrinsic part of our interiors, as well as our office spaces, serene backdrops to desktops and websites can help to create calming environments.

Expect to see 90s-inspired minimalism making a comeback, with lava lamp-inspired animations, earthy palettes and natural textures.

Trend 2: Intelligent Medical Branding

One of the more practical trends that is gaining ground due to the COVID crisis, more designers are turning their attention to the design of medical packaging and branding related to health, medicines and supplements. 

Medical packaging has followed the same functional design formula for decades, with text-heavy layouts and clinical green and white palettes. The new generation of medical brands are rethinking these long-accepted traits, with instantly recognisable graphics, creative color-coding and modular packaging design giving pharmacy shelves a vibrant makeover.

As well as looking more contemporary, many of these designs play a practical role—allowing users to locate the right medicine more quickly on crowded shelves, or catering for health-conscious consumers looking to create personal supplement kits tailored to their individual needs.

Trend 3: Optical Illusions

A trend that’s set to bring a magical mood to typography and illustration, optical illusions, immersive patterns and mind-bending graphics are the embodiment of escapism.

These trippy designs combine elements of psychedelia with clean, mid-century style. Expect to see optical illusions integrated into illustrations, logos and type design. Unashamedly fun and individualist, the goal is to spark joy over creating a legible design.

Trend 4: Fantasy Landscapes and Interiors

After a year spent analysing the shelves and kitchen cupboards of colleagues on video calls, the humble Zoom background has become a focus of discussion, debate and even envy.

With the aid of 3D CAD renders and virtual reality, it becomes possible to immerse oneself in a fantastical digital setting, whether it’s a room that features eye-popping furniture and colour, or a dreamscape that stretches the limitations of reality.

As we move back into the physical world, consumers’ desire for rose-tinted environments will spill over into advertising and web design. Products and models will be presented in fictional settings that mimic the fantastical style of gaming and virtual reality.  

Tying into our forecast for escapist design in 2021, fantasy landscapes and interiors are set to become a big background trend next year.

Trend 5: Simple Infographic Illustration

Having surely reached data saturation point, there’s something distinctly refreshing about information that’s presented cleanly and clearly. With statistics being thrown at us at liberty on social media and news channels, it can be difficult to identify what’s relevant…and what’s truthful.

Stripped-back, simple infographics and illustrations that seek to concisely explain complex topics will be a key trend in editorial design and social images in 2021.  

Trend 6: Activism 2.0

From Black Lives Matter to climate movements, 2019 and 2020 were protest years. In 2021, activism will become even more integrated into our daily lives through professionalised branding, more compelling websites and more sophisticated virtual and physical event identities.

Far from the commercialisation of activism, these design-supported movements will help to move causes into the mainstream, allowing them to connect with larger audiences.  

Trend 7: Raw and Characterful Serifs

From a typographic perspective, 2020 was the year of the serif. Serif typefaces give brands and marketing communications more authority and personality than minimal sans serif fonts.

2021 will see the serif trend continue and evolve, with designers seeking more unusual and characterful serifs to stand out from the crowd. Serifs with a raw and rustic style—a deconstructed serif of sorts—feel the most current and cool in an over-crowded serif market.

These type styles will be particularly popular for logos and headings, across both print and web.  

Trend 8: Polished Retro

Vintage-inspired design will always have a place in graphics, bringing a nostalgic warmth and comfort to brand identities, websites and apps. Next year, we’ll see a more polished version of vintage style across typography and graphics, with clean lines and contemporary colour palettes blurring the lines between decades.

If you’re not able to confidently define the era that inspired the design, but it nonetheless has something familiar and retro about it, this is the sort of polished retro style that will find a place in 2021.  

Looking for more design inspiration?

Discover inspiring font lists, graphic design tips and endless inspiration on our Inspiration page.

The post The 2021 Graphic Design and Illustration Trends to Know Now 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.

Creative director and designer Peggy Tuttle co-founded Tuttle Design Studios in 1992 (a graphic design firm specialising in business to business graphics support, offering services that include advertising, web design, print design and much more).

Tuttle Design Studios focuses on clean, innovative and results-driven marketing materials to support businesses whilst delivering the client’s message.

Peggy’s design piece is a hard copy book on maritime history, which includes 21 chapters, photos, illustrations, tables and more—all made using InDesign!

It must be said that this is one of the most comprehensive examples we’ve seen of using InDesign to create a book. Our congratulations go to Peggy, and of course a huge thank you for submitting your work!

If you would like to be our next featured designer, email us here.

Tell us a bit about yourself & your experience

I graduated with a degree in fine art but always have had an interest in commercial art and design. Consequently, in my current work, I try to bring an artistic aesthetic to each project. My husband and I run the business together—he on the business and client communication side, and I on the creative side.

Our first major client was the commercial real estate division of Duke Energy. We then worked with several different home builders and developers. Currently, we provide marketing support to the real estate sales industry and have recently added design of periodicals, as well as hardback and paperback books to our product mix.

How long have you been using InDesign?

When I started the business I was using Pagemaker, then moved to QuarkXPress. I was a fierce proponent of Quark until around 1999 when Scott Kelby and Jim Workman of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) convinced me to take the plunge and abandon it in favor of the new Adobe Suite. The package included Photoshop and Illustrator as well as their new page layout program called InDesign, which Adobe described as their “Quark Killer.” I was amazed at the seamless integration between the individual applications and, as Photoshop and Illustrator were both applications I used on a daily basis, I decided to make the switch. Of course, I’ve never looked back; there’s nothing better for professional page layout.

What have you created using InDesign?

Probably my most challenging InDesign project—and one of the ones of which I am most proud—is a 500-page hardback book on the maritime history of an old New England shipping family. To produce it, I used InDesign’s powerful Book feature, combining each of the volume’s 21 chapters into an InDesign Book, to help organize and synchronize it. In the book are photos, illustrations, tables, lineage charts, multiple indexes and appendixes, and of course a table of contents. It was a challenge to put together, but in doing it I learned so much about the program and gained a real appreciation of just how powerful it is.

What do you like most about using InDesign?

It would definitely be InDesign’s typographical superiority. It’s surprising how much of a difference good typography can make in the look and feel of text. There just isn’t any better application.

Is there anything you still struggle with in InDesign?

For some reason, the Table of Contents function is always confusing to me, and I have to go through a number of trials and errors before I get it right. But when I’ve got it done correctly, it’s a great feature.

This isn’t about InDesign, per se, but I do wish that all the commands and shortcuts throughout the Adobe Suite were identical. Keyboard shortcuts are the way to go to save time, but unfortunately, they are not the same in each program.

How long have you been visiting the InDesign Skills website?

I’ve only recently discovered the InDesign Skills website, but have found it to be an incredible resource for articles, tutorials, templates, and a wealth of interesting and useful information. It’s also very visually appealing and user-friendly. Quick Tips are fun to read when I haven’t got the time for a long article. I only wish I’d found it earlier. I now have it bookmarked and refer to it often.

What do you like most about InDesign Skills?

The Inspiration section is one of my favourites. Current Trends is another. Also anything about fonts.

Is there anything you would like to see on the IndesignSkills website?

More of the same!

Any tips for those starting out in InDesign?

Put in the time. Great guitarists say it takes 10,000 hours. Hopefully, it won’t be quite that time-intensive, but no matter how you look at it, you only get good by doing it. Also—don’t try to create in a vacuum. Go to a bookstore and spend a day looking at magazines, newspapers, books. Take note of what others are doing and make something better.

Cultivate a love for type. One of the most obvious signs of a newbie is their choice of the wrong font for the project.

Take tutorials—there are many good ones online, like the ones at the InDesignSkills website.

Lastly, while most questions can be readily answered by jumping on the internet, if you know someone who has been working in InDesign for a while, they can be a huge help in figuring out how to do something in the program. And most people who know InDesign love it and are only too happy to share their knowledge.

Thanks again Peggy!

For your chance to be our next featured designer, drop us an email at info@indesignskills.com

The post Peggy Tuttle – February 2020’s Featured Designer appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These ten typefaces are unfailing in their ability to deliver style and substance without looking dated. From the 1930s sans serif loved by contemporary packaging designers to the modernist staples that are the faces of cutting-edge web design, consider this the only capsule font collection you’ll ever need. 

If it ain’t broke… 

1. Orpheus

Background: Based on a 1928 typeface designed by Walter Tieman, Orpheus was released as a digital typeface, Orpheus Pro, by Canada Type in 2011. 

Why is it Timeless? Calligraphic, ethereal and flowing, this typeface retains the refined spirit of its late-1920s origins, while offering a clean and contemporary alterantive to stuffier serif styles. Orpheus has elegant, timeless beauty by the bucketload, making it the typeface of choice for brands looking to channel femininity and intellect.  

2. Canela

Background: Designed by Miguel Reyes and published by Commercial Type in 2016, Canela is loosely inspired by William Caslon’s display typefaces, but draws influences from both sans serif and serif styles to create an ambiguous type style. Reyes’ experience with stonecarving no doubt influenced the inscriptional feel of the font.

Why is it Timeless? Canela’s ambiguity between serif and sans serif allows it to occupy a enviously timeless position. When sans serifs or serifs are not the flavor of the day, Canela still feels relevant and cutting-edge.

3. Open Sans

Background: Open Sans was commissioned by Google and created by Steve Matteson in 2010. Now the second most used font on Google Fonts, this humanist sans serif was designed to be an ultra-legible font for apps and websites.   

Why is it Timeless? Open Sans was an instant hit on its release, and widely used across a range of web projects, particularly those that used flat design, and corporate brand identities. Despite its popularity, the font still retains a neutrality and freshness that makes it one of the best suits-all sans serifs.

4. Akzidenz Grotesk

Background: It’s incredible to think that Akzidenz Grotesk was created in the late 19th century, a period when Art Nouveau typefaces were all the rage. Released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin in 1898, the sans serif typeface was intended to be used for commercial and ‘jobbing’ purposes, such as publicity and tickets.

However, Akzidenz Grotesk was ahead of its time and subject to neglect for several decades. It wasn’t until the post-war period that it was adopted as the muse of the Swiss school of designers, providing the blueprint for the neutral, simple type styles that became the hallmark of the International Style. 

Why is it Timeless? Akzidenz Grotesk is one of the oldest modernist sans serif typefaces in use today, and its longevity is due in part to its ageless quality. More rounded than its successors, Helvetica and Univers, the reduced x-height makes it a more distinctive alternative for web and print design.  

5. Avenir

Background: Avenir is a geometric sans serif designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1987. Frutiger wanted to create a more organic interpretation of the geometric type styles developed in the 1920s. Named after the French word for ‘future’, the typeface was intended to be a contemporary take on these older modernist typefaces. 

Why is it Timeless? Frutiger achieved a fine-tuned balance between neutrality and organic form with Avenir, with the typeface remaining widely popular across political branding, signage and logo design today. A softer and ultra-legible alternative to other geometric sans serifs, Avenir has earned a well-deserved place in our edit of timeless typefaces.

6. Gotham

Background: Gotham was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones for Hoefler & Frere-Jones, a New York type foundry, in 2000. Initially created for GQ Magazine, the typeface was later adopted by the team behind the Obama presidential campaign. Solid, trustworthy and at once both familiar and fresh, Gotham’s association with success helped it to become the font of choice for media and movie posters. 

Why is it Timeless? Gotham is only a couple of decades old but has managed to become as widely used as Helvetica or Futura. Like these other widely used sans serifs, it retains a neutrality that gives it versatility and an ageless quality. The psychological association between the font and success also adds to its timeless appeal and overall positivity.

7. Franklin Gothic

Background: Franklin Gothic is one of a wide number of related realist type families developed by the type foundry American Type Founders (ATF) in the early years of the 20th century. Credited to the head designer of ATF, Morris Fuller Benton, Franklin Gothic was named after Benjamin Franklin and has a distinctive ‘newspaper’ style. 

Why is it Timeless? Benton’s original intent for Franklin Gothic to be used as a print headline typeface has translated into its contemporary adaptability as an effective font for editorial content on the web. Commanding, ultra-legible and masculinely stylish, Franklin Gothic’s timelessness lies in its effectiveness as a font for directing attention to written content. 

8. Gill Sans

Background: The typeface that perhaps best defines Britishness, Gill Sans was designed by artist and typographer Eric Gill in the mid-1920s. Originally designed for use on tourist signage in Wales, the versatility and inscriptional beauty of Gill Sans meant that it was soon adopted more widely across the UK by a range of public institutions and transport departments, including the BBC, the Church of England and British Railways.

Why is it Timeless? Gill Sans is the thinking man’s sans serif. Famously adopted by publisher Penguin for their iconic orange-covered Classics, the typeface became synonymous with academia and intellect. Although undeniably proper and distinguished, Gill Sans has a rounded form and open personality that continues to give it a versatility for packaging design, signage and branding. 

9. Trade Gothic

Background: Trade Gothic is a grotesque sans serif created by Jackson Burke in 1948. Slightly condensed, the typeface has a tall appearance and editorial air that made it a popular choice in advertising during the 1950s. Today Trade Gothic is popularly used across magazines, books and websites, giving a slight vintage flair to headlines and body text. 

Why is it Timeless? Trade Gothic is more of its time than some of the other typefaces on this list. It has a mid-century feel, but nonetheless this translates incredibly well to contemporary design. Trade Gothic is timeless for two reasons—it’s effortlessly stylish and also remarkably versatile. Able to stand alone as a distinctive display font, it also pairs seamlessly with a wide range of serif and sans serif styles. 

9. Brandon Grotesque

Background: Designed in 2010 by German type designer Hannes von Döhren, Brandon Grotesque is a geometric sans serif influenced by the individualist type styles of the 1920s such as Erbar. More approachable than other geometric sans serifs such as Futura, it’s proven to be widely popular in web design in particular.

Why is it Timeless? Based on circular proportions, the font balances a rounded friendliness with sharp angles, making it appear at once both friendly and formal. The 1920s heritage of Brandon Grotesque gives it vintage appeal but its contemporary design lends it elegant longevity. Eminently readable and versatile, Brandon Grotesque could be dropped into almost any decade and seamlessly blend in.

Hungry for more? Discover more font suggestions and typography inspiration here:

The post Timeless Typefaces: The Classic Fonts Every Designer Should Own appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From refashioned Didone typefaces to vintage-tinted visions of the future, as well as leanings towards inclusivity and diversity as subjects for creative content, 2020 is set to be a year of innovation, intellect and exceptional creativity in design.

Discover our predictions of the seven biggest creative trends for the year ahead below.

1. Flat Gradients

Gradients have been a firm fixture across graphic design and illustration for the last couple of years, and this macro-trend shows no sign of slowing down. In 2020, we’ll see an evolution, or perhaps better described as a devolution, of the gradient technique. 

Graphic designers and illustrators will aspire to incorporate gradients into flat designs, and colors will be more muted and earthy than the neon brights that dominated in 2019. Retro-inspired shapes and drawing styles will complement these more subdued gradient styles.

2. Vintage Illustrations of Future Concepts

What will the future look like? And, more importantly, will it be a better or scarier place to live in? Concepts like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR),Virtual Reality (VR) and the surveillance state are controversial topics, sparking both optimistic opinion and doomsaying.

Framing these mysterious and contentious subjects in a way that makes them feel approachable is a useful technique for publishers looking to release future-themed content that explores both sides of the coin. In the year ahead we’ll see illustrators using vintage styles to convey advanced technological and futuristic concepts.

Lithuanian illustrator Karolis Strautniekas, favourite of Forbes, The New Yorker and others, is especially adept at making the future seem both nostalgically comforting and enigmatically mysterious.

3. Decorative Didone Typefaces

Modern serif typefaces such as Didot and Bodoni have long been the go-to type style for high-end magazine and fashion brands, but they risk looking a little stuffy and elitist.  

In 2020 we’ll see designers reclaiming the typefaces beloved by Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and refashioning them for a new wave of female-focussed and feminist brands and publications. 

Particularly impactful set as logos and headlines, these reformed Didone styles strike a clever balance between ornate decoration and minimalist elegance, with Parachute Typefoundry’s PF Marlet font spearheading the move towards ornate humanist serifs.

4. Diversity and Inclusion in Illustration

Despite more attention being given to the inclusivity of minority groups in film, television and written content, the design world has been a little slower to catch up.

Now, a renewed focus on the issue of inclusivity in the design community is raising awareness of the lack of visibility of minorities in design output, as well as the lack of accessibility that many people experience when engaging with websites and other visual content.

Illustrators in particular are generating work that situates diversity and inclusion at its heart. In the coming year we’ll see more design that directly engages with these topics, framing people with disabilities and other minority groups in a more authentic and inclusive light.

5. Authentic Women in Photography

In reaction to over-polished Instagram posts, contemporary audiences in 2020 will expect more honesty and frankness in visual content. Female-targeted brands should take note.

Female audiences in particular respond to designs that feature women who are authentic. A growing trend in photography is the complete absence of retouching, with a visible rawness and freshness to images that resonate with audiences seeking more meaningful engagements with brands. 

Body modifications such as piercings and tattoos, as well as scarring, stretchmarks and skin pigmentation, will not only be shown in photographs, but highlighted. A focus on ageing and body diversity follows broad and growing trends in the fashion industry, and this will spill over into photography for branding, events and publishing. 

6. Surrealism

1930s-inspired trends are going to be influential in 2020 (see also Painterly Modernism, below), and the leaning towards a more surrealist and off-kilter aesthetic across design, illustration and photography is an exciting trend to look out for. 

Some illustrators are already adept at combining surrealist themes with a contemporary aesthetic. Japanese illutrator Kazuhisa Uragami crafts serene scenes with an innate quietness—a silence that makes the surreal elements palatable.

Dutch illustrator Katsiaryna Dubovik also translates surrealism into a format that feels escapist and comforting, rather than disarming, making her work perfectly suited to children’s illustrations. 

In photography, Fernando Domínguez Cózar builds digital ‘growths’ onto human subjects to create surprisingly beautiful portraits that retain an eerie medicinal surrealism.

7. Painterly Modernism

Another 1930s-influenced trend that we predict will be dominant across print and web design is a leaning towards Painterly Modernism. This style combines abstract elements with a painterly, hand-done aesthetic.

Similar to vintage cafe posters, this style nonetheless feels contemporary through quirky subject matter, rich colours and bold, graphic layouts. Animated versions of these designs will also bring modernist-inspired material to life on digital platforms, adding an elegant vintage touch to websites and apps.

Look to the work of Italian illustrator Riccardo Guasco, who has turned his hand to brands including Fendi and Martini, for ultimate Painterly Modernism inspiration.

Looking for more design inspiration? Check out more trends, design tips and font lists right this way.

The post The 2020 Creative Trends to Know Now 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.

Read on to discover the top five graphic design trends which will be making an impact in 2018, from color fonts to maximalism, and everything in-between!

1. Color Fonts

If you need to know about only one graphic design trend for 2018, Color fonts is it.

Color fonts, also known as chromatic fonts, are OpenType fonts with additional data attached in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format. This means that color font files store extra data, such as textures, gradients, and colors.

In line with the trend for all things maximalist (see below), color fonts are over-the-top and bordering on bad taste. Above all, they’re meant to be bringing the fun back into design, which makes them a welcome departure from the rigours of minimalism.

As time goes by, more color fonts are becoming available on the market—you can find an ever-growing list on Adobe’s dedicated Typekit site for color fonts.

Bungee, a signage-inspired color font by David Jonathan Ross

2. Animated Typography

In digital design, we’re also going to see the color font trend go one step further with animated versions of color fonts. These will bring an extra dimension of interactivity and fun to branding, social media content and apps in 2018.

Multicolore, a new typeface by Ivan Filipov and Vaidas Chmieliauskas, is available in both static and animated versions, catering to this new taste for lively typography.

3. Texture in Print Design

The design industry’s focus on digital design has shifted attention unfairly away from print design in recent years. Not ones to be discouraged, print designers have been quietly and skillfully carving out a niche for print design, which makes it just as relevant in an online-obsessed world.

There’s something about printed materials which web design can’t rival—it’s the physicality and tactility of print that makes it an indispensable marketing tool for brands.

In 2018 designers will play up this difference, and be more experimental with textures in their printwork. Recycled and bespoke papers, embossing, foiling, quilting and high-gloss finishes bring an extra element of textural surprise to otherwise pared-back designs.

These stationery designs for interiors business Maldini Studios by Jens Nilsson is a perfect example of this luxe trend. The focus is on emphasising the beauty of natural texture and imperfections in the paper stock, making these into business cards you can’t help but want to pick up and stroke.The resurgence of fabric-bound books will also continue this year, with more cover designers opting for linen and wool textures in their designs, adding to the tactility and treasurability of beautiful books.

4. Maximalism and Eccentricity

There’s a sea change in graphic design at the moment. Tastefully minimal design suddenly seems a little, well, boring.

The worlds of fashion and interiors have already taken note of the new taste for maximalism, where Gucci, in particular, has experienced a complete rejuvenation by wholeheartedly embracing extravagant color, eccentricity and ‘ugly’ design.

In graphic design too, the mood for 2018 is maximalist, with designers starting to be more creative with color, embellishment and detail. Take your cues from folk design, retro styling and Wes Anderson movies to channel the trend in your own designs.

These UN ‘Peace Stamp’ prints by packaging design studio Stranger & Stranger showcase the heavy detailing, rainbow color palette and diverse cultural references that will define the maximalist trend in 2018.

5. Line Art Branding and Packaging

Line art is the successor of flat design, and the style was popular across icon and app design last year. In 2018, we’ll see the line art trend move into branding and packaging design.

It’s a subtle style that instantly makes labels and boxes look cutting-edge, and it really sings when set in metallic foil against a backdrop of pastel colors. If you’re not completely on board with the maximalist trend (see above) this is a great halfway house. You can bring in lots of detail, and still keep the design looking simple and pared-back.

Team your line art illustrations with vintage-inspired typography to strike the perfect balance.

Anna Austriaczka chocolate packaging by Valeria Shaposhnikoff

De 36 frågorna packaging by Martin Ohlsson

Stefano Faita and Michele Forgione pasta sauce packaging by Agency lg2

Looking for more graphic design inspiration? Delve into these examples of the botanical print design trend, or take a look at our selection of fantastic stationery design inspiration.

The post 2018 Graphic Design Trends You Need to Know appeared first on InDesignSkills.

InDesign is a great ‘mapping’ tool for experimenting with email newsletter layouts. Giving you the flexibility to easily manoeuvre text, images and change color schemes, you can then create your ideas as HTML using your chosen e-newsletter software.

1. Create Hierarchy In Your Newsletter Design

With so many emails landing in an inbox on any given day, it’s important to make both an immediate and long-term impact on your recipient. One way of maximising both is to structure your email design around a story, which builds from an enticing beginning at the start of the email and ends in a call-to-action or memorable brand message at the bottom of the scroll.

In marketing speak this might be referred to as storytelling, but from a design perspective this is communicated through a visual hierarchy of elements on the layout.

This beautiful email from Japanese lifestyle company Rikumo is a great example of hierarchy in action. The large header begins the email at the top, before the fairy lights lead the eye down to other sub-elements. The email ends with another prominent item—a series of elegantly designed buttons which entice the viewer to click.

Design by Rikumo

2. Start your Newsletter With a Simple Grid

E-newsletters are built with HTML links in mind, which means that the design structure tends to be much simpler than most other layouts. You’ll notice that most emails are built on a simple grid structure, usually with a maximum of two columns. This also ensures that the design can quickly adapt responsively when viewed on smaller devices like phones and tablets.

With this in mind, the basis of your design should be an ultra-simple grid. Start by splitting your layout into two columns, before deciding which sections of your design will span two columns. Most emails begin with a large two-column header, like in this design for knitwear brand Prima Handcraft.  

Design by Lúcia Poland

Once you have this basic structure in place you can start to think more creatively about the design. This design from shoe brand Office shows how a simple modular style can be eye-catching by mixing up block sizes and colored backgrounds.

Design: Office

3. Focus Your Energies on Designing an Awesome Header…

With your grid in place it’s time to flex your creative muscles!

It’s really important to concentrate most of your time and energy on crafting the perfect header image, as this is the first element recipients will see when opening your email. It often takes only a few seconds for an individual to decide whether to click or delete the message, so designing your header to include strong color, atmospheric photography and a clear call-to-action is absolutely key.

This festive-themed email from beauty brand Birchbox really amps up the scale and visual impact of the header image, with clear typography, rich colors and a contrasting button.

Design by Birchbox

This newsletter from department store Harrod’s begins the design with a fun and youthful full-width header image that can’t be ignored.

Design: Harrod’s

4. …Or a Series of Themed Images

An alternative approach would be to create a series of images which are equally arresting, encouraging the viewer to keep scrolling.

While the header image approach (see 3, above) is best for encouraging quick clicking, you may find that creating variety and quantity in your email images will work better for some audiences.

This approach tends to look best when the images are themed, creating an overall unity to the layout. This newsletter from Zara Man relies on color and stylistic consistency to create plenty of opportunities for clicking. After all, if you’re not in the market for a coat, you may be for shoes!

Design by Zara

This quirky newsletter from Anthropologie takes a similar themed approach, creating a layout that feels playful and unique.

Design by Anthropologie

5. ‘Break’ the Grid to Create an Immersive Newsletter Design

Modular newsletter layouts look slick and minimal, but sometimes designs can be more absorbing if the rigid squares of the grid are hidden from sight.

This newsletter from furniture retailer MADE is a neat example of this. Notice how the images have been designed to overlap each other, creating a seamless, immersive effect. Ultimately, however, the design is still built on a modular sequence of links, split into two vertical columns.

Design: MADE

6. Use Color in your Newsletter to Bait Clicks

Cleverly chosen color is one of the quickest ways you can attract and keep a viewer’s attention. A concise color palette not only gives your design an instant sense of atmosphere and mood, but also has the capacity to affect the psychology of the viewer, and encourage clicking.

This calm and collected newsletter from Not On The High Street uses a restricted color palette of pastels to showcase the simple typography and images beautifully. It’s a small moment of calm in an otherwise chaotic inbox.

Design: Not On The High Street

This festive newsletter from tea brand Teavana goes for a bolder approach, contrasting urgent cherry red with sophisticated tiffany blue. Note how the header image is set in red with high-contrast white text and button, to encourage instant clicking.

Design: Teavana

7. Keep your Newsletter it Simple

Even though attention spans for looking at emails are reportedly increasing, this still only stands at an average of 11.1 seconds per view. That’s just 11.1 seconds to get your message across and encourage a click.

This is the reason why complicated email designs don’t work—an overly detailed design demands too much of a casual viewer, which leads them to go elsewhere. With this in mind, try to keep your email design as simple as possible. Focus on refining layout, images and color over text content, which won’t be read in detail.

Simplicity doesn’t mean compromising on style, as this minimal and elegant layout from J.CREW demonstrates.

Design: J.CREW

This pared-back design from Monki also shows how a simple idea can be anything but basic.

Design: Monki

8. Rethink Your Frames

A modular grid might seem a bit ‘square’, but you can amp up the aesthetic appeal of your design by rethinking how those squares are styled.

Framing images in a different way can have a transformative effect on an email design, and make your layout stand out from the crowd. This email design from clothing brand Massimo Dutti includes elegantly drawn frames, which lift the images from run-of-the-mill to utterly luxurious.

Design: Massimo Dutti

Beauty brand Sephora has opted to frame products in brightly colored circular frames to create an eye-catching, stylish look which makes each product look even more enticing.

Design: Sephora

Looking for even more inspiration? Find the designs that will spark your next project here.

The post How to Design Beautiful Email Newsletters 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.

Here’s our pick of some of the best examples of retro branding done right. Take primary colors and modernist sans serifs for a spin to recreate the look in your own designs.

1. Sydney School of Entrepreneurship

The Sydney School of Entrepreneurship needed a brand identity that felt as fresh and avant-garde as its educational model. This thoroughly modern brand identity has a flexible format, with a custom retro logo generator that uses geometric elements to create an evolving brand, reflecting the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship.

Despite being part of a cutting-edge brand, the graphic elements that make up the identity borrow generously from mid-century styling and modernist design. It goes to show that a dash of retro influence can still feel completely new and relevant today.

Design: Multiple Owners for the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship

2. Busk Music Festival

Studio Mut‘s colorful branding for Italian music festival Busk is a masterful example of the power of combining simple shapes with a fantastic color palette. Although the geometric layouts make a nod to retro design, the colors and contemporary typeface place it into contemporary territory. A simple yet flexible brand identity, the same styling has translated well to festival branding for successive years.

Design: Studio Mut for Busk

3. Pizzeria Massa

Who doesn’t love pizza? Arnau Pi Bonany‘s brand design for Spanish restaurant chain Pizzeria Massa injects even more fun into everyone’s favorite Italian food. We love the punchy impact of the geometric retr logo and Sixties colors, which give a nostalgic Italian feel to the whole brand.

Design: Arnau Pi Bonany for Pizzeria Massa

4. Petit Fou

This corporate identity for brand Petit Fou (affectionately translates to ‘little crazy one’) by Daniela Gilsdorf takes its cues from playful postmodernism and vintage school stationery. Candy-hued shades of mint, lemon and coral provide a nostalgic backdrop to slim typography and ultra-minimal layouts.

Design: Daniela Gilsdorf for Petit Fou

5. Medialab Prado

The Sixties is definitely still swinging when you take a look at this gorgeously vintage branded stationery for Digital Art Center Medialab Prado. Madrid-based studio Tata&Friends took a distinctly retro color palette and combined it with sans serif type to create a retro tribute that works just as well for today. Try Daria Sans for a font with a similar early-computing feel.

Design: Tata&Friends for Medialab Prado

6. Actionable

Design studio Underline created this bold, Eighties-inspired brand identity for corporate education consultancy Actionable. The Swiss School aesthetic has a big part to play in making this design feel a little retro, while the bright color palette keeps things playful. This is a fantastic take on retro given a more contemporary and corporate-friendly edge.

Design: Underline for Actionable

On the hunt for more branding inspiration? You’ve come to the right place! Find perfect fonts for creative branding, or browse stationery inspiration to get your creative juices flowing. Or head straight to the Inspiration page here.

The post The Best Retro Branding Design appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to discover our predictions for the graphic design industry this year, from Hygge-friendly packaging design to a resurgence in Eighties style…

1. Eighties-Inspired Design

The graphic design world has had its sights firmly fixed on the past over the previous decade, with vintage and retro design being one of the most defining trends of the the 2010s. This year the clock is slowly moving forward, with designs tapping into more recent nostalgia to entice clients and consumers.

To feel on-point in 2017, you should be looking to all things Eighties. The boom decade may have been the era good taste forgot, but its bold and zingy color palette feels absolutely spot-on for this year. The Eighties palette of Tron-friendly neons and darks makes for optimistic, in-your-face designs which have a futuristic-meets-nostalgic feel. After a tumultous 2016, this heady mix of childhood comfort and forward-looking futurism feels just right.

Design: Amore Studio for Absolut Vodka

With the fashion industry echoing the sentiment (who knew cone-heeled stilettoes would ever come round again?!) and with the much anticipated release of Blade Runner 2049 in the summer, the design world is going to go mad for all things Eighties this year.

To channel the 1980s in the right way this year, look to mix up your color choices. Move away from the subdued swatches of last year and take neons and bold primary colors for a spin instead.

Design: Amore Studio for Absolut Vodka

2. A Tale of Two Design Trends…Will You Choose Pattern?

2017 is going to be a year of individualism in graphic design. Flat design was a very welcome addition to graphics last year, helping to simplify layouts and improve user experience, but it became so popular that it now feels saturated. This year we’ll see more arts and crafts inspired trends, and pattern and print will return in a big way.

For packaging and brand design, bringing together the best qualities of flat design and pattern will create vibrant, colorful products which feel at once both ultra-contemporary and artistic.

Design: Pyramida Brand Identity

We’ll see the trend for nature-inspired patterns, like those found in marble, precious stones and plants, grow even bigger too, echoing design trends in other fields, like interiors and fashion. Painterly patterns contrasted with simple typography will also bring a crafts vibe to printed media.

Design: A New Type of Imprint by Anti

Pattern doesn’t have to be about multiple colors or symmetry either—bringing in more visual detail to designs via organic line pattern, will feel completely on-trend this year.

Design: Ach Vegan Chocolate Branding by Gintare Ribikauskaite

3. …Or Will You Opt for Minimalism?

For the pattern-phobic amongst you there is some welcome respite. With 2017 being the year for all things artistic and individualist, you’ll find that the pendulum swings quite happily both ways, with ultra-minimal designs standing their ground at the other end of the spectrum.

Inspired by Scandinavian design, ultra-minimal typography and layouts will still feel cutting-edge this year, and brands who opt for this visual approach will appear elegant and refined.

Design: Yx Cutlery Identity by Hannes Ahremark

To channel the minimal trend, keep typography beautiful yet simple, and reduce the size of elements to allow your layout to whisper, not shout. In need of color? Keep your palette restricted and strong, and consider subtle touches of metallic foiling as the only embellishment you need.

Design: Glow Flow Chefs by Menta

4. Geometric Collages

Remember back in school when you used to spend hours creating collages of your favorite cartoon characters from magazine cutouts and PVA glue? If this was one of your best-loved activities when you were small, you’ll be glad to hear collages are back in a big way this year, but this time, they’re much more grown-up.

2017’s collage trend in graphic design is all about placing multiple elements, including illustrations, photos and type, into a single design, arranged in a cleverly conceived geometric layout.

The modern collage trend is a clever method for presenting lots of different concepts as one memorable image, which makes it the perfect trend to adopt in advertising, posters or presentation material.

In 2016 we saw the trend emerge in movie poster design, but this year we’ll start to see designers extending the collage technique across to other print media.

Delve into even more movie poster inspiration here.

5. Hyggeligt Vintage

It’s vintage…but not as we know it. Taking design cues from past decades may seem old-hat, but the design industry isn’t quite ready to let go of all things vintage.

Old things, such as love-worn antiques and old-fashioned leisure activities will become increasingly mainstream this year, and these have strong links to well-being philosophies which emphasise slow-living, such as ‘Hygge’ and mindfulness. Consumers will look for products which help complement antique purchases or help them to create a more ‘hyggeligt’ (‘cozy’) space at home. Brash branded buys won’t cut the mustard; rather packaging design which wouldn’t look out of place on an old-fashioned film set will set the right tone in 2017.

Love vintage design? Discover our pick of the most authentic vintage and retro fonts by era.

Design: Amore Studio for Sydkronan

The key to nailing this trend is authenticity. Old-fashioned print materials and methods, such as letterpress and screen printing, will enhance that perfect vintage typeface and hand-drawn logo. Candy colors will replace the muted browns and greys of 2016’s vintage designs, and bring with it a whole new sense of optimism and happiness to a product.

Design: Amore Studio for Ramlosa Kvarn

6. Low-Poly Design

This trend has been making waves in vector illustration for the past few months, but this year we’ll see the love for all things low-poly break into the graphic design world in full. Complete layouts, such as posters, flyers and stationery design will bring together beautifully detailed low-poly illustrations with logos and typography influenced by the game-inspired trend.

Design: Dmitriy Novikov

These low-poly masks are a great example of the reach of low-poly and its ability to connect with a wide audience who love the graphic simplicity and on-trend style of the low-poly trend.

Looking for more graphic design inspiration? Delve into these examples of the botanical print design trend, or take a look at our selection of fantastic stationery design inspiration.

The post The Graphic and Print Design Trends to Look Out For in 2017 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.

These might once have been dull directories, but now designers are using the catalogue format to creative effect, enlivening layouts with artistic typography, zingy color and striking photography. Read on to find the inspiration for your next catalogue design…

1. Desigual Catalogue, Spring/Summer 2016

Colorful, fresh and completely in tune with fashion brand Desigual‘s youthful and joyful aesthetic, this catalogue design by Astrid Ortiz combines punchy background color with energetic photography for layouts that feel infectiously fun.

2. Sandro Desii Catalogue

Catering brands take note—food catalogues don’t need to be formulaic, they can be just as stylish as other product marketing media. This utterly minimal and chic take on a pasta salad catalogue by Spanish design agency Lo Siento shows the power of sticking with a strong and simple presentation style and color palette across all your pages.

3. Margaret Howell Catalogue

British fashion designer Margaret Howell‘s minimal, timeless style is translated to print by London-based agency Studio Small. The studio has collaborated with Howell for over ten years, and their print designs for the house’s seasonal look books are honed to perfection, with block color detailing, clean sans serif type and minimal product presentation. For fans of minimal catalogues, this is the perfect style to aspire to.

4. Saint Étienne Opera House Seasonal Programme

If you’re looking for inspiration for an events catalogue, you’ve come to the right place! This approachable, immersive design from French agency Graphéine shows how print media can create channels of communication between the arts programmer and potential new audiences. Zesty color, fun photography and quirky type keeps the design looking fresh and fun, and helps to give a feel for the experience of seeing the opera in person.

5. Shoe Guru Catalogue

Though admittedly designed for web, this striking presentation for Shoe Guru combining product shots with energetic dance photography would translate equally well to a print format. The diagonal dividers used to split the sections and create contrast between light and dark parts of the layout is a visual feast for the eyes, and would be simple to recreate on the pages of a print catalogue or look book.

6. Friend of Mine Catalogue

Minimal catalogue designs strip away clutter and help to showcase products in a clearer, simpler way. This is a great format for high fashion, where the products are often beautiful enough to command attention on their own without the distraction of busy type or color. This look book design by The Drop creative studio for fashion brand Friend of Mine is cool, sexy and effortless. We love the geometric graphics used to frame some of the photos.

Want more print design inspiration? Discover our edit of some of the best print ads, or drop-dead gorgeous stationery designs.

The post The Very Best Catalogue & Booklet Designs 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.

These traditionally printed designs will give you a taster of what can be achieved using ‘old-school’ print methods…

1. Pirrip Press Wedding Invitations

These silk screen printed designs from British designers Alexander Higlett and Georgina Hounsome of Pirrip Press demonstrate why screen printing is well overdue a popular revival. The beautifully crafted designs use only a limited palette of colors, but are incredibly impactful and romantic. Type styles inspired by 1940s and 1950s designs make each invitation feel like a much-treasured book cover.

Looking for more invitation inspiration? Our pick of modern wedding invites will get you inspired to create your own contemporary designs.

Design: Pirrip Press

 2. Galerie C Screen Printed Posters 

Swiss graphic design studio onlab creates these mesmerising posters for contemporary art gallery Galerie C each season. The digitally-created posters are overprinted with an image from the current season’s exhibition using a screen printing method. The result is ethereal, playing with conceal and reveal to create a multi-layered, complex image.

Design: olab for Galerie C

3. Print and Grain Stationery

If you’re looking to introduce more texture into your print designs, letterpress is a beautiful method for creating designs that have a tactile, vintage look and feel. These business card and invitation designs from Oregon-based print shop Print and Grain show the diversity of looks that can be achieved with letterpress, from true-to-vintage styles to bright and punchy modern designs.

Design: Print and Grain

4. Coco Rico Letterpress Designs

French print shop Coco Rico opt for the most traditional of printing methods, letterpress, to bring a unique and special quality to every invite, card or label they print. With an emphasis on modern styles with pin-sharp brand design, letterpress helps these already striking designs to feel even more luxurious.

Design: Coco Rico Letterpress

5. Ye Olde Studio Letterpress Designs

You know how a wine that’s older tends to taste better? Yup, sometimes in print design too the oldies are the goldies. These letterpress-style designs by Joe White of UK-based Ye Olde Studio don’t stray far from late 19th and early 20th century design styles.

Classic etching and cross-hatching add vintage detail to linocut-style illustrations. Keeping colors simple and striking makes sure the focus remains entirely on the wonderful detail of the designs across packaging, branding and cards.

Discover how vintage styles are enjoying a modern resurgence in graphic design, or why not delve into more fantastic stationery design inspiration?

Design: Ye Olde Studio

6. Equator Beer Branding

Design studio Equator were already experts in creating amazing brand and packaging design for food retailers, so it seemed only natural to create their own company-branded beer. The print method they chose for the task? Letterpress of course!

The unique impression letterpress imparts on the paper meant that the design didn’t even need to be embellished with color. It’s a great idea for creating an interactive product that people will want to pick up and touch.

If you can’t get enough of packaging design you won’t want to miss our curated selection of some of the most stylish wine bottle labels. Or get your creative juices flowing with our inspirational choice of beautiful food packaging designs.

Design: Equator Design

Explore even more fantastic designs on our Inspiration page or learn more about the print process by reading our quick-start guide to print finishes.

The post 30 Amazing Letterpress & Screen Printed Designs appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Be inspired by these beautiful, flora-adorned examples of packaging and print design…

1. Tealicious Branding

Designer Alfarez Juana created this botanical-inspired identity for Florence-based tea shop Tealicious. Teaming antique prints with slab text and a paper white backdrop allows the intricate illustrations to shine. We love how the style brings a delicate, old-world edge to sleek and modern packaging.

Love packaging design? So do we! These delectable food packaging designs will help to whet your appetite.

Design: Alvarez Juana for Tealicious

 2. Savon Stories Branding 

Mexican agency Menta created these pretty-as-a-picture packaging designs for organic soap brand Savon Stories. Hand-painted flowers and fruit help to emphasise the 100% certified organic nature of the products.

Teamed with sans serif typography with a subtly hand-drawn look, these designs are proof that beauty comes in artfully imperfect packages.

Design: Menta for Savon Stories

3. Save the Date Cards by Iaia Ioio Studio

What could be more romantic for wedding stationery than a generous dose of flora and fauna? These antique-inspired save the date cards let the images take center-stage, with minimal typography only serving to highlight the delicate beauty of the illustrations.

Design: Iaia Ioio Studio

4. Saxton Cider Packaging

New Zealand designer Bradley Rogerson used 18th Century botanical prints to create these bottle label and packaging designs for brewery McCashin’s latest product—a new range of apple and pear ciders.

These striking designs are a great example of how to make botanicals feel masculine and minimal—keep the illustrations strong and the colors muted.

Need more packaging inspo? Feast your eyes on our selection of the most stylish wine label designs.

Design: Bradley Rogerson for Saxton Cider

5. Brands in Full Bloom

Illustrator Daryl Feril brings an organic, home-spun look to well-known fashion brands for his series Brands in Full Bloom. The designs were drafted by hand, then edited digitally.

Design: Daryl Feril

6. Sweet Botanicals Packaging

Designer Miguel Yatco took a fresh approach to confectionary packaging for these hard candies by blending a classic illustrative style with zingy color.

Using illustrations by artist Natalia Tyulkina, these candies are individually wrapped in monochrome botanical prints, with beautifully color-coded labels revealing flavor.

Design: Miguel Yatco

7. Love Me, Possess Me

London-based designer Sidney Lim YX takes a closer look at the simple paper bag. Adorning the familiar brown paper with hand-drawn florals intertwining around ultra-modern sans serif type, these bags are designed to be treasured forever.

Design: Sidney Lim YX

Looking for even more inspiration? You’ve come to the right place! Visit our Inspiration page or lose yourself among some great examples of beautiful packaging design.

The post Inspiration: Botanical Print Design appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Luckily, we’ve put together five top tips for elevating your magazine designs and making sure they look as stylish as they are informative.

 1. Wrap Text Around Images in Unusual Ways

Feeling uninspired by the boxy limitations of a traditional text frame? Wrap text around images in unusual ways to create layouts that are less grid-like and more free-flowing. This is a great technique for better integrating photography with text to create a unified look.

Look for photos with plenty of white space to make this style work; and strong, simple outlines are easier to work with than complex or detailed ones.

Get to grips with the text wrap function in InDesign with this quick tutorial.

Design: Harper’s Bazaar US

 2. Take a Bird’s Eye View 

Make a drastic change to the angle of your photos for instant interest. Aerial shots are on-trend and utterly absorbing—they work particularly well for food and drinks titles, but travel and photo-journalism titles will also benefit from an aerial shot of a sweeping city view.

Aerial shots allow you to merge typography into the photo seamlessly—try filling those gaps with unusual headers and chunks of body text for an eclectic, creative style.

Design: Hieu Nguyen for Aww Food

See how the aerial trend is reaching new heights in the world of book cover design too.

Design: New York Times Magazine

Design: Caetano Calomino for Gloss Magazine

3. Go 3D (Psst! It’s easier than you think!)

Create multiple layers of text and images to build up a 3D look on your 2D layouts. Cut away the subject of a photo from the background and use this tried-and-tested layers formula to create a 3D look that jumps out of the page.

In InDesign, expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and create a series of layers in this order: Background of Photo, Text Behind, Subject of Photo, and, finally, Text in Front at the top of the pile. Splitting up your content in this way will help you to achieve the 3D look used in these Harper’s Bazaar UK layouts.

It’s a surprisingly simple technique to make your layouts appear instantly more vibrant and energetic. This tutorial shows you how to create a cool 3D look on your magazine designs using a simple frame and the Scissors Tool in InDesign.

Design: Harper’s Bazaar UK

4. Give Your Contents Page a Makeover

The cover might be the reason why someone initially picks your magazine off the shelf, but the contents page is the real anchor for the whole publication. The reader’s first port of call before they even get to articles and features, the contents page is an opportunity to create a style master for the rest of the magazine’s layouts, and it’s the perfect place to exercise some creativity too.

After all, nobody wants to read a long, dull list—introduce images, color, interesting typography and an unusual grid to give your contents page some life. You won’t regret spending the time perfecting this all-important spread.

Design: Matt Chase

Design: James Kape

Design: Aidan Stonehouse

5. Go Big or Go Home

The opening spread of an inside feature is crying out for big, bold typography. It makes a great pairing with dramatic photography, and choice of typeface and color can really set the mood for the whole feature.

Try an elegant sans serif like Didot for Vogue-esque appeal, or pick a rounded sans serif like in this example to make your layouts feel fun, childlike and bursting with energy.

Design: Matt Chase

Theme your typography around the subject of the article, and don’t be afraid to make it as bold, brash and loud as possible. It’s a sure-fire way to keep your readers engaged.

Design: Matt Chase

Design: Matt Chase

Discover even more pro tips for improving your magazine layouts in an instant, or teach yourself magazine design basics with our two-part magazine design tutorial.

The post Fresh Ideas for Improving Your Magazine Layouts appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These packaging designs for coffee, chocolate and groceries are works of art in themselves. Delve in and get inspired…

 1. Mast Brothers Chocolate by Mast Brothers 

The Mast Brothers have always had the most stylish and sophisticated packaging for their deluxe chocolate bars, but the recent update to their suite of chocolate wrappers, including new patterns and cleaner typography, takes the style-factor to new levels.

What makes this packaging so luxurious? Maintaining that matte, butcher-paper stock gives the chocolate an artisanal feel that combined with artistic patterns and uber-cool type makes the packaging even more desirable than the chocolate inside. Which is no mean feat!

Design: Mast Brothers

 2. Louis Charden by Backbone Branding 

This French-inspired brand identity for Armenian café and bakery, Louis Charden, is a lovely example of taking traditional styles (brown paper packaging, hand-written script logos) and making them feel instantly fresh and modern.

Bringing hand-drawn illustrations into the identity makes every packaging item unique and adds quirky charm to even the simplest brown paper bag.

Looking for even more packaging inspiration? Check out our pick of the most stylish wine label designs. 

Design: Backbone Branding for Louis Charden

 3. Loving Earth by Round

Australian agency Round were tasked with bringing organic chocolate brand Loving Earth to a wider audience, and help them to stand out in a sea of organic products.

The result? A complete packaging overhaul with an emphasis on zingy color combinations, flat-style illustration and strong, slab typography. We love how the packaging feels solid and chunky with a stronger paper stock.