idsgn (a design blog)

Typographic diversity

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July 29 2009

Diversity, set in FF Clifford and Antenna Black

Last week FontShop asked Twitter users to name their favorite underused typeface. 

There will always be a place for classic type in contemporary design, and it’s safe and easy to rely on the same old standards, but using type that is underused is often the best way to stand out in an increasingly crowded and homogeneous design landscape.

Collected into an evolving list of now over 30 typefaces, FontShop's Favorite Underused Fonts is a great place to find new favorites. There's a lot of gems that made it (some that didn't), here is our favorites from the list:

1. Antenna Black

Antenna Black

Designed in 2007 by Cyrus Highsmith of Font Bureau, Antenna comes in seven widths from Thin to Black. For a peak into the designer's process, check out the Typographica interview.

2. Burin Sans

Burin Sans

Designed by Monotype, we like the modern twist on the classic engraved-style typeface which is also available in a serif.

3. Chaparral

Chaparral

Designed in 1997 by Carol Twombly, who also designed the popular typefaces MyriadTrajan, and Adobe Caslon, before retiring from type design in 1999 to focus on other design interests.

4. FF Clifford

FF Clifford

Designed by Akira Kobayashi for FontFont in 2006, the word ‘Type’ has never looked better. Born and raised in Japan, Clifford was the first roman typeface designed by Kobayashi for use in Western countries. Read more on the making of Clifford at the FontFeed.

Our Pick: Auto

Auto

Designed by Underware in 1999, we'd like to add our beloved Auto to the list. A beautiful modern sans with three varied sets of italics, you'll see this font all over our website. In fact, the most common question we get via e-mail is “what font are you using on idsgn?” …and did we mention FontShop featured idsgn and Auto as a Staff Pick last month?

 

For more, see the full list of underused typefaces at FontShop (and the FontShop blog).

Filed under: typography

By Skylar Challand

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