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21 Most Used Fonts By Professional Designers

InstantShift - 21 Most Used Fonts By Professional Designers

The fonts are one of the most important parts of every web Project. All though there have been many other selective collection font posts around which most of the time leads to big confusions Like which typefaces is really useful for your project or how to choose your font from the list of hundred fonts.

We spent last whole week reviewing dozens of font reservoirs and typography articles about fonts usability and popularity. Finally we end up with a list of 21 Most Used Fonts by Professional Designers in Web Designing World. All the screenshots made in such a way that there is no point of confusion. You can directly check the actual preview and corresponding font type.



The basic purpose behind this post is to show popular font types. there is no direct download link available for any font. You can find some related references at the end of the post.

 

1. Helvetica

 

2. Frutiger

 

3. Myriad Pro

 

4. Avenir Std

 

5. Trajan

 

6. Optima Std

 

7. ITC Franklin Gothic Std

 

8. Futura

 

9. Bickham Script

 

10. Univers

 

11. Eurostile

 

12. Interstate

 

13. Trade Gothic

 

14. Gill Sans

 

15. Warnock

 

16. Kepler

 

17. Bodoni

 

18. Bembo

 

19. Rockwell

 

20. Meta

 

21. Gotham

 

Other References




Author : DKumar M.

Hello, iShift was accidentally founded by a group of professionals. One of them is me, DKumar M., an Asian freelancer who is still single. My work covers advertising, consultation, programming and web design areas.

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  1. Gravatar Brandon Roach October 5, 2008

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    Great roundup, I have about half of those, going to download the other half.

    Keep of these great roundups :)


  2. Gravatar narendra.s.v October 6, 2008

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    wow fonts really bother me a lot! thanks for the great share :D


  3. Gravatar Daniel Adams October 6, 2008

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    @Brandon – Welcome at iShift, We also want to provide the download links for listed fonts but it’s certainly violating some laws. so we keep our limits.

    @narendra – Welcome here, In my case, fonts bothers me too :)


  4. Gravatar Dkumar M October 9, 2008

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    @varioke – Thanks for the info and welcome to iShift !!


  5. Gravatar varioke October 9, 2008

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    5. Tarjan has to be 5. Trajan

    Nice post!!


  6. Gravatar Jerry October 17, 2008

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    Wow! I use almost all of those! I am going to try to use something different on my next project.


  7. Gravatar Hosting Reviews October 17, 2008

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    Where’s the Verdana love? Guess I’m the only fan. Cool post and I would have to say very accurate.


  8. Gravatar Jager October 17, 2008

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    The most not be professional web designers without Arial or Verdana on the list.


  9. Gravatar alskdf October 17, 2008

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    The less “Bickham” font that exists in the world, the better.


  10. Gravatar THstudent October 17, 2008

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    You do realize “professional” is spelled incorrectly in your article image, right? There’s only one f.


  11. Gravatar PS4Guru October 17, 2008

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    Thanks for the list, these fonts look great!


  12. Gravatar kuyuri October 17, 2008

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    why arial is not included? great post by the way


  13. Gravatar UTogger October 17, 2008

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    Nice information and attractively presented!


  14. Gravatar Dkumar M October 17, 2008

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    @Hosting Reviews – i also love Verdana.
    @Jager – that’s true, but not now days.

    will try to include those in our next volume.


  15. Gravatar Mitternacht October 17, 2008

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    Excellent list ! It really proves that classic, finely crafted fonts can’t get out of fashion.


  16. Gravatar Zman October 17, 2008

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    wow, I love how you have links to download/install all those fonts………. ummmm…ya?


  17. Gravatar Freddywang October 17, 2008

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    Just one curious quick question, how can we buy professional fonts in bulk, I saw couple of fonts selling website, they are selling them individually. It will be financial disaster if we have to fork all the money for each individual font. Any idea?


  18. Gravatar Eureka October 17, 2008

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    Where’s Comic Sans MS? I see that EVERYWHERE. It’s like, how do we look cool? Use Comic Sans MS.

    Except it isn’t cool. It isn’t cool at all.


  19. Gravatar sachin khobragade October 17, 2008

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    Thanks for the nice collection.


  20. Gravatar Henry Hoffman October 17, 2008

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    I use most of those fonts but I think DIN FF should be added and Myriad is seriously overused these days; I don’t think it looks very professional anymore.


  21. Gravatar Escoofield October 17, 2008

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    Wow this is truly amazing! It’s absolutely fantastic and very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

    Escoofield –
    http://alotofit.com

    Have Fun!


  22. Gravatar Susan Meehan October 17, 2008

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    Are they listed in order of popularity? I imagine so, but it should have been stated. Also, I note you have included a whopping 13 sans serifs, 1 in between (Optima – my favorite), only six with serifs, of which one (Trajan) has only upper case, and one in another style – Bickham – of which the less said, the better. There are, in my opinion, too many sans serifs here; Frutiger, Interstate and Gotham are boring, while Franklin is useful but boring. Eurostyle is passé, and I dislike Rockwell on principle. The rest are remarkably similar. I think more serifs that are imaginative but businesslike are needed to make this a truly useful list. ITC Galliard and ITC Tiepolo are pleasing to the eye, and Goudy Old Style has its place. Something with an even lower x-height as well would tickle my eye. How can there be no serious Italic? – Bembo doesn’t count. And finally, there should be at least one good period font – my longtime favorite is the streamlined Sprint.


  23. Gravatar Rick October 17, 2008

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    @Eureka:

    Professional designers don’t use Comic Sans. Amateurs might.

    My new favorite font is Georgia.


  24. Gravatar Geoserv October 17, 2008

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    STUMBLED!

    I’m a verdana lover myself, nice list.


  25. Gravatar dp October 17, 2008

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    I love typography, a font is a story. Thank for share!


  26. Gravatar JonShannow October 18, 2008

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    Hey great list. There is so many bad fonts out the it can get very confusing, these are nice fonts and as always I read the comment for more handy tips


  27. Gravatar A designer October 18, 2008

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    Myriad made the list because of lazy designers using the Adobe default.

    I miss the 70’s and letraset…


  28. Gravatar Dkumar M October 18, 2008

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    @Zman – We cant provide download links as they are not available for free.

    @Freddywang – it’s always good to contact them via mail for bulk order. that way you can get lot more discount.

    @Eureka, Henry, – We trying to include that in next volume.

    @Susan Meehan – Agreed with your point but it kinda messy to include all the types of individual fonts.

    @JonShannow – that’s the whole point behind this volume.


  29. Gravatar corey October 18, 2008

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    @kuyuri

    see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arial#Criticism.2FSimilar_fonts for info on arial.
    It’s the bastard child of Helvetica.

    I love avenir. Didn’t know it was this popular. Maybe I’m not a professional.


  30. Gravatar 0/1 October 19, 2008

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    At the risk of sounding like a killjoy, I believe it’s important to be aware that:

    Having “all”, “most” or even “half” of these typefaces won’t make you a ‘professional’.

    Without an understanding of the basics of typography and experience you will be doing a disservice to both your design and whichever typeface you employ.

    Typefaces are tools and, like any tool, the outcome (harmonious or discordant) is a signifier of the user’s proficiency and ability.

    My advice is to do your research on the examples above, find out what medium they’re suited to, pick one sans and one serif from the above list and PRACTICE.

    Michael Beirut (of Pentagram and the “Helvetica” film fame)wrote an article in Design Observer touching on this very subject where he recounts working for Massimo Vignelli after he finished his studies. I suggest you look it up.

    Georgia is nice enough, but “new favourite font” (you mean typeface) is about as “fan-boy” (-girl) as you can get….
    And, for the record: Connare’s Comic Sans is fine PROVIDED it’s used where it was designed to be used – in comics / graphical representations of comics. And for that reason only. Todd McFarlane’s admitted to using it.

    To sum up all of the above:
    Context is key.


  31. Gravatar Shermel October 19, 2008

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    Completely breath of what typography has to offer. This fonts teach about every are a font library should have.


  32. Gravatar Ryan G October 19, 2008

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    Great list. Never heard of Avenir before today.


  33. Gravatar meme October 19, 2008

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    Thanks for posting this nice list..


  34. Gravatar Vic October 19, 2008

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    Where’s verdana?


  35. Gravatar Andrew October 20, 2008

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    Arial is pretty much the Microsoft version of Helvetica only not as good. There is a good documentary film by Gary Hustwit about the no. 1 font in this list. It’s called ‘Helvetica.’

    http://www.helveticafilm.com/


  36. Gravatar simon October 20, 2008

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    I’m a long-term professional designer, and while I have most if not all of these fonts in my collection I never use them. Why? Because I don’t like them. As you say, they’re overused, and not at all typographically elegant or suitable for most clients’ needs.

    Typefaces are, to me, one of the joys of design – matching the brief with appropriate (or unexpected) visual style, and the font used is very much a part of the process.

    I do however admit to a guilty secret – I’ve been using Calibri for body text quite a lot recently . . .


  37. Gravatar Dunzy October 20, 2008

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    Good post, i love avantgarde


  38. Gravatar wesley October 21, 2008

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    This is a nice assortment, however, it would be nice to know where to get them for free.


  39. Gravatar jerm October 21, 2008

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    yer english sucks… what a waste of time this post was. No really, thanks! It makes such a difference.


  40. Gravatar R. Wayne Edwards October 21, 2008

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    I guess I’m not a professional. I use Comic Sans most of the time. I have written 13 books using it. My website has had 106,000 hits just to look at my Comic Sans poetry, or maybe it’s my illustrations.


  41. Gravatar Vince October 21, 2008

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    i hope that we can all take it easy with Trajan. I really like that font and it is getting a little over used.

    i hope it doesn’t become the next papyrus


  42. Gravatar dont forget October 21, 2008

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    the new hero of fresh types is for sure the DIN. all the upper listed types i had also learned in my design school which was 1993…

    this list is not up to date…


  43. Gravatar Adam October 21, 2008

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    This list is totally lame. How did you quantify this, all you said is “We spent last whole week reviewing dozens of font reservoirs and typography articles about fonts usability and popularity.” Where are the examples of their use throughout the web? This is just a roundup of fonts people use – no examples, no discussion. Puh-lease.

    O, and Bickham script? Really? I mean… really???


  44. Gravatar Photographion October 21, 2008

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    Good article


  45. Gravatar Blackberry Themes Free October 22, 2008

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    Guilty!


  46. Gravatar RICKEY October 22, 2008

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    Good


  47. Gravatar Robert October 22, 2008

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    Nice list.

    Thank you.


  48. Gravatar Dkumar M October 22, 2008

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    @wesley – Soon we’ll going to post new list of Most Used Free Fonts. There you can find all the info related to free downloads :)


  49. Gravatar Dkumar M October 22, 2008

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    @R. Wayne Edwards – just saw your poetry. Very nice !!

    @dont forget – Sure you did. Old is Gold.

    @Adam – the only reason why we didn’t include any examples and discussion is that we don’t want to look this list messy and crappy.


  50. Gravatar omer October 23, 2008

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    I think FF DIN should also be there.


  51. Gravatar How to lose girls October 26, 2008

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    Awesome list… very helpful for us designers! Thanks for posting!


  52. Gravatar Joolz October 28, 2008

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    This is not serious, man!. Where are Garamond, Univers, Times, Caslon, Clarendon? I mean, the all time classics.


  53. Gravatar web design company October 28, 2008

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    How did I know it would have Trajan?


  54. Gravatar Mariano Verón October 29, 2008

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    Good. I like It. Tanks everybody


  55. Gravatar Sizzle Creative October 30, 2008

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    I think you’re forgetting the mighty snowcaps chaps


  56. Gravatar Anon October 30, 2008

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    about 50% accurate…not bad, but could be more accurate.
    A pro


  57. Gravatar W. P. Jaspert November 6, 2008

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    sorry to harp on this. my Emcyclopaedia of Tye Faces (ISBN 1-84188-139-2) lists most of these alphabets complete. type originators gave permission to show.


  58. Gravatar submyt.com November 6, 2008

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    i like these kind of blogs who related with designers, because me too.

    Suraish Patel
    http://www.submyt.com


  59. Gravatar Rishi Luchun November 24, 2008

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    Yep use most of those on a regular basis, Gotham has become the main font where I work.


  60. Gravatar sattar December 20, 2008


  61. Gravatar Kelly Hobkirk December 26, 2008

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    I’ve been a professional designer for 24 years, and honestly, I’ve never used several of these. In fact, I intentionally avoid a few of them. One of the primary things that has plagued web design since its inception is horrible typography. I’m unsure if posts like this one help to improve or erode web designers’ understanding of good typography.

    The idea that there are 21 most used fonts which represent good design on the web is a bit of an odd concept. Type is designed with very specific characteristics in mind for each typeface, therefore, each and every company, person, product, or service may be best represented by different typefaces. The fact that there are tens of thousands of typefaces is testament to this fact.

    I encourage designers to explore and use many typefaces outside of the 21 listed here. Of course, I have my favorites as well, some of which are listed here. Helvetica, Trajan, Franklin, Gotham and various incarnations of Bodoni rank high on my list. That said, I would never use them simply because they are among my favorites. I only use them when their character perfectly fits the job.


  62. Gravatar Dann December 27, 2008

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    The good old Verdana and Arial are missing.
    I can’t think a webpage without a Verdana.
    (Yeah Im a little bit Verdana fan)


  63. Gravatar Allan White January 22, 2009

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    People: web fonts are missing from this list, because we’re talking about design – not web typography. That is different, and has technical limitations (unfortunately, limited to what is pre-installed on Windows for the most part).

    Verdana is only useful for screen display. Arial is a pale imitation of Helvetica. My father printed a whole book in Verdana, which really hurts to read in print. They simply don’t belong on a designer’s list because, in reality, they’re not that well made.

    Look to Adobe (with excellent OpenType fonts), Monotype, House, T26 for great fonts. My current fave: Cacelia.


  64. Gravatar DownloadBird January 22, 2009

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    Very good post


  65. Gravatar HJ January 24, 2009

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    fantastic list, thanks! its hard to find classic, well-rounded fonts for print use. my current favourite is Tw Cen MT, but i’ll sure be using some more of these now :-)


  66. Gravatar Tim Ngwena March 31, 2009


  67. Gravatar francis April 24, 2009

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    great post!


  68. Comment Arrow

    Like Kelly said, I’ve avoided most of these in my 20-plus years. Perhaps post should have read “21 most [over]used fonts…”


  69. Gravatar Juegos Gratis July 2, 2009

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    Muchas Gracias por las fuentes, me van a ser de gran ayuda en mi diseños :(


  70. Gravatar Grover August 28, 2009

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    Yeah, I’m a big avant garde fan too.


  71. Gravatar His_wife59 October 22, 2009

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    What is life really like for soldiers serving on the front line in Afghanistan? ,


  72. Gravatar songlap November 7, 2009

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    It’s cool, thanks


  73. Gravatar ubocek November 24, 2009

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    ohh yes very nice.I used http://www.ucretsiztarot.com and http://www.kompozisyonornekleri.com :) thank you for fonts


  74. Gravatar Jess November 27, 2009

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    Great post. I use most of these fonts, often.

    What I find interesting is that most of the readers didn’t really READ the post. These fonts are 21 fonts used by professional designers. He didn’t say the ONLY fonts. There are other fonts used, and sometimes often.

    Personally, I think Verdana (as stated by another commentor) isn’t a great font. The letters don’t flow as easily and the kerning pairs aren’t always perfect. A great font/typeface will be designed so that the kerning pairs are almost perfect and require minimal adjusting. Also, a great font will be easy on the eye… easy to read… something you don’t have to really THINK about.

    Thanks for the post.


  75. Gravatar Burçlar December 10, 2009

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    yes nice post !!! Thanks admin


  76. Gravatar Fallar December 10, 2009

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    nice informations thanks all !!


  77. Gravatar Burçlar December 10, 2009

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    nice informations thanks all !!


  78. Gravatar Burçlar December 10, 2009

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    nice post .. thanks admin


  79. Gravatar fallar December 10, 2009

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    thank you all !!! nice info


  80. Gravatar Michelle December 15, 2009

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    wow great list, I love to create pictures with typography in my spare time. thanks for sharing


  81. Gravatar diwhflq January 4, 2010

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    Periodic Table of Typefaces » Lone Gunman


  82. Gravatar naanh January 10, 2010

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    great fonts , thank


  83. Gravatar Itsashirt T shirts January 14, 2010

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    I used a lot of these fonts, does that make me a professional? :)


  84. Gravatar amole January 23, 2010

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    awesome list of fonts



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