The typefaces you choose for print advertisements “should definitely reflect you and your business,” says Washington, D.C., adman Dan Rosenthal, who recommends asking yourself, “What is my or my business’s voice?” when perusing options. Below, a few iconic (and ultra au courant) fonts to help kick-start your creativity.
This bolder-than-bold sans serif typeface, which was produced by American type designer Morris Fuller Benton in 1902, is often paired with more delicate-looking type to accentuate its shapeliness.
The delicate Didot family of serif fonts is elegance personified. HTF Didot was created by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones for Harper’s Bazaar in 1991 (this is a very slight variation) and it still reeks of fashion.
This modern typeface, which was commissioned by GQ (the mag has a custom version of its own) is an art director fave; look closely and you’ll see it everywhere. It’s super clean, upscale, and ultimately feels very classic New York City.
This decidedly proper, beautifully designed serif font is old-school—it was originally created in 1757 by John Baskerville. The font marries a vaguely Old English feel with mid-20th-century aesthetics and is great for longer chunks of text.
Perhaps the most recognizable slab serif out there, Rockwell was created by the Monotype foundry’s in-house design department in 1934. It’s beloved because however you manipulate its perfect lines (stretch, elongate, etc.), it just works.