What is the best font to use

Typography can make or break a graphic design project, so using a professional font is paramount to its success.

We’ve seen many other most used font posts however most of them outline fonts used by untrained ‘designers’. In this post, we have outlined the fonts that are often used by professional designers.

What is the best font to use

These fonts are perfect for branding, logos, packaging and more, and are always on hand for graphic designers who want their designs to look professional.

Top 10 Professionals Fonts for Graphic Design

Every designer needs a solid set of professional fonts in their collection but with the thousands available on the market, what are the must-haves? These are the top 10 most used fonts used by professionals in graphic design:

  1. Helvetica
  2. Trajan
  3. Garamond Pro
  4. Futura
  5. Bodoni
  6. Bickham Script Pro
  7. Frutiger
  8. Sabon
  9. Rockwell
  10. Proxima Nova

How to Choose The Right Professional Font

But first, how can you choose the right font for your graphic design project?

  • Choose a category of type (ie. Oldstyle, Modern, Slab Serif, Sans Serif, Script, Decorative). Unsure of your type categories?
  • Are you combining type? Use complementary fonts for a more professional look. See our top font combinations here.
  • How much text is there to read? What is its purpose? Are you designing for a poster, a book, a report? What is more important – readability or aesthetics? What is the purpose of the text? A serious look, a casual look, a decorative look?
  • Consider the quality of printer & paper. Where are you getting your piece printed?
  • How much space do you need to fill? Or leave unfilled? Different typefaces take up different amounts of space, even at the same point size. Try comparing two fonts next to each other and see how much space they occupy.
  • Is the project to be skimmed or be actually read? Choose a typeface and layout that suits its purpose.

BEST PROFESSIONAL FONTS – UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets

What is the best font to use

Download all the Professional Fonts you need plus many other design elements, available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of over 50 million items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock photos too)!


10 Best Professional Fonts

Are you looking for a professional font for your next graphic design project? See our list of the top 10 professional fonts for designers.

Helvetica / Helvetica Neue / Helvetica Now

What is the best font to use

Without a doubt, Helvetica is the most heavily used font by professionals in graphic design. Although some praise the font, many believe that it is spaced too tightly.

And as Vivien pleas in her 16 most overused fonts article, “Understand that you can’t always rely on Helvetica to illustrate and deliver your every message. Helvetica is not perfect for everyone and every occasion.”

You should also consider the new 2019 version, Helvetica Now.

2. Trajan Pro

What is the best font to use

Trajan finds its way into many Hollywood movie posters and anything remotely to do with religion, law, marriage, class, or the past. You can check out the Flickr pool for more uses of Trajan.

A bit of history on the font Trajan… Trajan is an old-style serif typeface designed in 1989 by Carol Twombly for Adobe. The design is based on Roman square capitals, as used for the inscription at the base of Trajan’s Column from which the typeface takes its name.

3. Garamond Pro

What is the best font to use

Although there are many versions of Garamond, the most used version today is the Adobe Garamond Pro version released in 1989. Garamond is a great font for magazines, textbooks, websites, and long bodies of text and was recently named the second-best font (after Helvetica) by a German publication.

4. Futura

What is the best font to use

Futurais a font that comes up often in large displays, logos, corporate typefaces, and in books where small text is needed. It is based on geometric shapes (near-perfect circles, triangles, and squares) which became representative of the Bauhaus design style of 19191933. Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. Some do hate the font though.

Bodoni

What is the best font to use

Bodoniis a great font for headlines, decorative text, and logos. Bodoni has a narrow underlying structure with flat, unbracketed serifs. The face has extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes and an overall geometric construction which makes it a very aesthetic-looking font.

6. Bickham Script Pro

What is the best font to use

Used mainly for formal occasions, Bickham Script Pro is a font that does the job well… Cameron Moll even recommended it in his article “Typefaces no one will get fired for using.” The ‘not-so-trained’ designer usually vouches for Vivaldi instead which is one of America’s most hated fonts. Another great alternative would be Sloop.

Frutiger

What is the best font to use

The Frutiger font family is neither strictly geometric nor humanistic in construction; its forms are designed so that each character is quickly and easily recognized. Such distinctness makes it good for signage and display work and it is often used in Web 2.0 Logos.

The full family has a warmth and subtlety that have, in recent years, made it popular for the smaller scale of the body text in magazines and booklets.

Sabon

What is the best font to use

Sabon is the perfect font for book text and elegant design due to its smooth nature and has long been a favorite of typographers and professional designers.

RockWell

What is the best font to use

Slab serif fonts (otherwise known as square serif or Egyptian) are sturdy, straight-edged, and hold a no-nonsense attitude. A font like Rockwell is both robust and adaptable and why it’s always in a professional designer’s toolkit.

Proxima Nova

What is the best font to use

The Proxima Nova font is an all-purpose modern sans that can give graphic design projects a very minimal and professional look.

There are three widths to choose from including Proxima Nova, Proxima Nova Condensed, and Proxima Nova Extra Condensed. Each width consists of 16 fonts—seven weights with matching italics.

More Top Professional Fonts

Here are some other fonts many professional designers use quite often;

Gills Sans

What is the best font to use

This font is widely used by professional graphic designers as it has a classic tone and concept. For headlines, this humanist font is one of the best options available. The versatile style of Gill Sans font makes it a must-have for your graphic designer toolkit.

FF DIN

What is the best font to use

The FontFont DIN font is thin and extra lightweight. You will get a range of old-style and lining figures with italicized options. Professional graphic designers love creating logos, billboard headings, web and screen designs with this sophisticated font.

Franklin Gothic

What is the best font to use

Franklin Gothic comes in 23 different styles, as well as family bundle options to create awesome text-based images and logos. This sturdy font is popular and recognisable among graphic designers.

Bembo

What is the best font to use

Bembo font has 18 styles that include lightweight fonts, bold, italicised and many more. This serif typeface old-style font is majorly used for printing and digital work. When there is more readable content, use this font.

Avenir

What is the best font to use

The Avenir font is a stylistic version of sans serif typeface. This font will give graphic design a very harmonious and sensible appearance.

ITC Avant Garde Gothic

What is the best font to use

If you want to create a simple yet classy graphic design, give a shot to ITC Avant Garde Gothic font family. A geometric sans-serif typeface that’s perfect for graphic display. Original 33 variant characters, ligatures and extra characters are included in the OpenType version of this font.

MrsEaves

What is the best font to use

For years, Mrs Eaves has been one of the most popular fonts, alongside Helvetica, Univers, Bodoni, and Franklin Gothic. It has come to define the Emigre type foundry due to its commercial and popular success. When utilised in the correct situation, it gives off a distinct vibe that distinguishes it apart from many other similar varieties. It has an undefined quality that people respond to. Give it a whirl!

Gotham

What is the best font to use

Gotham Bundle, as the name suggests, it is a combination of various Goham fonts. The letters are straightforward, although it has been used for half a century. Its architectural style makes it highly legible for graphic designing.

Baskerville

What is the best font to use

Serif typefaces, such as Baskerville, are popular with elite firms because they represent sophistication and timeless luxury. The Baskerville is an everlasting font. You are free to use them in your products and projects, whether print or digital, commercial or display ads.

Warnock Pro

What is the best font to use

John Warnock’s innovative spirit has led to substantial breakthroughs in desktop publishing and graphic arts software. This adobe original font is named after him. Warnock Pro is a classic yet modern composition family that adds grace to a wide range of typographic chores. Use this font family in your next graphic project to add a modern touch.

Notice that none of these are fonts are downloadable for free? These are premium fonts used by professional graphic designers.

Editor’s Pick: Top Professional Fonts for Designs

What is the best font to use

When we are choosing a font, there are a certain handful that are always top of mind. We listed them all out and came up with this list featuring 38 of our favourite fonts for professional graphic design.

Sans Serif

  1. Proxima Nova (Our brand’s font)
  2. Brandon Grotesque
  3. Avenir Next
  4. Futura
  5. Akzidenz Grotesk
  6. Poppins (Free)
  7. Nexa
  8. Lato (Free)
  9. Frutiger
  10. Circular
  11. FF DIN
  12. Cera Pro
  13. Gotham
  14. Helvetica Now
  15. Franklin Gothic
  16. Montseratt (Free)
  17. Gilroy
  18. Open Sans (Free)
  19. Bison (get for 50% off)

Serif / Script / Hand

  1. DM Serif (Free)
  2. Playfair (Free)
  3. Clarendon
  4. Caslon
  5. Baskerville
  6. Finnmark (get for 50% off)
  7. Bodoni
  8. Minion Pro
  9. Garamond
  10. Sabon
  11. Recoleta
  12. Cooper
  13. Merriweather (Free)
  14. Georgia
  15. Memphis
  16. Money Penny
  17. Honest Script
  18. Dear Joe 6
  19. Bickham Script Pro

UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets

What is the best font to use

Download all the Fonts you need and many other design elements are available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of 50 Million+ items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock photos too)! A few are shown below.


Glenn Sans with Envato Elements subscription

Glenn Sans is a good alternative to the ever-popular Open Sans and Helvetica. If you’re looking to explore a catchy typeface for your paragraphs, this Scandinavian-made font family with 16 different variants is a pretty good pick.


Mitga with Envato Elements subscription

Mitga is a wide typeface that has an almost avant-garde vibe to it. It’s sharp around the edges and full of character. As a headline font, this one works wonders.


Masterline with Envato Elements subscription

Looking to add a faux signature to something? Masterline has been picking up traction recently because of its utility as a signature font. There’s a childish flow to the momentum and angle of the type.


Biograph Signature Font with Envato Elements subscription

What is the best font to use

Another striking handwritten signature font is this contender. Dubbed as a stylish homage to classic calligraphy, this font is beautifully intimate and stunning. From postcards to social media art materials, this font will succeed everywhere!

What other professional fonts would you add to the list?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are professional fonts?

Professional fonts are a category of fonts that work well in business communication and designs. While there are several types of fonts under this category, professional fonts are typically more minimalist in nature.

What are some of the best professional Serif fonts?

Some excellent professional Serif font choices include Bodoni, Sabon, Trajan Pro, and Garamond Pro. Typically, serif fonts are used to convey a more classy or elegant tone

What are some of the best professional Sans-Serif fonts?

Helvetica, Futura, Frutiger, and Gill Sans are some great Sans-Serif professional fonts to work with. While Sans-Serif fonts are not as classy as Serif fonts, several of them do an effective job for professional brand design and messaging.

What are some of the best professional Slab Serif fonts?

Rockwell is of the best professional Slab Serif fonts to work with on your brand messaging.

What is a good professional script font?

The Bickham Script Pro is an excellent professional script font to work with. For a versatile font family that has a script font, Warnock Pro is also a good one to work with.

What are complementary fonts?

Complimentary fonts or font pairings are two fonts that balance each other out and go well together. Typically, two different font types are paired together ie. Serif with Sans-Serif, or Sans-Serif with a script font. If you’d like to know more about this, you should check out our article Best Complimentary Fonts’.

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The Four-Part Series

This top professional fonts post was originally part of this series:

  • Top 7 Most Overused Techniques & Elements Used in Graphic Design
  • Top 7 Most Overused Icons / Shapes Used in Graphic Design
  • Top 7 Most Overused Stock Images Used in Web Design

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What is the best font to use

What font is most pleasing to the eye?

Best fonts for reading.
Times New Roman. For many, Times New Roman has become the default font for print and web documents. ... .
Verdana. ... .
Arial. ... .
Tahoma. ... .
Helvetica. ... .
Calibri. ... .
Verdana. ... .
Lucida Sans (PC) or Lucida Grande (Mac).

What is the most professional font to use?

The most common font used is black Times New Roman at 12 points in size. Other serif fonts, those that have tails, that work well include Cambria, Georgia, Garamond, Book Antiqua, and Didot. Sans serif fonts, those without tails, that work well include Calibri, Helvetica, Verdana, Trebuchet MS and Lato.

Which text font is best?

Helvetica / Helvetica Neue / Helvetica Now Without a doubt, Helvetica is the most heavily used font by professionals in graphic design.