10 highly professional fonts that had a strong influence on the history and evolution of contemporary typography and graphic design.

Of course, there is no official ranking of the world’s most influential fonts, but when we have a look at the history as well as current trends in graphic design, there are outstanding fonts that had a significant impact on the evolution of today’s typography. Due to a variety of individual features, these typefaces acquired great popularity among graphic designers from around the globe. So here is the list with 10 of the most influential fonts in graphic design. Check it our below.

Helvetica

I guess our first pick is not coming as a surprise. Designed originally by Max Meidinger in cooperation with Eduard Hoffmann in 1957, Helvetica is the most widely used typeface till date. Due to its well legibility and clean design, this sans serif is an all-purpose typeface that can deliver any message efficiently in any font size and text length. Equipped with various versions for Latin, Greek, Japanese, Hindi, Hebrew, among others, some of the world’s leading brands have chosen Helvetica as corporate typeface as well as all advertising and communication purposes. This iconic sans serif is available here.

Futura

Created by German designer Paul Renner in 1927, Futura is widely considered as “the” classic representative of a geometric sans serif typeface. Due to its distinctive, geometric design, this typeface is a great choice for graphic needs such as logo design as well as display and text use. Over the years, Futura has been equipped with lots of additional styles, which you can find here.

Bodoni

Bodoni’s elegant design is mainly characterized by the strength of its characters. The font had a significant influence on typography until the end of the 19th century. Named after its creator Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813), the historical typeface received a revision by Morris Fuller Benton in the early 20th century. Even today, Bodoni inspires new creations and is widely used as classic display font in striking headlines or highlighted text areas with generous spacing. Feel free to find more information here.

Frutiger

Here comes another typeface that is named after its creator. In 1968, Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger has originally designed the font for the Charles De Gaulle International Airport in France. Due to its clear design and perfect readability, the Frutiger font family is often used in signage and all kinds of modern graphic design. You can get it here.

Garamond

Garamond is by far the oldest typeface in our exquisite selection of most influential fonts. It is based on old roman lettering designs by Claude Garamond, which appeared first in the Egenolff-Berner specimen sheet printed in 1592. Today, Garamond is widely used in textbooks, newspapers, and magazines. You can purchase the family here.

Verdana

Loved and hated by designers from all over the world. Anyway, Verdana has been designed by Matthew Carter and Tom Rickner for Microsoft in 1996 to address the challenges of today’s on-screen display. Over the last years, Verdana had a strong impact on any kind of screen and web design. Check out more information here.

Times New Roman

Not only known among creative professionals, Times New Roman has become an indispensable standard pre-installed on most operating systems. Originally designed in 1932, this well-balanced serif is a great choice for any kind of editorial work such as books, magazines, and newspapers. Check out more information here.

Univers

Here comes another font that has been created by one of my all time favorite type designers, Adrian Frutiger. It is obvious that Univers has some similarities with Helvetica. This modern sans serif typeface is a workhorse for a variety of applications. It is characterized by its reduced design and great legibility also from the distance. That’s why Univers is often used for signage and wayfinding systems by numerous airlines. You can get this typeface here.

Franklin Gothic

Franklin Gothic was created by American typeface designer Morris Fuller Benton in 1902. In 1972, Vic Caruso has equipped the family with more weights. Franklin Gothic is one of the most popular sans serif typefaces ever produced. It is often used in advertising campaigns, billboards, books, etc. Feel free to get more information here.

FF DIN

FF DIN has been created by Dutch type designer Albert-Jan Pool between 1995 and 2009. It is well suited for all the daily needs in graphic design such as editorial and publishing, advertising and packaging, logo, branding, posters, billboards, wayfinding systems and signage as well as web and screen design. Check out more information here.

That was our list of the top 10 most influential fonts in graphic design. I hope you like our selection! For those who are looking for new type inspiration, please visit our recommended Fonts category. Our reviews will help you to find the perfect typeface for any kind of typographic work.

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