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Underappreciated Fonts From Design Experts

12 Underappreciated Fonts From Design Experts

Beyond Helvetica, Arial, and Times New Roman, there are countless underrated fonts waiting to shine. Although popular fonts are widely used for their versatility and readability, typography has a lot more to offer for those who are willing to explore. Let's take a walk off the conventional path of typography to discover and celebrate the unsung heroes of font design.

Underrated Fonts Overview

Font Name	Availability	Where to Get	Best Used For
Univers	Paid	MyFonts	Corporate identity, print media
Serifa	Paid	Adobe Fonts	Headlines, posters
Frutiger	Paid	MyFont	Signage, user interfaces
Garamond	free	Google Fonts	Book publishing, extended text
Baskerville	Free	Google Fonts	Luxury branding, academic papers
Neue Haas Grotesk	Paid	Adobe Fonts	Magazine publishing, advertising
Acumin	Paid	Adobe Fonts	Digital and print editorial design
Sabon	Paid	MyFonts	Book typesetting, elegant invitations
Bauer Bodoni	Paid	MyFonts	Magazine covers, fashion branding
Hoefler Text	Paid	Typography.com	Academic writing, formal applications
Miller	Paid	MyFonts	Newspaper print, robust reading material
Wingdings (Wingdings)	Free	MyFonts	Creating decorative elements in documents

Why Unique Fonts Matter

The decision to use unique fonts can significantly elevate the overall aesthetic and emotional impact of a design.

We sat down with two design leads from UPrinting, Greg Simmons and KD Macalinao, to give us their top 12 fonts that fly under the radar. With their combined expertise spanning decades, they've curated a list that brings the spotlight to these overlooked typefaces.

Greg Simmons

Greg Simmons is the Group Creative Director at UPrinting and holds an impressive 30-year career in design. He has worked in many roles, ranging from designing and directing to teaching. Greg leads a team responsible for the visual design, creativity, user experience, and branding of nine digital brands. His work focuses on the importance of storytelling in design and creating a unified vision across all elements of a project.

KD Macalinao

UPrinting’s Art Director KD Macalinao boasts 15 years of experience in the design field, having evolved from a graphic designer to an art director through a combination of self-directed learning and professional growth. Without formal design education, KD embarked on her design career, driven by a personal fascination with typography and a keen desire to improve visual communication. This personal journey into the world of design has instilled in her a philosophy that champions the fusion of beauty and functionality in her work.

12 Underrated Fonts You Need to Know

Univers

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Univers is not free; licenses can be purchased through platforms like Linotype, with prices varying based on usage needs.

Created by Adrian Frutiger in 1957, Univers is celebrated for its clarity and vast family of weights and widths, making it incredibly versatile. This was one of the first typefaces to be designed on a systematic framework, allowing for a range of variations while maintaining consistency. Univers was groundbreaking for its unified approach to typeface design, encompassing a range of weights and widths under a single family. This systematic design approach allowed for unprecedented consistency across the typeface, setting a new standard in typographic design. Its popularity soared as it offered designers a versatile toolkit for a wide range of applications, from corporate identity to signage and print media.

Serifa BT

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Serifa is available for purchase from various font retailers, including MyFonts and Adobe Fonts, with prices depending on the package.

Designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1967, Serifa is the serif counterpart to the sans-serif Univers, known for its readability and structure. The name "Serifa" comes from the word "serif," highlighting its distinctive flared stroke ends. Developed as a slab serif companion to Univers, Serifa brought the clarity and geometric structure of its predecessor into a new typographic genre. Its robust, blocky serifs add presence and authority to text, making it especially suited for headlines and text in print advertising. The design of Serifa reflects a blend of modernity with traditional serif characteristics, making it a versatile choice for editorial and branding purposes.

Frutiger

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Frutiger is available for purchase on platforms like Linotype, with pricing based on usage.

Another masterpiece by Adrian Frutiger, this namesake font was developed in 1976, originally for the Charles de Gaulle Airport signage in Paris. Originally designed for airport signage, Frutiger was created to be highly legible from a distance and under poor lighting conditions. This focus on clarity and readability has made Frutiger a favorite in the design of wayfinding systems and corporate identities worldwide. Its humanist character, with warm, open shapes, ensures a friendly appearance in both digital and print mediums, exemplifying Frutiger's mastery of form and function.

Garamond

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Various versions of Garamond are available, including free versions. Paid versions can be found on Adobe Fonts and other font libraries.

This classic font traces back to the 16th century, with its design attributed to Claude Garamond. It's renowned for its elegance and readability in print. Garamond is often used in books and extensive text due to its timeless style and legibility. Garamond's design is based on the work of Claude Garamond and Jean Jannon, making it one of the earliest and most enduringly popular typefaces in the history of printing. The elegance and efficiency of Garamond have made it a go-to font for book publishing for centuries. Its continued popularity underscores the timeless appeal of its design, which optimizes readability and aesthetic grace in equal measure. Garamond's historical roots give it a classic elegance that can elevate any design project. Beyond aesthetics, it's also highly efficient for lengthy texts due to its readability and reduced ink usage, making it perfect for print publications and eco-friendly projects.

Baskerville

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Baskerville fonts are available through multiple vendors, with some free versions and premium options on platforms like Adobe Fonts.

Created by John Baskerville in the 18th century, Baskerville is known for its sharp contrast and strong serifs, embodying the transition from old-style to modern typefaces. Its refined appearance makes it a favorite for book publishing. John Baskerville’s quest for perfection in printing led him to create this namesake typeface, characterized by its sharp, clean lines and high contrast between thick and thin strokes. Baskerville was a significant step forward in the evolution of print design, influencing the development of modern typefaces. Its refined elegance makes it particularly effective for formal applications, scholarly works, and literature.

Neue Haas Grotesk

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Available for purchase from various font foundries, including Linotype.

The original name for what would become Helvetica, designed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in 1957, was initially quirkier and irregular. Before it was renamed Helvetica, Neue Haas Grotesk aimed to be the epitome of the Swiss design aesthetic: simple, practical, and devoid of embellishment. The typeface's original features, which were more pronounced and unique than those of its successor, reflect a specific period of typographic innovation and the Swiss design movement's principles. It offers a glimpse into the design philosophy that would eventually give rise to one of the most used fonts in the world.

Acumin Pro

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Included with Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions, or available for purchase through Adobe Fonts.

Designed by Robert Slimbach and released by Adobe in 2015, Acumin is a versatile sans-serif inspired by classic grotesque typefaces. It's designed to be a workhorse font for the digital age, offering a wide range of weights and styles. Acumin is an extensive type family that bridges the gap between the geometric and humanist sans-serif traditions. Its creation was inspired by the functional clarity seen in classic airport and highway signage, making it supremely readable under diverse conditions. Acumin’s broad range of styles makes it an incredibly flexible tool for designers. Its readability and flexibility across different media and sizes make it a strong contender for universal application in modern design projects.

Sabon

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Sabon can be purchased from font libraries like Linotype and MyFonts.

Created by Jan Tschichold in the 1960s, Sabon was developed to conform to the constraints of mechanical typesetting machines, which required typefaces to look good in both metal and phototypesetting. Its design was based on Garamond’s original punches, offering a historical connection to the Renaissance while meeting modern typographic needs. Sabon has been celebrated for its beautiful readability and classic elegance, making it a staple for book typography and corporate communications.

Bauer Bodoni

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Available for purchase from vendors like MyFonts and Linotype.

A revival of Giambattista Bodoni's original design from the late 18th century, this version was created by Heinrich Jost in the 1920s. This revival pays homage to Giambattista Bodoni's original work, renowned for its radical contrast between thick and thin strokes, reflecting the evolving tastes of the late 18th century. Bauer Bodoni emphasizes the dramatic flair of Bodoni's design, capturing the spirit of its time and allowing designers to inject a sense of historical drama and sophistication into their work. Its assertive style is particularly effective for fashion branding, editorial headlines, and anywhere a touch of elegance is desired.

Hoefler Text

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Available as part of macOS, or for purchase through Typography.com for use on other platforms.

Designed by Jonathan Hoefler in 1991, it was originally for Apple Inc. to demonstrate advanced type technologies. Hoefler Text was one of the early typefaces to be designed explicitly for digital media, showcasing the capabilities of Apple's advanced typographic features of the time. It includes a range of ornaments, swashes, and ligatures that hark back to the days of hand-set type, allowing for beautiful, classical typography on modern digital platforms. This blend of historical typographic practices with modern technology has made Hoefler Text a favorite for creating sophisticated, text-rich documents and websites.

Miller

Sample Text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Available for purchase from Font Bureau.

A robust and flexible serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1997, tailored for newsprint and challenging print conditions. Designed for the newspaper industry, Miller is a workhorse that combines robustness with elegance, capable of performing under the demanding conditions of high-speed printing and low-quality paper. Its design reflects a deep understanding of historical typefaces, updated for contemporary needs, making it a versatile choice for editorial and corporate communications. Miller's ability to remain legible in adverse conditions has also made it popular for online content, where clarity is paramount.

Wingdings(Wingdings)

Sample Text:Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Availability: Included with most Microsoft Windows operating systems and Office suites.

Wingdings, designed by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes in 1990, is a series of dingbat fonts, including various symbols. It is not just a font but a collection of symbols that transformed the way designers and users could communicate visually in digital documents. Its creation was a pioneering move in iconography in text, allowing for the expression of ideas through symbols. The font's quirky and varied symbols have found uses in diverse contexts, from documents and presentations to digital interfaces, embodying the fun and creative potential of typography beyond the alphabet.

How to Use These Fonts Creatively

Here are tips and best practices for making the most out of these fonts:

Understand the font's personality: Each font carries its own mood and character. Consider the message you want to convey and select a font that aligns with that tone. For example, Bauer Bodoni could lend sophistication to luxury branding, while Wingdings offers playful elements for more whimsical projects.
Pair wisely: Combining fonts can either make or break your design. Pair underutilized fonts with more neutral ones to balance complexity and readability. For instance, pairing Serifa with a simple sans-serif like Acumin can create a visually engaging and readable layout.
Use for branding elements: Unique fonts can give your branding elements—such as logos, taglines, and business cards—a distinct identity. Choose a font like Hoefler Text for its classical touches on modern digital platforms, making your brand memorable.
Experiment with typography as a design element: Use these fonts to create interesting backgrounds, patterns, or textures. For example, the various weights and styles of Univers can be layered to create dynamic and engaging compositions.
Pay attention to detail: Small touches like custom kerning, leading, and tracking can significantly enhance the overall appearance of your text. Tailoring these aspects to each specific font will ensure that its unique characteristics shine through.
Consider the medium: The platform where the font will be used—whether print, web, or digital signage—can impact its effectiveness. Fonts like Frutiger, designed for legibility at various sizes and distances, are ideal for digital interfaces and wayfinding systems.
Be mindful of licensing: Ensure you have the right to use the font in your intended way by understanding its licensing agreements. Some fonts may be free for personal use but require a license for commercial projects.

Exploring under-the-radar fonts unveils a rich tapestry of history and adds depth and character to design work. From the systematic versatility of Univers to the dramatic flair of Bauer Bodoni, these typefaces provide a fresh palette for designers to explore, challenging conventional norms and fostering creativity. By stepping out of the comfort zone of widely used fonts, designers can discover unique ways to convey messages and shape brand identities.

If you're interested in experimenting with or knowing more about the fonts we featured, you can find and download them from reputable sources like Adobe Fonts, MyFonts, and Linotype. These platforms offer a wide range of fonts, including the hidden gems we've discussed, ensuring you have access to the best tools for your creative endeavors.

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