Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Graphic Design

All though there have been many other most used font posts, most of them outline fonts used by the ‘not-so-well-trained’ designer. In this post I want to outline the fonts that are often used by the more ‘professional’ of designers.

The Six Part Series

This article is the third article of six in this series.

• Top 7 Most Overused Techniques & Elements Used in Graphic Design
• Top 7 Most Overused Icons / Shapes Used in Graphic Design
• Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Graphic Design
• Top 7 Most Overused Concepts Used in Graphic & Web Design
• Top 7 Most Overused Stock Images Used in Web Design
• Top 7 Most Overused Clichés In Logo Design

Top 7 Most Used Fonts Used By Professionals In Graphic Design

1. Helvetica

Without a doubt, Helvetica is the most heavily used font by professionals (and also by the not so professional) 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.”

2. Trajan

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

Although there are many versions of Garamond, the most used version today is the Adobe Garamond version (as seen above) 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

Futura is 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 1919–1933. Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. Some do hate the font though.

4. Bodoni

Bodoni is 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

Used mainly for formal occasions, Bickham Script Pro is a font which 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.

7. Frutiger

The Frutiger font family is neither strictly geometric nor humanistic in construction; its forms are designed so that each individual character is quickly and easily recognised. 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 body text in magazines and booklets.

Top 7 Most Overused Icons / Shapes / Symbols Used in Graphic Design

In the previous article, we looked at some of the most used design elements, in this one we go a bit further and look at particular shapes / icons / symbols that always seem to appear in graphic design related work, usually because of their perceived semiotics.

These icons / shapes / symbols are neither ‘good or bad’, however they are the most common found in today’s designs. Vector stock images have been used to portray each element for simplicities sake.

Hearts

The good ol’ heart is by far the most used icon in design. Made famous by Milton Glaser’s I Heart NY design, the heart can now be found everywhere. The heart has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past, intellectual core of a human being and is the most well known symbol to represent love.

Skulls

On the other end of the scale we have the infamous skull. The skull is a symbol of death and rebellion and seems to find its way onto many clothing and music related designs. Wouldn’t you agree?

Wings

The use of wings in a design is usually used to portray freedom as people associate wings with angels and birds. Wings also have the perceived values of hope, speed, elevation, enlightenment, guidance, protection and inspiration. Wings are found very often in tattoo designs and are all too often, used in combination with skulls and crests as seen in the pictures above and below.

Heraldry / Crests

Wikipedia defines Heraldry as the “practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and badges. The origins of heraldry lie in the need to distinguish participants in combat when their faces are hidden by iron and steel helmets.” Perhaps this is why crests come up so often in designs (especially tattoos), they distinguish one from another… or does it?

Lightglobes

The lightglobe is all too often used to portray an idea, creativity, innovation or something new. Don’t get stuck into using these cliches, get creative.

Arrows

Stylised arrows seem to make their way into many designs without real need. They do however, get the point across (no pun intended) - they make you look where the arrow is pointing and they give a sense of motion to a design.

Silhouetted City Skylines

City skylines are usually very complex so this is a clever and simple technique used in designs to give the location of the scene without making the design too complex which is why it used so often.

The main point that I want to portray by outlining these overused elements, is to try to encourage people to use these effects in a manner that suits the design, not just because they are available. Be imaginative and creative and always make an educated choice in your designs.

Do you agree? Do these symbols come up too often in designs? Why do you think so? What other ones would you add to this list? Voice your opinions below.

Top 7 Most Overused Techniques & Elements Used in Graphic Design

Whenever you look for inspiration, you are bound to come across at least one of these techniques / effects / elements. These effects are neither “good or bad” however they are the most common elements found in today’s designs.

Stock images have been used to portray each element. On that note of stock, there was a great discussion about the use of stock art over at GoMediaZine.

1. Sunrays / Rays of Light / Rising Sun

By far the most overused technique used in design today is the infamous rays of light usually found tucked away in the background of a design or at the very forefront of the design such as in the picture above.

2. Black (or Coloured) Silhouettes

Vectorised silhouettes of people and other objects is definitely second on the list. Made famous by the iPod campaign this technique can now be seen everywhere. Notice the combination of the sun rays and black silhouettes?

3. Ink Splatter

Closely contending with number 4, ink splatters are everywhere. Ink Splatters do add a cool / trendy look to a design and they do blend well with grunge style designs however ink splatters should be used in moderation.

4. Swirls / Flourishes / Ornaments

Swirls seem to be all the rage at the moment as they are quite appealing and generally just nice to look at. Flourishes & ornaments go well together to create organic, fresh designs which is quite ‘in’ at the moment.

5. Flowing Lines

Flowing lines generally add motion and fluidity to a design which gives it a certain emotion when combined with other elements (ie. funky circles as seen above) which is generally why they come up so often.

6. Funky Circles

The funky circle colour combo is evident in numerous designs across the web and like the name suggests it does give a design a quite funky look however they are being used everywhere!

7. Smoke Textures

These smoky effects are not as blatantly obvious as the other ones as they are always in the background of a design however if you look a bit closer, these smoky effects are everywhere.

Is design looking more and more the same? Why? Is it because of stock art? Do you think the elements above are being overused? Voice your opinions below.

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