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Favorite Typefaces & Combinations
I'm a design student and am of course still developing my type preferences. I was just wondering what everybody's favorite typefaces and typeface combinations are. I'm sure there is a thread on this somewhere but I couldn't find it. It's always interesting to see what other designers like. Thanks.
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7 Dec 2006 — 4:19am
Not really an answer to your "dystopistic" question but it may be a start :
http://typophile.com/node/17609
7 Dec 2006 — 8:11am
You're not likely to find such a thread because that is a really hard question to answer.
What is your favorite food?
What is your favorite song?
What is your favorite color?
No offense - please! - but I find those sorts of questions kind of pointless and not the best use of my time. But maybe others will differ.
7 Dec 2006 — 8:58am
i thought there was a thread like this in the past, cant seem to find it thought. it was a bit more helpful than this one: http://typophile.com/node/6863
7 Dec 2006 — 9:53am
My favorite typeface is the one I'm in the mood for using.
Addendum: I'm guilty of having type moods. For a while I was sick to death of flat-sided, square sans. I licensed Stainless before the huge onslaught happened and then I felt like a sheep using it like everyone else. Now I embrace my Stainless and my Vista Sans.
7 Dec 2006 — 10:16am
I guess that was kind of my point. Since fonts are functional, to have an abstract "favorite" font doesn't make much sense to me unless it is the perfect font for the particular job at the right moment.
But I've never been one to play favorites.
7 Dec 2006 — 10:27am
I'm a big fan of AG Super. It's sort of the typographic equivalent of an aluminum baseball bat when I need to make a point.
7 Dec 2006 — 10:43am
Univers mixed with different weights of Univers.
8 Dec 2006 — 12:37pm
Paul D. Hunt, ROLF !
8 Dec 2006 — 12:43pm
...but it's a dry humor... >^p
8 Dec 2006 — 12:44pm
I guess I would answer "what is your favorite design job you would be using it for?"
ChrisL
8 Dec 2006 — 12:45pm
Now that is really pairing it down Paul. :-P
ChrisL
8 Dec 2006 — 12:47pm
Maybe he was looking for a font rated PG?
Pairental Guidence was needed :-)
ChrisL
8 Dec 2006 — 12:55pm
Or maybe it was just a single glyph combination for parents who need help raising their children--an "O Pair"
ChrisL
8 Dec 2006 — 1:36pm
ouch!
8 Dec 2006 — 2:03pm
A more revealing question may be what do you use as a default -- either for surfing the web, or for a job when you can't really be bothered to think of what to use.
Or what do you use for your own ID and correspondence.
Or perhaps look at the last few bottles of wine you've bought, and see if there is any typographic thread running through the selection.
8 Dec 2006 — 5:05pm
Default Serif:
Garamond Premier Pro Caption
Default Sans:
Univers 55
Default Mono:
OCR B
8 Dec 2006 — 7:47pm
Default pairing examples as used in typography lectures:
Didot/Futura
Clarendon/Helvetica
Grotesque/Old Style
Century/News Gothic
Script/Typewriter
Blackletter/Humanist Sanserif
These are very general purpose and simply used to illustrate the principle; I'm also pretty sure there is a thread on this...
BTW, Ryan, if you're a design student then you'll know that Ellen Lupton's 'Thinking with Type' uses a combination of
Thesis/Scala
while Bringhurst's 'Elements of Typographic Style' uses a combination of
Scala Sans/Minion
and of course, has a whole section on this topic at p.93
9 Dec 2006 — 2:14pm
http://typophile.com/wiki/Essential%20Typefaces
9 Dec 2006 — 7:25pm
No offense, but that Wiki doesn't make any sense.
10 Dec 2006 — 1:02am
Hey Dan Gayle I see you got a new avatar!
I guess you might say that wiki is a bit like a popularity contest, but it's not senseless. So far it seems that Minion Pro is leading the field...
10 Dec 2006 — 1:19am
Pretty spooky, huh!
10 Dec 2006 — 4:34am
Dan — Is it (your avatar) perhaps an Odd Nerdrum painting? (Or at least Norwegian retrogardist school?)
11 Dec 2006 — 5:08pm
Not my favourite but I thought I’d add to the combination list;
ITC Lubalin Graph/ITC Avant Garde Gothic
11 Dec 2006 — 7:17pm
Christopher Walken is actually really nice and kinda normal. Hard to believe, I know.
13 Dec 2006 — 8:47pm
Having seen Mr Walken dance on a (very wacky) music video I can believe it. So, incidentally, is Ernest Borgnine. A very nice guy indeed.
Ryan, if you're still reading? There is always Daniel Will-Harris's selection if you're still looking for recommendations for pairs.