The most famous typefaces in history
The top 3 according to 2 votes from people: Cooper Black · Helvetica · Futura. (Updated May 17, 2026.)
Helvetica, Futura, Times New Roman, Garamond and even Comic Sans: the typefaces that shaped newspapers, logos and screens. Which one is your favourite?
Automatically translated (original in Deutsch). See the original
Top 24
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1
Cooper Black
Oswald Cooper, 1922, the round typeface of 70s album covers.
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2
Helvetica
Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, 1957: the most used typeface in the world.
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3
Futura
Paul Renner, 1927, geometric in the spirit of the Bauhaus.
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4
Times New Roman
For The Times of London, 1932.
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5
Garamond
After Claude Garamond of the 16th century, revived again and again.
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6
Baskerville
John Baskerville, around 1757.
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7
Bodoni
Giambattista Bodoni, 1768, the fashion magazines' favourite.
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8
Caslon
William Caslon, around 1725.
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9
Gill Sans
Eric Gill, 1928, quintessentially British.
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10
Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger, the typeface of airport signs.
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11
Univers
Also by Adrian Frutiger, 1957.
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12
Akzidenz-Grotesk
The Berlin grotesque of 1898, Helvetica's model.
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13
Franklin Gothic
Morris Fuller Benton, early 20th century.
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14
Clarendon
Robert Besley, 1845, the mother of slab serifs.
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15
Rockwell
The striking slab serif of 1934.
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16
Comic Sans
Vincent Connare, 1994: loved and hated.
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17
Trajan
Carol Twombly, 1989, the typeface of film posters.
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18
Verdana
Matthew Carter, 1996, made for the screen.
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19
Minion
Robert Slimbach, 1990.
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20
Gotham
Tobias Frere-Jones, the typeface of Obama's campaign.
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21
Avenir
Adrian Frutiger, 1988.
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22
Arial
Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, 1982.
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23
The Coca-Cola script
Frank Mason Robinson's Spencerian script, 1886.
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24
Didot
Firmin Didot, 1784.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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