FontShop supports typographic diversity. There will always be a place for classic type in contemporary design, and it’s safe and easy to rely on the same old standards, but using type that is underused is often the best way to stand out in an increasingly crowded and homogeneous design landscape.

With that in mind, we hope to lift the curtain on a few of the many interesting, usable, well-made typefaces beyond those standbys we all know and love. In addition to our staff recommended alternatives to common fonts, we’re asking our Twitter followers for the typefaces they wish they would see more often. The responses are flowing in and we’re answering their wish here with much-deserved exposure and examples of those fonts “in use”.

In addition to these samples, be sure to bookmark the page of Favorite Underused Fonts for a comprehensive and evolving list of results.

FF Nexus

Built on Martin Majoor’s three typefaces, one form principle, FF Nexus is three families — a serif, slab serif, and sans — derived from a single design concept. The monospaced FF Nexus Typewriter plays well with the others, too. This breadth of options, combined with OpenType features (such as built-in small caps, alternate glyphs, and optional swashes) make FF Nexus an extremely versatile type system for editorial and corporate design.

FF Tisa

This unique serif has a tone that suits the casual fare of magazines and advertising as well as the more serious content of newspapers and annual reports. The Pro version adds support for Turkish and Central European languages. Learn more about the extensive development and research behind FF Tisa at its dedicated Behance page.

Chaparral

Amid Carol Twombly’s popular classics like Adobe Caslon, Myriad, Lithos, and Trajan is this unassuming humanist slab serif. With its four weights in each of five optical sizes, and a contemporary flavor that feels as new as when it was released nearly ten years ago, Chaparral is exceptionally usable like any of Twombly’s more common faces.

Eidetic Neo

Rodrigo Cavazos describes the original sketches of Eidetic as “a way of coming to terms with traditional typography that I’d learned to hate as a production artist.” He initially intended to meet classicism halfway, but the exploration proved to be too compelling and he quickly crossed that line, and then many others. Eidetic Neo is an improvement on that first release, produced in collaboration with Zuzana Licko at Emigre. Despite its distinctive quirks, Eidetic Neo is a fully functional text face with a full set of figures, fractions, and small caps.

Dalliance Roman, Dalliance Script, Flourishes

Born from a remarkable piece of handwriting on a late 18th-century map, Dalliance evokes a period and style that no other typeface can seem to capture. Frank Heine’s exhaustive work produced a roman and two script typefaces that can take on a variety of forms thanks to ligatures, ending swashes, ornaments, and even small caps.

Burin Sans

An oft forgotten gem in Monotype’s popular Engravers series, Burin Sans is derived from the inscriptions of a small, round engraving device. The soft ends and light, monolinear weight make Burin Sans a pleasant, friendly alternative to more strict geometric faces. The caps have a straightforward structure, but there is personality to be found in the slightly jaunty lowercase.

FF Kievit

Maybe it’s time to move on from Gill Sans and Univers. Neutral and versatile, with a large range of weights and broad language support (CE, Greek, and Cyrillic in the Pro version) FF Kievit has all the qualities of an essential workhorse. For a solution with sans and serif companions, see the FF Milo family, also by Mike Abbink.

ITC Mendoza

One of the great underappreciated book faces is José Mendoza y Ameida’ls namesake. Strong but graceful, ITC Mendoza achieves its designer’s goal of maintaining the “sensitivity of the hand’s gesture”. While most calligraphic serifs struggle to succeed as versatile text faces, this one thrives in both long texts and headlines.

FF Bau

Helvetica these days, a classic which somehow seems to grow in popularity despite its omnipresence. But if you seek something with an older pedigree, you can’t do better than FF Bau. While Helvetica is cold and calculated, its roots lie in much quirkier material, the earliest direct ancestor first introduced around 1880. Christian Schwartz updated the family for contem­porary needs without ratio­nal­izing away the spirit and warmth of the original.

Slate

Ever wish Frutiger or Myriad had small caps or oldstyle figures? Modern typographic needs call for a sans serif with a complete character toolset, and Slate has everything required to set clean, readable text.

Karmina

Thanks to the recent addition of a sans, TypeTogether’s sturdy, multilingual Karmina joins the small but growing list of families with sans and serif companions.

Bourgeois

Jonathan Barnbrook and Marcus McCallion revised early 20th century letterforms with their contemporary touch. Four weights, two widths, and a large selection of alternate glyphs make Bourgeois one of Virus Fonts’ most versatile families and its variety of unusual letterforms make it a head-turner.

Reporter

Along with Loupot and Coptek below, Reporter is one of the many underappreciated but delightful scripts recalling the vibrant hand lettering of 1930s–’40s advertising and poster design.

FF Tartine

Loupot

Coptek

FF Parable

FF Legato

Versa

Neuzeit Grotesk

Folio

Venus

Tempo

FF Sanuk

FF Super Grotesk

Ambroise

Wainwright

Ecliptica

Fresco Family by Fred Smeijers for OurType

Hedley New by Chris Dickinson for Moretype

Chuck

Faricy New

Sutro Initials

ARS Product

ClarendoNeo

Star & Starlet

FontShop Feedback

How many times have you browsed a website and thought “I wish I could …” or “this doesn’t make sense”? As flawless as we try to make it, we know you can have those moments at FontShop.com.

That’s why we’ve introduced a quick and easy way to record those thoughts right as you have them. Just go to FontShop’s home page and click the FEEDBACK tab at the right edge of your window. Vote for your favorite idea or go the Feedback Forum to submit your own. Of course, we’ll keep a close eye on the suggestions with the top votes, but we’ll read and consider every idea we get, no matter how crazy you think it might be. So post your thoughts and be heard!

Balboa, Balboa Condensed, Balboa Wide

Combining elements of early sans serif and grotesque types with contemporary touches, Balboa evolved from a rather plain headline gothic to a 19-style family, ideal for publication design.

Avebury

Avebury is a slightly modernized and more readable blackletter than its predecessors. One of the heavier blackletters, Avebury is available in solid or open styles.

Modesto, Modesto Text

When you need a Copperplate Gothic with a little more nuance, go for the typeface that evolved from Parkinson’s lettering on the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus logo. The Modesto family includes three widths, outlined and inlined caps, and something else you won’t find in Copperplate: a set of text fonts with lowercase.

Richmond, Richmond Condensed

Born from Parkinson’s work on a condensed Metro for the San Francisco Chronicle, Richmond is a 16-style warmly geometric sans family in the spirit of W.A.Dwiggins and Jakob Erbar.

Sutro, Sutro Condensed, Sutro Initials

Parkinson’s interest in early slab serifs began in the 1970s when he drew a new version of Egiziano for Roger Black at New West Magazine. The versatile Sutro family has 19 members for text and headline use, adding a modern alternative to existing Clarendons.

Amador
A blackletter designed in the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement. Also inspired by the works of Frederic Goudy and Rudolf Koch.

Fresno
Like his FF Moderne Gothics, Fresno is drawn in a square gothic style typical of the mid-20th century signs of his native Oakland, California.

Hotel
Like his FF Moderne Gothics, Hotel is drawn in a square gothic style typical of the mid-20th century signs of his native Oakland, California.

Wigwag
Bold and informal, but not too wacky, Wigwag comes from 1940s showcard lettering. Available in regular and shadowed styles.

Geogrotesque (updated)

After we announced Eduardo Manso’s semi-modular sans in May, the fonts flew to the top of the charts. The popular family is now even more useful with the addition of italics and an expanded character set with support for Central and Eastern European languages.

Effra, Effra Italic (new)

Another popular sans serif gave birth to italics this month, with the arrival of Effra Italics. The family is now an even more appealing option for editorial text and corporate materials.

Grueber

Bakery Script

Solano Gothic

Dave Gibbons Journal

Karmina Sans (new) & Karmina from TypeTogether

ClarendoNeo from URW

Fox

Edda

Neue Sans

P22 Late November

Sign Language

Veltro