The Initial Design Group designed the overall appearance of Upright Position Communications (public relations IPO specialists) including the bright website where Antenna is used exclusively.

“The [Lower East Side Tenement Museum] needed a signature publication to be sold in the shop. Originally I’d envisioned a comprehensive historical overview of tenement life. The client pared down the scope and shifted the focus to include museum background material. I then decided to alter column widths and margins in each of the sections to reflect what I saw as differing voices within the text. In keeping with the low budget—and art of widely varying quality—I was drawn to some site photos documenting the dilapidation and the textures of the building in its original state.” — Angela Voulangas

“The Nation — a journal of current affairs, culture and politics — is the oldest continuously published American weekly magazine (since 1865). For five years we’ve been responsible for the design of its covers. Their schedule is tight and their budget is limited, so we try to come up with design solutions that are concept-driven, with bold imagery that communicates to a wide audience while building a consistent visual identity.” — Open

Fremde Federn (‘borrowed plumes’) by Element of Crime is a compilation of 20 cover songs recorded between 1989 and 2009. For the album cover, the band went with a purely typographic design in strong colors. Various weights both of posh Bodoni and pavonine Avant Garde (complete with ST ligatures) have been mixed with steady Rockwell and Antique Olive. The result is an all-caps potpourri of worn classics that references type catalogs of the 1970s or 1980s. Or rather, the typeface menu in one of these copy shops where you can get 100 business cards for five bucks. Rosewood is a little different, as its digital incarnation is from a later decade. However, having been a bundled font for many years now, it is similar in its ubiquity and, in consequence, the perceived cheesiness.

See also: The Specimen: from Type Catalog to Design Meme

Theatrical release poster, using Archer.

Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel is remarkable for numberous reasons, but the use of typefaces may not have been largely discussed yet. While Anderson has made extensive, and nearly exclusive, use of Futura for all of his movie titles and posters until Moonrise Kingdom (where he opted for a custom typeface, designed by Jessica Hische), he has employed Archer for The Grand Budapest Hotel. The countless number of graphic props that were designed by Annie Atkins include packaging, stationery, banknotes, postage stamps, signage, keychains, gates, flags, shopfronts, menus, passports, books and local newspapers:

The Continental Drift, using Beaufort. Headline using DIN.

The Trans-Alpine Yodel, using Old English and Münchner Fraktur. Headline using a faux-bolded Trajan. The text is set in a Garamond.

The Daily Fact, using a modified Russian. Headlines using an outlined Bebas and DIN.

Another edition of the Trans-Alpine Yodel, this time following The New York Times’ lead with Cheltenham.

Oola Distillery is a craft distillery located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. Oola produces hand crafted batches of premium distilled spirits. Piper Design Co. is responsible for their entire branding efforts including logo, stationery, packaging, posters, collateral, interactive and environmental design.

B&O Play is part of the Danish brand Bang & Olufsen. It focuses on attractive and high quality audio / video portable products, aimed at a new generation.

The Journal is a space where the B&O Play team share their thoughts on music, design, fashion and products. From time to time they also feature some behind-the-scenes stories from their daily lives. The Journal started as a blog, and has only recently launched the first printed edition, a high quality newspaper.

The Journal uses TypeTogether's Abril in headlines and text throughout its three media versions: print, mobile and web, acompanied by a sans serif face.

For the magazine title the design team has chosen Abril Fatface.

Fonts In Use just turned three. That seems young, but it’s something like a teenager in internet years, right? Regardless, the more significant milestone came in mid-2012 when we launched the Collection, opening the archive to public submissions. Since then, we’ve experienced a growth spurt: the site now documents and discusses* over 3,200 designs using at least one of over 1,700 typeface families from hundreds of foundries. (*I use the present tense because Fonts In Use is a living archive — one in which entries of any age are easily accessible, cross-referenced, and with comment threads that are always open for new insights and discussion.)

Ok, numbers are nice, but what thrills us most about the new platform is what it can do. Over the last few months we improved our typeface pages, adding high-resolution samples, space for biographical information, and links to sources and related typefaces. We gave account holders the ability to create Sets and “Like” Uses. We expanded the Collection pages so they show more Uses and take advantage of wide screens. And we deployed an bunch of other enhancements that are best covered in another post.

We also welcomed new writers to the Blog so we can publish more frequent typographic histories, observations, and critiques.

Today, we celebrate our birthday with a few party favors. Introducing the first of an annual awards show. What follows is the “best of Fonts In Use in 2013”, as dictated by our editorial staff. This list of font uses and users is a glimpse into contemporary type-driven graphic design. We hope it surfaces content from the collection that you may have missed, and sparks you to contribute your own work — or work you admire — to the growing archive.

Uses of the Year

To us, great typography means thoughtful type choices used in skillful or unusual ways. The work below reached the pinnacle of that standard in 2013. The winners include designs from a range of formats, from exhibition and poster design to websites and book covers. They represent designers and studios from around the globe. And they span the gamut of typeface styles, both old and new, from over a dozen different foundries.

Big Plans Exhibition Design
Designed by Jessica Svendsen and Julia Novitch
Using Bureau Grot and Letter Gothic

1941: The Year That Keeps Returning Book Cover
Designed by Rumors
Using Puncho and DTL Fleischmann

Image, Building, Object Film Series Posters
Designed by James Goggin
Using Plak and an unreleased typeface by Laurenz Brunner

The Bling Ring Trailer and Posters
Designed by P+A and Silenzio Communication
Using Dom

Designing News
Designed by Francesco Franchi
Using Domaine, Atlas Grotesk, and Atlas Typewriter

Uses of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Stitching in my own way: The embroideries of Iris Todd

Stalkr Brand and Website

Kunst am Spreeknie Schöneweide Art Festival

2013 Pitchfork Music Festival Announcement

2013 Pitchfork Music Festival

2013 Pitchfork Music Festival App

Gargalo Nº 1, 2, 3, 4

Bambudda

Achtung: Berlin Symposium

Messages by Dillon Francis Music Video and Album Art

Belvedere Square Market Sign

Fritz Müller Sparkling Wines

Users of the Year

These graphic designers and studios produced several pieces that our staff recognized as exceptional typography. For this award we looked at all the Uses in the Collection credited to a designer, not just the work produced in 2013. (When we say “Users” we mean “font users”. The best users of the site are honored in the next section: “Contributors of the Year”.)

Pentagram

NYC Beaches identity

InsideOut SF poster diptych

Rockaway Beach Installations

The Printing House identity

This storied New York-based studio is well represented in our collection not just because they are famous or produce so much newsworthy, visible work, but because they obviously love type. Pentagram makes good use of a wide range of typefaces and they document that work well, writing about their type selection and giving credit to the font makers.

Nina Stössinger

“Zu bürgerlicher Eintracht und Vertraulichkeit”

10 Jahre Sprachenzentrum

kobebeef

Ästhetik des Opfers

Nina Stössinger is a Swiss designer of books and identities who uses a variety of typefaces (many of them very new) from various sources and lucidly articulates her choices on her site and Fonts In Use. We recognize her here not for her 2013 work, but for her rich contributions over the last three years. She can be excused for using less type recently because she’s been quite busy learning more about how to make it: Stössinger is currently a Type and Media graduate student at KABK in The Hague. She writes about that experience too.

Solo

Gargalo Liqueur

Deseo & Psiquiatría

Gargalo Wine

El valor del tiempo perdido

Solo is a Barcelona studio founded in 2011 by Óscar Germade. Their work for a range of luxury brands and editorial publications is characterized by restraint, setting stages in which the type itself is the focal point.

Studio Laucke Siebein

Angewandt Exhibition Materials

KinderKulturMonat (ChildrenCultureMonth)

Poster for Typography Lectures at HBK Saar

Flexa Creations Color Chips

Like Stössinger, this nod to Studio Laucke Siebein is more of a multi-year achievement award. Dirk Laucke (Amsterdam) and Johanna Siebein (Berlin) give new life to unusual and forgotten typefaces in their decidedly modern work.

Users of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Thomas Alberty, New York Magazine

Arem Duplessis, The New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Digital

TGG Hafen Senn Stieger

Robb Rice

Richard Turley, Bloomberg Businessweek

Contributors of the Year

Since we opened the site to public submissions in mid-2012, these Fonts In Use visitors contributed the most interesting and discussion-provoking Uses to the Collection. Not only did they upload good images of great work, but bonus points were awarded for adding insight, commentary, or critique.

Chris Purcell

After over 30 years as a designer and lettering artist at Hallmark Cards, Chris Purcell retired in 2012. Their loss is our gain: Chris has been a voracious contributor to Fonts In Use since then, adding over 40 Uses to the Collection. His submissions are broad ranging, covering many different industries, formats, and periods. The examples are sometimes from his own collection or documented with his own photography. And many of them are more than a simple image upload: they include his commentary, which often generates further discussion.

Mille Bornes Card Game (1960 Edition)

13-inch Lucite® ruler (1970s)

Smithsonian Magazine Table of Contents (1989 & 2013)

Maurice Meilleur

Along with some of his own fine work, Maurice Meilleur has contributed several pieces by other designers. Maurice is an MFA student in graphic design at the University of Illinois, and his literate, academic approach is very welcome among our ranks. We’re grateful for Maurice’s extra effort in spotting interesting work, writing a useful description, and producing good imagery, either from his own photos or images generated from PDFs.

University of Illinois

Isotype: Design & Contexts

De:Bug Magazin

Patch Hofweber

Patch Hofweber is a American ex-pat living in Malmö, Sweden. His contributions number over 20 to date, and focus on web and identity design, two areas of his own multidisciplinary expertise. He sometimes supplements his submissions with a bit of typographic critique, an attribute that served him well as one of our rare guest writers on the Fonts In Use Blog.

Julius: The Cards

Örnbergsauktionen 2013

A List Apart 5.0

Contributors of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Mine Creek

Robin Rendle

Michael Bojkowski

Contributors of the Year

Font Foundries & Providers

Letters from Sweden

TypeTogether

Rosetta

FontFont

bb-bureau (Benoît Bodhuin)

Editions 205

Sudtipos

Font Bureau

Webtype

Contributions of the Year

This is a placeholder for a future award, meant for those non-staff contributions that are exceptional in their visual documentation, critical analysis, and/or historical research. To get that ball rolling for 2014, here are a few Uses that were popular or controversial from last year:

Volksbühne Berlin Poster Campaign

The Other Times Modern

Cheers Logo and Opening Titles

Myspace 2013 Rebrand

Hessian

The Third Man Movie Poster

The Great Gatsby Film Promotion

2013 Tesla Model S Dashboard Display

Yahoo! Logo (2013)

Fonts In Frequent Use

In addition to the typefaces represented by our featured Uses and Users of the Year (most of which are shown in the main sidebar at the top of the page), the font families shown at right appeared most frequently in 2013 designs posted to Fonts In Use. This list only represents work in our Collection, so these certainly aren’t the most prevalent typefaces in all design today — that would be overlooking system/app bundled fonts, Core Web fonts, freebies, other perennially popular typefaces like Gotham, Interstate, and Neutraface, and revivals of classics like Caslon and Garamond. Yet they do reflect part of the current design zeitgeist: all sans serifs, most (except Alright Sans) are firmly in the static Gothic, Grotesque, or Geometric models. An odd outlier is ITC Serif Gothic. Nick Sherman has discovered that Lubalin and Di Spigna’s 1972 design is seeing a curious revival.

Early Users

Our observant co-editor Florian also noted these early adopters of typefaces newly released in 2013 or late 2012: Macula for Colin Smith, Audree for AwardsLine, Berlingske for A-Magasinet, Line for Rodeo, Domaine for Designing News, Magasin for Elle Decoration, MVB Solitaire for Assembly, FF Quixo for Publishing Design syllabus, FF Mark for Bench, Baton for L’Histoire du Diable, FF Dora for Gewone Letters, Landmark for Parc Olympique, Vinter for Queensland Ballet, and LL Circular for a number of uses.

What did we miss? With over 2,000 Uses added to the site in 2013, there is surely more typography worth honoring. What were your favorite font uses of 2013? Link ’em up in the comments below. And if your favorite design is not already in the Collection, now is the time to contribute. Your participation is vital to this endeavor.

You’ve surely heard by now: Batkid saved the day (and took over the internet). On Friday, November 15, five-year-old Miles Scott had his wish granted after a long battle with leukemia. The Make-A-Wish foundation and thousands of volunteers in San Francisco gathered to watch Miles save the city from Penguin and the Riddler.

Jerry Quiles, who works for the San Francisco Chronicle in their Marin Circulation center, passes out copies of the Gotham City Chronicle in Union Square. Photo by Jason Henry.

To honor the event, the San Francisco Chronicle published a special front page. This was a clever and generous act — it added to the day’s authenticity as it was handed out to the crowd by a newspaper employee. Due to high demand, the page was reprinted for the Saturday edition.

As far as the typography, this design deviates from the paper’s usual look in a notable way. The Chronicle doesn’t rely on its bold sans-serif, Antenna, to deliver major headlines. Rather it’s fairly restrained, using Farnham for all of the headlines and light treatments of Archer for slugs and bylines (shown below and in this Fonts in Use entry). Major news is still delivered boldly, tucked under the nameplate, but it’s the serif’s duty.

Three alternate front pages, showing the use of Farnham for headlines.

Otherwise, the Gotham City Chronicle looks a lot like a regular edition. The overall structure and edtiorial contributions makes this much more than a bonus page. What could have been a poster — one big color image with a headline — is in effect fairly nuanced and it feels like serious piece of print.

The nameplate of the San Francisco Chronicle is shown with the modified version for Gotham City Chronicle.

Unfortunately, some evil still lurks in the Gotham. Jim Parkinson, a superhero among lettering artists, designed the San Francisco Chronicle nameplate. But the Gotham City nameplate appears to have been chopped up on the fly. Says Parkinson:

No, I didn’t modify it. Although it would have been the kind of thing I do for free.

I think they tried to use a lowercase ‘h’ to make a bizarre ‘G’ and stole the tail from the cap ‘F’ to add to a ‘y’, that was probably once an ‘h’.

Alas. Young heros save cities — thanks, Miles! — but the fight against improper lettering is far from over.

Posters, leaflets and props for performance artist Mem Morrison. The show drew on a lifetime of remembered Turkish Cypriot family weddings, testing traditional values.

Demasié is a chain of shops selling cookies from around the world.

Post Projects:

We worked closely with Revolver Coffee to create a visual identity and brand that would embody the values and spirit of its founders, the Giannakos brothers. We created a system that was flexible enough to be applied to exterior signage, menus, stationery.

For the identity, Post Projects modified Troover Roman, a Russian copy of a typeface called Trooper Roman by Dave Trooper for photocompositor foundry VGC. There are no “official” digitizations of Trooper. Other, more complete interpretations exist, including TS Toledo.

This book documents the work done in three studios at Yale University School of Architecture. The studios are run by emerging architects with the goal of exposing students to innovative views on architectural practice, design and urbanism. Each professor was given a distinct font and color that overlapped on the cover and was used in the related section of the book.