What makes popular magazines stand out? Is it their eye-catching images, intriguing topics, or the vibrant use of colors? While all these elements are key, there's something else that plays a crucial role in drawing readers' attention— the unique font styles they use.
Vogue, Cosmo, National Geographic— all these popular magazines carefully choose fonts that best represent their identity, message, and brand. Impressive, isn't it?
However, when you have to pick the right font for editorial design, the task doesn't seem as simple. Selecting the right font for your brand and content is a challenge in itself. We're here to share with you today a list of 16 best magazine fonts to spark your inspiration. Some of these fonts are the same ones used by the widely recognized magazines we've talked about. Whether you're looking for bold, italic, elegant, or stylish fonts, this article has got you covered.
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16 Best Magazine Fonts for Any Editorial Design
Didot Serif Typeface
Didot is one of the best magazine cover fonts that many fashion magazines follow because it looks elegant and fancy. However, it's not the best for the main text in articles. The reason is that Didot has very thin and thick parts, which can make longer texts hard to read. It's better to use Didot for big titles or small bits of text.
Vogue and Elle magazines choose this same font to make its fashion issues stand out. Sometimes, the magazine's name gets hidden behind pictures on the cover, but its style is strong, people still recognize it. Elle also uses a simpler version of the Didot font for the other words on its cover. This helps readers see which parts are most important, with the main text being in a modern Serif font.
Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed
The Cosmopolitan magazine logo uses a sans serif font called Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed. It was created by a designer named Morris Fuller Benton back in 1902 for a group called American Type Founders.
This font works great for both big titles and logos. It has a strong and fresh look that makes it stand out. Plus, its bold style means it can be used for all kinds of magazines, including those about beauty, celebrity gossip, or news.
Geograph
Geograph is the main font used by National Geographic, which is famous for its magazine typefaces with the yellow border.
Geograph is a special font that only National Geographic can use, so others can't use for their projects. However, it's designed to look and feel like the well-known Futura font, which has clear, sharp lines and is used everywhere. Because Futura is so versatile, you can use it for almost anything that needs clean, geometric shapes - like creating logos, titles, headings. It’s also the best font for magazine body text.
Bodoni
Bodoni is definitely a go-to font for magazine layouts. It doesn't matter if it's a car magazine or a business one, Bodoni offers a bunch of styles to choose from. It's perfect for making headlines, logos, and even fancy text stand out.
Saint Capital Modern
Saint Capital Modern is a fun, upbeat, and stylish font, similar to what you'd see in New York magazine. It combines old-school and simple, modern styles. This makes it perfect for lots of different magazines, especially ones that share news stories.
This font is also great for creating attention-grabbing titles and headings, as well as adding a touch of sophistication to the overall design. It's a versatile font that can be used in various sizes and weights, making it suitable for both print and digital media.
Girly Moods Script
If you need a font family that feels girly or feminist for a teen magazine, Girly Moods Script is it! It's a cute and perfect choice for projects aimed at teenagers.
Girly Moods Script is a fun and artsy font that looks like handwriting. It's really flexible, making it great for things like magazine covers, brands, articles, and big titles. It supports many languages and has lots of special letters, giving it a genuine and appealing look.
Aloha Sans Serif Magazine Font
Aloha Magazine is great for lots of different design needs, like creating logos, branding, social media posts, ads, and designs for products. It makes everything look nicely put together and attractive. Aloha Magazine is clean, modern, and elegant. It has a beautiful handwritten style that feels friendly and inviting.
NY Irvin
NY Irvin is a simple, clean and beautiful serif font, made by Wiescher Design. The great thing is, you can get a version of it for free.
But, NY Irvin wouldn't be complete without its perfect match, Adobe Caslon Pro. This modern sans serif font is the other popular font used by The New Yorker for its stories. Designed by Carol Twombly, it adds a classy feel to the whole magazine.
Montserrat
Montserrat is a straightforward, shape-based font made by Julieta Ulanovsky in 2011. Julieta got the idea inspired from the signs and posters in her old, historic area in Buenos Aires, which is also called Montserrat.
Montserrat has a neat, organized look that's easy to follow, which makes it perfect for things like lifestyle or wedding magazines' headings, subheadings or large chunks of regular text.
Magnetico
If you are searching for the perfect fonts, a font that can make certain parts of your magazine like the logo, title, big headings, or quotes really pop? Magnetico is that font that truly grabs attention.
Magnetico is an italic, sans serif typeface. It looks very modern and makes readers feel calm and relaxed so it's a popular choice for all kinds of magazines, like lifestyle, home decorating, or interior design.
Queulat
If you want a perfect magazine font that really stands out, take a look at Queulat. It's a unique kind of font that mixes two different looks – one is straightforward, and the other is more decorative.
With its unique look, the creator of this font ensures that it's perfect for things like brand logo designs and product packaging.
Sanchez Niu
In 2011, the team at Latinotype created a famous serif font called Sanchez. Then, they made a new version of it called Sanchez Niu. This updated version is better for long pieces of text. It looks a lot like the original, but the shapes are a bit different and there are some new letters.
Sanchez Niu is also a great choice for headlines and subheadings, as it has a bold yet elegant appearance. Its versatility makes it suitable for both modern and traditional designs.
Abenda
Abenda is a font type designed to remind us of the 1920s art deco trend. It mixes the exciting, bold look of the "roaring twenties" with a modern, smooth appearance. It stands out because it's simple to work with and has special touches that make it one of the top choices for magazine fonts.
Biomorph
Biomorph is a slim and sleek sans serif font that's perfect for all sorts of projects such as creating brand identities, publishing materials, headlines, books, magazines, and websites. This condensed sans serif font family offers a wide range of thickness from very thin to bold, giving you lots of options to make your design stand out.
Beautiful Comethrue
When designing editorial pieces or feminine products, you can't miss the Beautiful Comethrue font family. It is a lovely modern serif typeface with an elegant touch, perfect for designs that want to convey sophistication and femininity.
Boston Village
Boston Village is a simple, elegant, and modern font that looks a bit old-fashioned but in a stylish way. It's easy to read and supports many different languages. This font is very flexible, looking good both big and small. It's great for creating brand logos, designing clothes labels, packaging products, making magazine titles, or adding fancy text on top of pictures.
Choosing Fonts for Magazine Design
As magazines are visual-heavy, choosing the right font is crucial in creating an engaging and attractive design. Here are some tips to keep in mind when choosing typefaces for magazines:
- Consider the tone and message of your content: Different fonts convey different tones and messages. For example, classical serif fonts like Times New Roman may give off a more traditional and serious vibe, while a sans-serif font like Arial may appear more modern and casual. Make sure your font aligns with the tone of your content.
- Don't use too many fonts: Using too many different fonts in one design can make it look cluttered and unprofessional. Stick to 2-3 fonts max and make sure they complement each other well.
- Choose easy-to-read fonts: While some editorial fonts may look beautiful, they may not be the most readable. Make sure your font is legible, especially for longer blocks of text.
- Consider the target audience: Who will be reading your magazine? Different age groups and demographics may prefer different font styles. For example, a fashion magazine targeting young adults may use more trendy and bold fonts, while a business magazine targeting professionals may stick to more classic and elegant fonts.
- Don't be afraid to mix and match: Sometimes, using a combination of different magazine title fonts can create an interesting and unique design. Just make sure they work well together and don't compete for attention.
Note: There are some fonts you need to avoid at all cost, learn more in this Worst Fonts article.
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