Favorite typefaces to study or reference — or consider a model/guide?

Adam Ladd
Adam Ladd Posts: 269
edited April 23 in Technique and Theory
[I asked this in a confusing way in a different post, so I'm trying to be clearer here... thanks to all who commented]

I'd like to hear what are some of your favorite typefaces to reference or study? I know this is wide-open with lots of variables and alternative forms depending on the design and goal.

But to put it this way (and I hope this makes more sense)... If you were trying to help someone refer to some quality designs in various genres that they can study and learn from, what might be some you like? 

Not to copy, but can at least give them a good "control" reference to help not stray too far when developing their own design. Typefaces that might be considered well constructed, and a good or reliable or widely accepted design to refer to with how they drew the characters.

(Just Latin right now, but ok if includes broader support.)

Comments

  • Kent Lew
    Kent Lew Posts: 984
    Matthew Carter’s Miller Text has always been one of my bedrock references for solid design and fitting.
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,260
    edited April 22
    It was a long time ago, back in the 1980s, that I first became deeply interested in the designers behind typefaces and their process. The types that most impressed and influenced me were Souvenir, Palatino and Goudy Old Style, for their unique personality and the subtlety and style of their drawing and drafting (and no doubt punch-cutting, in the case of Palatino). So: Benton/Benguiat, Zapf/Rosenberger and Goudy. But since then, what I study and reference has changed with each design I do, so I cannot really recommend anything in particular—in fact, if one is studying a genre, then study the entire genre, not just one putative exemplar.

    My current project is a Garalde revival from the 17th century, so I have been looking at 20th century “Garamonds” for perspective, and to see how they have handled the characters missing from my source material.
  • Adam Ladd
    Adam Ladd Posts: 269
    Some others mentioned in the other post: Minion 3, Brill, Kennerley Old Style, Times New Roman, Century Old Style.

    [These answers had more context, but trying to capture here simply in case I delete the other, more confusing post]
  • Igor Freiberger
    Igor Freiberger Posts: 287
    Serif
    Minion, GuardianText, Cartier, Utopia, Gentium, Brill.

    Sans
    Myriad, Calibri, Avenir
  • Mikhail Vasilev
    Mikhail Vasilev Posts: 43
    edited 1:41PM
    I assume the talk is about general purpose / text fonts. Otherwise there will be too many options.
    If I'd have to pick one single font,  it will be Times New Roman. As I mentioned in previous thread, the reason is its outstanding legibility and no contenders I see so far. And as its "predecessor" in this category - Century Old Style.
    But in general, there are many high quality fonts. I'd recommend to look into Matthew Carter's fonts, if you seek clean and consistent design in different genres. His Tahoma as an excellent example of original but still very practical highly readable sans font, and that is worth a lot. Balance between originality and practicality is probalby the hardest task in font design.

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