by Ilene Strizver

Are you looking for the perfect display typeface for a specific project? Consider a titling font. This often–overlooked category of fonts is likely to offer something just right for the occasion.

Titling fonts are type designs that have been specifically created for use in larger point sizes or display settings. They are usually all–cap, single–weight variants of extended text families, such as the titling fonts designed for Plantin, Bembo and ITC Golden Cockerel. However, titling fonts can also be standalone designs; examples of these include Felix Titling, Festival Titling and Victoria Titling Condensed.

Titling fonts differ from their text counterparts in that their scale, proportion and design details have been altered to look best at larger sizes. Often they have more weight contrast (meaning the thin parts of the letters are relatively thinner) and have more condensed proportions than their text–sized cousins. The design details of a titling font are sometimes more pronounced, as well: look at the C, P and R of Bembo Titling.

The overall design structure of most titling fonts is traditional or even historic in nature. Generally, titling fonts tend to have an elegant, dramatic look, qualities that make them indispensable for books, magazines, signage or any application that needs to put a touch of refinement on “display”.

• Editor’s Note: Ilene Strizver, founder of The Type Studio, is a typographic consultant, designer and writer specializing in all aspects of typographic communication. She conducts Gourmet Typography workshops internationally. Read more about typography in her latest literary effort, Type Rules! The designer's guide to professional typography, 3rd edition, published by Wiley & Sons, Inc. This article was commissioned and approved by Monotype Imaging Inc.