Graphic designers love the convenience of today’s computer-created type designs, but too much perfection can get boring. When your eye gets tired of all those flawless, digitally-precise letters, it’s time to explore distressed typefaces. They’re weather-beaten, inconsistent, and utterly, irresistibly human.

When you select type that’s going to be read, legibility is key. But when you use type as decoration, creativity wins the day. Designing non-typographic elements out of type used to be painstaking work. Thanks to today’s robust software, you can create original ornaments by having fun with fonts.

Like Jack Sprat, condensed typefaces cut out the fat. These lean design powerhouses are indispensable for a (dare we say?) wide range of uses, from packing lots of text into small spaces to maximizing the impact of headlines and display copy.

Comic book writers aren’t the only ones who can use silly, wacky and irreverent fonts. You, too, can give your work a fresh and light-hearted look with one of these fine, fun fonts.

Calligraphic fonts provide a hand-drawn immediacy to any project. This increasingly popular category of typefaces offers a wide range of moods and styles.

Just as good fences make good neighbors, good borders can help make good designs. But if you think choosing a border means deciding how thick a rule to put next to the text, it’s time to check out the varied and illustrative world of border fonts.

Blackletter is not just for monks anymore. This fascinating and beautiful historic typestyle remains a vital part of our typographic heritage, with a surprising array of contemporary uses.

Sometimes “the standard” just isn’t good enough. Sometimes we need special tools to do the job right. Type designers understand that graphic communicators often want more choice of characters than the standard font set contains. As a result, more and more fonts are being released with large, non-standard character sets.

The highly decorative style of the Art Nouveau period continues to inspire type designers. Here, we take a look at the distinctive traits that set these elegant typefaces apart

A Lalique vase, a Chanel gown, the Chrysler Building — and type? Absolutely! The Jazz Age cool of the Art Deco movement left its mark not just on architecture, advertising and fashion, but on type design as well.