You probably already know about the impact that typography can have as it gives a visual context to your design. The same text in a plain Sans Serif can deliver a completely different message when it’s set in a Script font for example. To choose your font style wisely and determine what’s the best fit for your brand or design you usually need to scour the web and this could take a while. And what kind of popular font styles are out there?
So to help you out with this we’ve listed 10 of the biggest font trends we’ve noticed that have been gaining popularity over the last years and throughout the first half of 2022. Seeing the actual name of that font style together with some visual reference will help you quickly navigate through the options and see what works best for your next project. So without further ado, let’s talk fonts!
- High-Contrast Serifs
- Neue Nouveau
- Script / Handwriting Fonts
- Flux
- Modern Organic
- Retro fonts
- Svelte Serifs
- Modern Geometric Sans
- Expressive Display Fonts
- Loopy
High Contrast Serifs
One typography trend we’ve seen gaining lots of popularity the last couple of years are ‘High Contrast Serifs’. After a long period of minimalism and a wildfire of Sans-Serifs, many designers started giving their designs some extra character by using high contrast serifs.
Its large contrast in thickness between these letterforms give it a certain feel of quality and high-end product experience that would be a lot harder to accomplish with a modern sans serif. And let’s be honest, they just look good right? The larger the contrast, the more interesting it looks and type designers around the world are definitely pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to accomplish completely new looks.
Some High Contrast fonts:
- Larken by Ellenluff
- Albra by BumbumType
- Juana by Latinotype
- TT Ramillas by TypeType
- Blacker Pro by Zetafonts
Neue Nouveau
This natural looking style has a quirky vibe to it and gives your design a modern nostalgic feel. Often used in combination with natural earth tones and floral ornaments. it just transcends you to the Renaissance period of time.
The combination between natural curves and sharp edges and subtle serifs make it interesting to look at and at this point still gives a unique feel to it. We expect that this style will become even more popular and widely used throughout the year so we’ll have to watch how this font style will stand the test of time.
Some Neue Nouveau fonts:
- Beckan by Valentino Vergan
- Peskia by Valentino Vergan
- Crake by Narrow Type
- Compote by Factory738
- Raginy by Artefak Project
Script / Handwriting Fonts
An ever growing font style that has so many possibilities to use it for. Whether you want to give it a prominent role in your design by applying it to your product name, campaign title or brandmark, you could also use it for smaller placements that give your design an analogue look to it.
Within this category there’s a lot of variety in terms of style and vibe that it brings to the table. With so many options out there, we made a selection from different types of script and handwriting fonts for you to have a look at.
Some Script/Handwriting fonts:
- Summer Loving by Nicky Laatz
- Better Times by Set Sail Studios
- Quickpen by Trial by Cupcakes
- Lemon Yellow Sun by Hanoded
- Arsilon by Dhan Studio
Flux
This term is being introduced by the highly respected type foundry Monotype. A style that’s been built to last and to give the right tools to work on digital work as well. Now the world is changing rapidly in terms of technology and all the new possibilities that come with that. We needed typography that could adapt easily and give the proper visualization of this time.
Variable fonts are a large component in this style as well as it’s possible now to change the font weight and width manually. No longer you have to choose between the premade font styles within a typeface but rather make full use of the space you have and fill up entire screens.
Extended letters, cropped forms and bending baselines, this type style gives the right vibe that’s needed to start this new phase.
Some Flux fonts:
- Roc Grotesk by Kostic
- Helvetica Now Variable by Monotype
- Neue Plak by Monotype
- Rifton by Letter Omega Typefoundry
- Tusker Grotesk by Lewis McGuffie Type
Modern Organic
Typography is getting more and more expressive to stand out from the rest or to create a certain vibe around your brand. And in case you want to accomplish that without using an overly done organic font or a handwritten style losing a certain logic/grid behind your typography, this style might be the one for you.
While the use of the grid keeps things organized, Modern Organic fonts, or ‘Organic-Mod’ pushes the boundaries of what is possible within that grid while avoiding becoming ‘too random’ and organic.
Legibility is an important factor for typography but in certain circumstances you could sacrifice this a little bit to create a header that grabs your attention and lets the reader discover what it says along the way. While not recommended for traffic signage, it works perfectly for modern, creative brands or events with a younger audience.
Some Modern Organic fonts:
- Eckmannpsych by OHNO
- Forward by Frank Adebiaye & Studio Triple
- Giboula by Spaghetype
- Taters by Tommi Sharp
- Digestive by Studio Triple
Retro Fonts
Following the biggest rebrands of the last couple of years, one thing that definitely stood out were brands going back to ‘better times’ and embracing the old days. Whether it’s going back to their own heritage like Burger King did with their rebrand from 2021 by creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie or a brand that intentionally chooses to use this style to lead their new identity.
Seeing the immense positive reactions from designers and people in general on this rebrand, other brands have followed this path as well and the use of the rounded serifs and retro color palettes has become more than just a trend. In a way, it’s definitely a response to modern technology and the graphic design styles that come with that and we’re all for it.
Some Retro fonts:
- Recoleta by Latinotype
- Bookmania by Mark Simonson
- Gazpacho by Santi Rey
- ITC Souvenir by ITC
- P22 Mackinac by IHOF
Svelte Serifs
As Monotype mentioned in their 2022 Trends Report, ‘Svelte Serifs’ are “a slimmed down, sophisticated update on the bold, round, old-style serifs we nicknamed “soft-serve” last year.”
Serifs are now widely used in this thinner form which gives it a slightly more sophisticated look. We’ve seen them being used a lot in combination with retro-styled photography with subtle light leaks and grainy textures but does not limit itself to that. In combination with fresh, modern character illustrations, creative apparel brands or ‘retro-inspired’ modern packaging. It just works and they surely give it a lot more character than plain sans fonts.
Some Svelte Serif fonts:
- Morning Memories by Set Sail Studios
- ITC Garamond by ITC
- Calvino by Zetafonts
- ITC Clearface by ITC
- Spirits by Latinotype
Modern Geometric Sans
Sans Serifs has become the ‘basic’ option for designers and people in general over the last decades. To avoid a document being too ‘classic’ or ‘boring’ we tend to dip it in Arial or Helvetica and the job is done. Although these are good fonts in terms of design, designers were looking for other ways to use Sans but adding a lot more character to it. It could be friendlier, it could be more technical and solid.
Within the Modern Geometric Sans typefaces there are plenty of different directions to go to so it’s up to you to determine what’s the best way for your design and with a typography style this popular, you’ll definitely find your perfect match.
Some Modern Geometric fonts:
- BF Garant by BrassFonts
- Gilroy by Radomir Tinkov
- TT Norms Pro by TypeType
- Galano Grotesque by Rene Bieder
- Axiforma by Kastelov
Expressive Display Fonts
As we discussed earlier, typography doesn’t always have the main purpose to be legible within a second. Some designs allow us to be a bit more expressive and experimental in terms of the letterforms we’re using as designers. And with plenty of type designers that have created incredible ‘on-the-edge’ typefaces allow us to work with an installable font without needing to create everything by hand. Absolutely one of the upsides of font creating software being accessible for a wider audience is a larger amount of options available for these experimental styles.
Some Expressive Display fonts:
- Gimme by Typearture
- Nonplus by OHNO
- La Contraste by Naïma Ben Ayed Bureau
- Grenat by Théo Guillard
- Louche by Joona Louhi
Loopy
This font style has a certain humanizing effect on your design by adding unexpected curves here and there or by creating a mark completely made out of organic directions of letterforms. It brings a playful, approachable and easy-going vibe to your design and many brands have chosen this direction over the last years and it’s getting even more popular.
This font style as well has many levels of intensity in terms of the amount of curves and modifications so choose wisely what’s the best fit for your brand. You could go with a font that just has a unique, curved ending in the tail of the lowercase ‘j’ or a font that goes all the way.
Some Loopy fonts:
- Ryker by Headfirst
- Fig Grotesk by Typeji
- Sassoon Infant by Sassoon-Williams
- Primarily Script by OHNO
- Pluto by HVD Fonts
- Intro by Fontfabric
There you have it! 10 Font Trends for the Summer of 2022 and probably for the rest of the year as well. We’re excited to see what the rest of the year brings in terms of typography trends and we’ll cover that in our 2023 Trends Report.
So now we have discussed font trends, are you curious to know what the most popular Graphic Design Trends of 2022 are as well? In this in-depth article we discussed the biggest trends like Maximalism, Anti-Design, Modern Retro, Flat Design and much more.
Into fonts and want to know how to improve how you work with them in your designs and exports?
We’ve received a lot of questions over the years about embedding your fonts and whether you need to convert them to outlines or not. So we created some in-depth articles for you to take a deeper dive in these topics and improve your workflow when it comes to font management.
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