40 Fonts for Logos that Every Great Designer Needs

40 Fonts for Logos that Every Great Designer Needs

Every good artist has accessible staples. Cooks never go without flour or oil in the pantry. Painters keep a set of backup brushes on hand, in every size. And designers have a number of go-to fonts ready to whip out of their arsenal at any given moment.

There are scores of great fonts for logos out there, but it can still be difficult to land on the right one for your specific brand; every font has its flavor, just like every color has its calling.

Consequently, the font you choose will add symbolism to your logo in addition to punching up its design. It will help your logo tell your story, which leads to building a successful brand identity.  

Whether you’re ready to create a typography-based logo or you’re just trying to get the lay of the font land, the 40 fonts listed below are staples for any designer to use and peruse. We’ve separated them by font category – Serif, Sans-Serif, Slab Serif, Script, and Modern – so you can find what you’re looking for more easily.

Here is a list of fonts for logos that every designer needs in their back pocket.

Best Serif Fonts For Logos

1. Bodoni 

Designer: William Caslon I

One of the most basic and commonly used in the serif family, Caslon’s origins can be traced back to 1725.

It was considered the font of choice for royalty and politics when it first emerged. The type is delicate and straightforward, emphasizing spacing and clear lines to improve legibility. In 1990, the font was revitalized by Carol Twombly and is now known as Adobe Caslon.

Today, the University of Virginia uses Caslon for their logo.

3. Calluna

Designer: Jos Buivenga

A font “born by accident,” Calluna was initially an experiment in adding slab serifs to the font Museo (by the same designer). What emerged was a text face in 8 styles, featuring directive strokes that draw attention to the top-right corner of each glyph.

Use this font for crisp, clear text that flows, and for a logo that will carry the eye along the page.

4. Century

Designers: Father-son duo Linn Boyd Benton and Morris Fuller Benton

This font was created sometime between 1900 and 1904. A slightly bolder and more professional font, Century is a main font of choice for corporate settings. It’s become famous thanks to its legible design and versatility.

Century can be used for logos, of course, and is a standard font in newspapers and magazines.

5. Garamond

Designers: Father-son duo Linn Boyd Benton and Morris Fuller Benton

Garamond is another standard in the corporate world created by the familial pair. Its slightly heavier lines and spacing make it easy to read. As a result, it’s also used in presentations, publications, and other longer texts.

McSweeney’s Quarterly, the literary publication, famously uses Garamond exclusively for all their textual needs.

6. Georgia

Designers: Tom Rickner and Matthew Carter

The stylish Georgia font is a combination of beauty and simplicity. Unlike its older predecessors, this type was created for the technological generation and designed to ensure readability at low screen resolution. It comes in four main varieties: Regular, bold, italic, and bold italic.  

Both Huffington Post and The New York Times still use Georgia extensively.

7. Minion

Designer: Robert Slimbach

A more modern typeface, Minion came to life in 1990 as part of the Adobe Systems font family. Minion fonts are meant to be used for body text and extended reading, as their Renaissance-inspired type is easy on the eyes. They include a range of alphabets and weights, with moderate proportions and simplistic style.

You’ll find that this font is one of the most popular serifs used in books.

Best Sans-Serif Fonts for Logos

8. Helvetica

Designers: Eduard Hoffmann and Max Miedinger

The gold standard of sans-serifs, Helvetica is one of the veterans (read: oldest) in the font family. Originally designed in the 1950’s, it falls in the Grotesque family and emphasizes versatility. Its heavy lines are ideal for modification and can be made spaced or condensed as needed.

Helvetica is most notably used by social media giant Facebook.

9. Futura

Designer: Paul Renner

Geometric shapes are at the heart of this 1927 sans-serif. There is little contrast in its strokes, and it gives off the impression of efficiency and forwardness with its elegant lettering. When it was released, the font was used a symbol of modernity, and it has remained that way ever since.

Futura has been used in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, the cover of a Prince album, and on the plaque left on the moon in 1969 – among countless other pop culture designs.

10. Panton

Designers: Svet Simov, Ivan Petrov, and Simov Svetoslav

This 2014 font family contains up to 34 typefaces alone and 36 weights. Its rounded shapes give a soft edge to the classic grotesque style, and it’s known for its legibility regardless of medium (in print or on the web).

These fonts look particularly great on printed merchandise – something to think about when designing your logo!

11. Sassoon

Designer: Rosemary Sassoon

Created in 1995, this sans-serif was intended primarily to be a typeface used in children’s books. It is known for boasting curls and swoops on its letters, and this playfulness makes it perfect for family-friendly brands and logos for businesses that are geared towards children. Its simplicity makes it highly applicable across contexts while also encouraging imagination and mischievousness.  

12. Brandon Grotesque

Designer: Hannes von Döhren

Originating in Germany in 2010, this font has a warmer feel than many of its sans-serif cousins. It comes with a number of weights, including thin, light, regular, bold, medium and black – plus an italic version of each weight.

You’ve likely seen Brandon Grotesque on Comedy Central! Consider using for logos that will be displayed on packaging design.

13. Proxima Nova

Designer: Mark Simonson

This font is a revamped version of its predecessor, Proxima Sans (now discontinued). One of the most popular typefaces for web design, Proxima Nova includes 48 fonts under its wing with a range of weights and features.  

Today, this font is used all over news and media – just look at Buzzfeed, NBC News and Mashable for a glimpse of its modern, geometric letters. 

14. Avenir

Designer: Adrian Frutiger

A circle-oriented typeface not unlike Futura, this font mostly follows the sans-serif geometric pattern. It was released in 1988 and has since been adapted to include a wider range of weights, widths, and features.

This font can be used in all manners of geographical branding, as evidenced by the lettering of the famous I Amsterdam sign that sits in the center of the city.

15. Andale Mono

Designer: Steve Matteson

This sans-serif was originally created as part of a joint project for IBM and Apple, which should tell you something about the best way to use it. The font is monospaced, which means it has an equal amount of spacing between each of its letters and characters.

16. League Gothic

Designer: Morris Fuller Benton

Although originally created in 1903, this font underwent a revamp in the last 20 years when Micah Rich, Tyler Finck, and “Dannci” added extra glyphs and put their own spin on the design. The gothic sans-serif boasts tall letters and is perfect for web typography trying to make a splash.

Case in point: The original Benton version of this font is used for the YouTube logo!

17. Horizon

Designers: Bitstream staff designers

If you suddenly find yourself thinking about outer space but you don’t know why, it’s because this ‘90’s font is based on the type used in the original Star Trek series! This futuristic sans-serif has jagged angles and sharp curves that lends itself to an avant-garde vibe. You can find it in light, medium, bold, and light italic.

Best Slab Serif Fonts for Logos

18. Belgrano 

Designer: LatinoType

This font was originally intended for printed newspapers, what with its block-like serifs and even spacing. It has since been modified to work well on the web, and it is a particularly apt font for small print (read: body text).

19. Grenale

Designer: Jeremy Dooley

With thin weights and contrasting strokes, this slab serif emits an elegance unlike that of its peers. The spacing between the letters is balanced, while its polished, geometric shapes speak to the modernity of the 2013 design.

Consider using this font family for high-end, sophisticated or couture brands.  

20. Saros

Designer: Brenan Stetzer

Another slab serif that can stand up to tiny print, Saros is used all across the branding board. Its flexibility stems from its dimensional construction, and it gives off a reliable, personable feel.

21. Didot

Designer: Firmin Didot

Don’t let its modern look fool you: Didot was created in 1799. The design features thick lines with thin curves, as well as thinner, squared, serifs. It is very common in the fashion world, where its different weights give it an air of elegance and creativity.

Today, companies like Armani and the television show America’s Next Top Model still use this typeface, and it doesn’t appear to be going out of style any time soon.

22. Chelsea

Designer: Nathan Thompson

Chelsea was created in 2016. The font is free for personal use, so you can claim its retro lettering for any project you need! 

23. Napo

Designer: Isabella Ahmadzadeh

This font was created as part of a recent graphic design thesis, and we are not mad about it. It was adapted to include four weights (light, regular, bold and extra bold) and is used for both display and body copy. The font pairs well with the sans-serif Leon, and it’s the perfect choice for multilingual design.  

24. Trocchi

Designer: Vernon Adams

Although created in 2012, this typeface is based on a number of predecessors dating back to the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. However, this casual slab serif is good for both display, logo and text type with its pronounced curls and refined edges.

25. Bree

Designers: Veronika Burian & José Scaglione

This lively typeface was released in 2008. Its spirited flourishes and strokes mimic those of human handwriting with large personality. For brands trying to project a youthful, spirited vibe, Bree is the way to go!

Aside from within a range of magazines, books and mobile apps, Bree most notably appears as the font of choice for Breast Cancer Awareness month, in addition to the branding of Peru.

Best Script Fonts for Logos

26. Variane Script

Designer: Boy Moch Tomi

Another handwritten font, Variane Script is a cursive with a clean touch. Unlike many scripts, this typeface remains legible while pulling off the curves and connections that give it its elegant feel. This typeface works really well with chic, professional-looking logos, and is definitely worth considering for printing on branded merchandise.

27. Belinda

Designer: Mika Melvas

A vintage brush script, Belinda was designed in 2011 and supports sixty-four languages. This typeface sports well-adjusted kerning, which helps to preserve its tasteful feel and prevents the type from looking overdone.

From magazine headers to product packaging, Belinda looks sophisticated on nearly every surface – part of what makes it such a branding favorite!

28. Thirsty Script

Designer: Ryan Martinson

This typeface is the bridge between the vintage and the modern font, with its combination of signage scripts and contrasting strokes. As their creator describes it, Thirsty Script contains a “mixture of retro script, modern sans-serif, and a shot of caffeine.”

The font comes in an array of styles and weights, including a range of glyphs and alternating characters that make Thirsty a versatile and multi-purposeful choice.

29. Shink

Designer: Situjuh Nazara

Only a few months old, this 2018 font puts a fun, flirty spin on traditional scripts. It adds exaggerated flourishes to many of its characters, giving a playful feel to whatever text is sporting the type.  

30. Cookie

Designer: Ania Kruk

A legible, simple script, the 2017 Cookie type takes the ad style of the ‘50’s and modernizes it with softer flourishes. This font is both simple and friendly, both charming and legible. For brands trying to emphasize their storytelling abilities, this typeface is a great way to go.  

31. Grand Hotel

Designers: Brian J. Bonislawsky and Jim Lyles

It’s not hard to imagine this type – with its upright orientation and classic cursive lettering – on a storefront or as a printed headline. The design was inspired by the title screen in the movie “Cafe Metropole,” in 1937.

Businesses in the baking or holiday industries would do particularly well with a Grand Hotel logo (although this font is certainly not restricted to those niches).

32. Lily of the Valley

Designer: Gregory Medina

This quirky 2017 script font features decorative letterforms marked by enticing flourishes. Its slightly-forward lean carries the eye, while the lettering itself paints the picture of a brand that is elegant and poised.

Best Modern Fonts for Logos

Despite the misnomer, modern fonts have been around since the 18th century. They aren’t bound to a single category, but take elements from different typefaces and apply them in unique combinations.

These fonts are characterized by their vertical stand and sharp contrast between thin and thick lines. The modern types that use serifs tend to relegate them to hairline flairs instead of the blockier versions of traditional fonts.

Today, modern fonts include both serif and sans-serif designs. Overall, they tend to be highly structured, clean, and are optimal with larger font sizes, which makes them ideal for logo designs. Some of the best modern fonts include:

33. Arciform

Designer: Matt Ellis

This rounded typeface is a sans-serif with a complete character set (think both upper and lowercase, symbols, numerals and accents). The curve of each letter gives a general sense of motion while keeping things light. Regardless of whether for personal or commercial use, you can use this font both for print and online.  

34. Geotica

Designer: Jos Buivenga

As the name suggests, geometry is the focal point of this 2010 display font. In the original version, there are open wire frames that can either be filled (as in the image above) or left open. There are a total of 16 styles that each cover over 600 glyphs, allowing for a wide range of logo designs with this type.

35. Butler

Designer: Fabian De Smet

Like you can see above, this serif draws inspiration from the Bodoni typefaces (see font #1 on our list). The high contrast lends itself to numerous projects, from large headers on posters and the like to smaller body text.

36. Ailerons

Designer: Adilson Gonzales de Oliveira Junior

Interestingly enough, this font was originally inspired by airplane models in the ‘40’s. (Of course, it has since been made available for personal use.) An all-caps display font, Ailerons boasts clean, stylish numbers and gives off a sense of exploration, travel, and pioneering genius.

37. One Day

Designer: Nawras Moneer

Another all-caps design, One Day combines rounded forms with slim, broken lines – creating an intriguing, modern effect. You might want to choose this typeface for its versatility, as it can be used effectively across print, digital media, and of course, logo design.  

38. Abril Fatface

Designers: José Scaglione and Veronika Burian

The 19th century is sprawled all over this contemporary typeface. Merging the sophistication of didones with the traditional weights of slab serifs, Abril Fatface is perfect for creating elegant headlines on both magazines and the web. Because of this, consider using the font for your logo if your business belongs to the editorial world.

39. Cooper Hewitt

Designer: Chester Jenkins

A contemporary sans-serif is just what the doctor ordered for the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, after they decided to revamp. Like the building, this font’s characters are laden with geometric curves and arches. Its clear lettering comes in 14 styles, and it’s a great fit for logos that want to convey professionalism and reliability.  

40. Lust

Designer: Neil Summerour

Sharp serifs and even sharper contrast are what make this typeface ideal for display purposes. Released in 2012, Lust has been described as indulgent, sensual and over-the-top – exactly the types of brands that should grab the font for their logos!  

Over to You 

Now that you have so many awesome fonts for logos at your disposal, it’s time to get designing! Start experimenting with logo designs and see what works best for your brand. Remember to choose a font that expresses your brand personality, so you can communicate your company’s values and goals to your customers directly through your logo.

You can create a free logo with Tailor Brands; only pay if you love your design.