Architectural Fonts are one of the important factors in graphic design, which has a set of systems based on the imprint of types. They are classified into three main categories based on the look, style, and weight of the letters:

1. Serif
2. Sans-Serif
3. Script.

Types derive from other patterns and are the designs of a particular family. However, there are variations within the family regarding the weight of the letters: light italic and bold. Also, there are upper and lower-case letters.

Architectural fonts are a critical component of architectural design. However, it also becomes a complex decision to select the correct type of font, as it demands a proper understanding of typography and its impact on the design. Fonts help to establish a visual identity for a project and deliver relative information. Also, it helps communicate the function of the building, evoke a particular mood or emotion, and create a sense of hierarchy and structure within the design.

From the above-mentioned classifications, it is crucial for an architect or a designer to choose the correct typeface for their design presentation. For example, a serif font with a traditional style can describe a historic building. Whereas, a sans-serif font with a modern style can describe a contemporary design.

Applications of Architectural Fonts

Architects and graphic designers use fonts in various ways, from portfolios and client presentations to architectural boards and personal branding. Architectural fonts can be bold, simple, and decorative, according to the nature of the project or design. The fonts used would be the first thing the eye follows when coming up with a design. Hence, knowing about various architectural fonts will help in making communication better.

Headings or Title Fonts

Display Boards/Signages Fonts

Logo Fonts

Books/Magazines/Prints Fonts

Presentation Drawings Fonts

Portfolio Fonts

Screen Writing Fonts

Visiting Cards/Invitations/Signatures Fonts

Poster Fonts

Top 5 Headings or Title Fonts:

1. Futura

Futura, designed by Paul Renner in the 1920s, is a classic modern graphic design that takes inspiration from Bauhaus style. It uses straight lines and curves in the symphony, providing balance in the textual set. However, despite the visual cleaning, it is not suitable for long texts as it invokes visual exhaustion. It is perfect for the visual identity of corporate buildings.

2. Bauhaus

Developed by the graphic designer Herbert Bayer in 1925, it is based on the perception of timelessness and transcending time. This type of font is suitable for titles and subtitles in the composition of boards.

3. Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni created Bodoni in 1767, and its characteristic is its aesthetic strength. Although, due to the set of lines and striking presence of its letters, it is suitable for highlighting, titles, and details.

4. Butler

Fabian De Smet designed this serif typeface font in 2015. It is available in seven-line weights with both normal and stencil variations. Butler takes inspiration from Bodoni and uses it in big headlines and titling.

5. Metrica

Metrica’s design by Oliver James is a play of lines to create striking, sharp geometry and nifty edges. It is available in multiple line weights with upper and lower-case letters. It is used in project headings or concept keywords.

Top 3 Display Boards/Signages Fonts:

6. Neutra

Graphic designer Christian Schwartz designed this font in honour of modernist architect Richard Neutra in 2002. It is a geometric Sans-serif type used in display board presentations.

7. Consolas

In 2002, Lucas deGroot designed this typography that is widely used in books and architectural magazines. This font is ideal for competitors and university boards, as its clean aesthetics and proportion of lines allow long readings without tiring the reader.

8. Poplar

In the year 1990, Barbara Lind designed Poplar, which is an Adobe original typeface series. This font style is ideal for a wide range of applications, such as boards, diagrams, and schemes.

Top 2 Logo Fonts:

9. Corbel

Jeremy Tankard designed this humanist Sans-Serif typeface in 2007. The design includes three line weights—italic, bold, and regular. In addition, the letters are open with soft curves, making them easily readable in small fonts. They can be used in logos, posters, and product designs.

10. Greycliff

American designer Conary Fagen designed and released Greycliff in 2015. This font has nine styles: thin, extra light, light, regular, medium, demibold, bold, extra bold, and heavy. As it has a geometric, near-monoline construction, it lends a classic durability with softened edges and vibrant shapes. Hence, it can be used primarily in user interfaces, on-screen texts, signage, and logotypes.

Top 3 Books/Magazines/Prints Fonts:

11. Lora

Olga Karpushina and Alexei Vanyashin designed Cyreal fonts in 2011. This is a contemporary serif font with roots in calligraphy. It is a well-balanced typeface with a combination of contemporary and traditional styles. It can be used in paragraphs or one-liners to describe the design.

12. Garamond

Designed by Francesco Griffo in 1495 as a typeface cut for Venetian printer Aldus Manitius, it is an old style of serif letter design that has a relatively structured organic style of handwriting from a pen and is readable. It can be used in printing books as it features large bodies with small types.

13. Saonara

Maxim Schepin and Denise Schepin designed this serif font for fashion-style writing. Designers also use this font in magazines, logos, and branding.

Top 3 Presentation Drawings Fonts:

14. Helvetica

Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman designed Helvetica in the twentieth century. Moreover, it is a set of lines and layout that are neutral and concise in design. Architects and designers mostly use this font in their drawing presentations due to its straight lines and minimalistic characteristics.

15. Modeka

Designed by Gatis Vilkas in 2014, this Sans-Serif typography is versatile and subtle. However, this font style is suitable for titles, subtitles, and textual details in the graphic composition of boards and drawings.

16. Abril

Jose Scaglione and Veronica Burian designed and released this modern serif typeface in 2011 by the Czech Republic Foundry. Although its display weights may fall into the modern category, its text weights take inspiration from 19th-century slab serif and scotch Romans. As they are designed with the right colour texture and overall width, they are suitable for continuous readings. Hence, they are suitable for graphical representations of smaller scale, which can be a pocket notebook or magazine.

Top 3 Portfolio Fonts:

17. Constantia

Design by John Hudson in the year 2006 is a serif typeface. Due to its style and bold characters, it is used in titles and headings. Also, they can be used in web documents such as portfolios or logos.

18. Architect

Juan Miguel Castillo designed Architect as a simple sans-serif font. It is designed with an architectural handwriting style and used in short sentences.

19. Century Gothic

Sol Hess designed Century Gothic between the years 1936 and 1947. This font is a digital San Serif type in a geometrical typeface. Hence, this typeface has a design based on circles and squares that is perfect for large hoardings and boards. In addition to that, architects can use it in the headings and titles of the drawings.

Top 4 Screen Writing Fonts:

20. Cambria

Designer Jelle Bosma designed Cambria in 2004, along with Steve Mateson and Robin Nicholas. This is a transitional serif typeface suitable for on-screen writing and printing small letters.

21. Calibri

Designed by Luca deGroot in 2004, it belongs to the humanist sans-serif typeface. It comes with six line weights, such as regular, italic, bold, light, bold italic, and light italic. Its style is subtle and warm due to its edges and curves, which define softness. It is widely used in prints and web presentations supporting the designs.

22. Lato

Designed by Lukasz Dziedzic in the year 2010. Here, the name Lato means summer. It is widely used in digital websites and Google fonts. Hence, this font is good for prints as well as signage and boards.

23. Roboto

Christian Robertson designed Roboto in 2012 for an Android website. This is a slab serif font typeface that has a geometrical structure. However, this font renders well in modern browsers and also performs well in older versions to ensure quality in display and text.

Top 4 Visiting Cards/Invitations/Signatures Fonts:

24. Gotham

The typical letters used in signage and architectural visual identity inspired Tobias Frere-Jones to design Gotham in the 2000s. Due to its credible lines in architecture, it can be used in business cards and logos.

25. Candara

Candara is a humanist San Serif font by designer Gary Munch. It is available in six line weights: bold, italic, light, bold italic, and regular. Moreover, it includes small caps, stylistic alternates, localised forms, and uppercase-sensitive forms. It is suitable for invitations, signatures, and symbols.

Top 5 Poster Fonts:

26. Gilroy

Radomir Tinkov designed this modern sans-serif font in 2016 to meet modern typographical requirements. As it has a stylish look, it is suitable for projects that are huge and have chic looks. At the same time, the fashion and publication industries also use this font.

27. Ava

Cassandra Capello designed AVA, which belongs to the display serif and sans-serif font typefaces. This font has a minimal and futuristic look. Hence, this type of font can be used in posters and prints.

28. Bebas Neue

Ryoichi Tsumekawa designed Bebas Neue as a display for packaging, captions, and headlines. It is a sans-serif font that is easily readable and, hence, perfect for headings and titles in drawing presentations. Also, it can be used for designing posters and logos.

29. Bemis

Andrea Leksen’s Bemis takes inspiration from the famous historic Bemis building in Seattle. Hence, this type of font can be used for descriptions or headings of historic buildings.

30. Marion

Marion, designed by Ray Larabie, is a transitional serif typeface with 18th-century flair. Further, this font comes in regular, bold, italic, and bold italic line weights. A mixed combination of modern and historic styles can help to describe both historic and contemporary buildings.

To sum up, fonts play an important role in architectural presentations. Hence, looking at the architectural fonts and understanding a little about the typefaces helps with better graphical communication. However, choosing the right typeface for the support of the drawing speaks a lot about one’s vision.

Architectural Fonts are a means of communicating the exact amount of information about the nonverbal imagination. While they seem like easy decisions to make, they are usually not chosen properly. When architects or designers select a font for a presentation, they make a few mistakes.

• Using too many fonts in one design
• Choosing fonts with similar styles
• Ignoring the contrast in terms of line weights
• Not considering the intended mood or message of the graphics
• Not considering readability
• Ignoring spacing and alignment
• Overusing decorative or script fonts
• Using too many bold or italicised fonts

Avoiding these simple mistakes can make the design presentations for architects or designers much more informative and communicative. Hence, the right amount of line weight, style, and type is a must when choosing a font. Knowing this fact, after looking at different fonts, one has to think: in what ways can an architectural font be paired so as to make the whole presentation convey the exact imagination one has?

Content Writing And Research By: Ar. Rajeshwari Pandya Modi