Comments on: Adobe sans-serif

Question: Adobe sans-serif

Foam Pants — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:23:20 -0800

If you could pick one sans-serif family from Adobe, what would it be and why? I am trying to branch out from the Myriad Pro I got free with InDesign.

By: muscat

muscat — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:36:46 -0800

ack! Buy the full helvetica neue set from linotype. Helvetica is the epitome of the evolution of the letterform... the greatest typeface ever designed and the only one you ever need to use for anything, ever.

Unless you need a serif, in which case you should use Sabon.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:37:35 -0800

Univers or Frutiger. Solidly sexy.

But I'd branch out from the Adobe family also. There's tons and tons and tons of great fonts, most of them not with Adobe.

By: kidbritish

kidbritish — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:39:39 -0800

If I were looking for versatility, I would choose Univers. (Frutiger or Helvetica could serve the same purpose).

As far as fonts that I personally LIKE, without regard for utility, I would go with Trade Gothic. (Optima and Futura are runners up).

By: muscat

muscat — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:46:41 -0800

Univers or Frutiger. Solidly sexy.

Frutiger is too close to myriad and univers is just an attempt to upstage helvetica that falls short.

By: muscat

muscat — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:49:01 -0800

Trade Gothic. (Optima and Futura

I think of Trade Gothic as the "American Helvetica"... It is nice, but it has a limited set of weights. Optima is one of the most disgusting typefaces ever designed and futura is a cartoon.

I may do this all day. Mods, beware. I am a helvetica evangelist.

By: kidbritish

kidbritish — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:55:26 -0800

Optima is one of the most disgusting typefaces ever designed

What is disgusting about Optima?

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:02:29 -0800

I'd suggest either Helvetica or Univers. They are my two sans-serif workhorses.

On the other hand, if you wanted to go with a non-Adobe choice, I heartily recommend Gotham by Hoefler & Frere-Jones. Verrrry nice font family.

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:02:57 -0800

1) Univers
2) Trade Gothic

But if you're going to be buying fonts, Hoefler & Frere-Jones is doing (or licensing) some of the best work out there right now. Gotham, Whitney, and Knockout are simply outstanding.

By: kryptondog

kryptondog — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:07:25 -0800

Futura is great, but it might have a bit too much "personality" if you're planning on using it for a bunch of stuff.

If I were buying and I could just pick one, I'd go with Frutiger or ITC Stone Sans.

By: chelseagirl

chelseagirl — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:09:02 -0800

I vote Univers!

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:11:49 -0800

What is disgusting about Optima?

Not disgusting, but it is somewhat dated. Use only for emergency ironic references to Expo '67 perhaps.

By: muscat

muscat — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:15:13 -0800

What is disgusting about Optima?

There's too much crap going on. Its too fussy... almost prissy. Tries to be elegant and ends up wearing costume jewelery. Someone should tell McCain.

By: 0217174

0217174 — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:20:04 -0800

My favorite typefaces are helvetica, futura, gill sans mt.. I'm not sure if Gill is available from adobe though?

By: deern the headlice

deern the headlice — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:25:59 -0800

Another vote for Gotham.

By: krautland

krautland — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:35:22 -0800

univers, hands down.

By: beckish

beckish — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:37:30 -0800

trade gothic

I'm also liking FF Din but that's not adobe and it's not good for everything.

By: idiotfactory

idiotfactory — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:42:08 -0800

Identifont has similar fonts to myriad listed here that you could try instead.

By: moift

moift — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:59:58 -0800

Univers > Helvetica because Helvetica's minor celebrity has made it the designerly equivalent of a default, like Times New Roman for people with a clue, so it usually comes off as a bit lazy and uninspired.

By: Foam Pants

Foam Pants — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:38:03 -0800

Ok, I have to admit the stuff at Hoefler & Frere-Jones is pretty nice. If the sans-serif goes nicely with Chaparral, it earns extra points.

By: Tlogmer

Tlogmer — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:03:09 -0800

Have you looked at Avenir? It's by the same designer who did univers and frutiger and is -- in my opinion -- just incredibly beautiful. (Gotham's great, too. It's the obama campaign font.)

By: joeclark

joeclark — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:42:19 -0800

The question is unhelpfully vague. What is the application for which you intend to use a sansserif font?

By: artdrectr

artdrectr — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:09:25 -0800

Gill Sans is my go-to sans serif face. Elegant. Yes, it's available from Adobe.

By: [insert clever name here]

[insert clever name here] — Sat, 24 May 2008 04:57:21 -0800

I was going to suggest Avenir, but Tlogmer beat met too it. I've been digging it lately. Just different enough from the old standbys but not wildly different in such a way to be distracting.

By: joeclark

joeclark — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:44:44 -0800

I see I'm not going to get an answer to my question and people are just gonna nominate whatever font they like at the moment irrespective of Foam Pants's (unexplained) actual need.

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:41:17 -0800

I see I'm not going to get an answer to my question and people are just gonna nominate whatever font they like at the moment irrespective of Foam Pants's (unexplained) actual need.
posted by joeclark at 12:44 PM on May 24

Most of the type families listed above are versatile; if he wants some real wonk-style discussion he can always head over to typophile.