Lava360 » Fonts

Top 10 Pro-Fonts to spark some creativity in you

lava360 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:16:58 +0000

Who doesn’t like new fonts? I was searching through the net and realized that a lot of people use some really epic looking fonts in their projects because, well… they are just plain awesome. I have compiled a list of top 10 Professional fonts to fulfil your graphic needs, Please check out and download this week and experiment with your all projects. Try making some title treatments or some logo reveals, these are bound to spark some creativity in you somewhere!

All though there have been many other most used font posts, most of them outline fonts used by the ‘not-so-well-trained’ designer. In this post I want to outline the fonts that are often used by the more ‘professional’ of designers.

Professional Fonts for Graphic Designers

1. Garamond

Although there are many versions of Garamond, the most used version today is the Adobe Garamond version (as seen above) released in 1989. Garamond is a great font for magazines, textbooks, websites and long bodies of text and was recently named the second best font (after Helvetica) by a German publication.

2. Helvetica

Helvetica is one of the most popular typefaces of all time. It was designed by Max Miedinger in 1957 for the Haas foundry of Switzerland (the name is derived from Helvetia, the Latin name for Switzerland).

The design is based on the grotesques of the late nineteenth century, but new refinements put it in the sans serif sub-category of neo-grotesque. Shortly after its introduction, the Stempel foundry purchased the original Helvetica typeface and developed a full series of weights. In the 1960s Helvetica came to the United States, where alignment standards differed; Mergenthaler Linotype copied the Stempel series and then added several new versions of the design. Helvetica is an all-purpose type design that can deliver practically any message clearly and efficiently

3. Bickham Script

Richard Lipton’s Bickham Script is a flowing, formal script typeface based on the lettering of 18th century writing masters, as rendered in the unparalleled engravings of George Bickham. This ornate script lends a signature flourish to invitations, menus, annual reports, restaurant logos, and packaging. With dozens of alternate letterforms in addition to its range of weights, Bickham Script’s personality can range from poised to extravagant.

Used mainly for formal occasions, Bickham Script is a font which does the job well… Cameron Moll even recommended it in his article “Typefaces no one will get fired for using.” The ‘not-so-trained’ designer usually vouches for Vivaldi instead which is one of America’s most hated fonts.

4. Futura

Futura is the fully developed prototype of the twentieth century Geometric Sanserif. The form is ancient, Greek capitals being inscribed by the Cretans twenty-five hundred years ago at the time of Pythagoras in the Gortyn Code, by the Imperial Romans, notably in the tomb of the Scipios, by classical revival architects in eighteenth century London, which formed the basis for Caslon’s first sanserif typeface in 1817. Some aspects of the Geometric sanserif survived in the flood of Gothics that followed, particularly in the work of Vincent Figgins.

Futura is a font that comes up often in large displays, logos, corporate typefaces and in books where small text is needed. It is based on geometric shapes (near-perfect circles, triangles and squares) which became representative of the Bauhaus design style of 19191933. Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. Some do hate the font though.

5. Trajan

The inscription on the base of the Trajan column in Rome is an example of classic Roman letterforms, which reached their peak of refinement in the first century A.D. It is believed that the letters were first written with a brush, then carved into the stone. These forms provided the basis for this Adobe Originals typeface designed by Carol Twombly in 1989.

Trajan is an elegant typeface well-suited for display work in books, magazines, posters, and billboards and these day this font finds its way into many Hollywood movie posters and anything remotely to do with religion, law, marriage, class or the past. You can check out the flickr pool for more uses of Trajan.

6. Bodoni

Bodoni is a great font for headlines, decorative text and logos. Bodoni has a narrow underlying structure with flat, unbracketed serifs. The face has extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, and an overall geometric construction which makes it a very aesthetic looking font.

7. Frutiger

The Frutiger font family is neither strictly geometric nor humanistic in construction; its forms are designed so that each individual character is quickly and easily recognised. Such distinctness makes it good for signage and display work and it is often used in Web 2.0 Logos.

The full family has a warmth and subtlety that have, in recent years, made it popular for the smaller scale of body text in magazines and booklets.

8. Arial

A contemporary sans serif design, Arial contains more humanist characteristics than many of its predecessors and as such is more in tune with the mood of the last decades of the twentieth century. The overall treatment of curves is softer and fuller than in most industrial-style sans serif faces. Terminal strokes are cut on the diagonal which helps to give the face a less mechanical appearance

9. Belluccia

Belluccia is dedicated to Debi’s mother, aunt, and uncle…all talented creative people who inspired her to become an artist. It was created with Brides and Invitation Designers in mind, though it is a great choice for any project seeking a custom hand lettered/flourished look.

10. Swiss 721

Many typefaces designed with a pen on paper (especially those from the 20th century) were licensed by different foundries, and were later independently digitized by them. Some special characters such as @ or the euro sign, were independently added later. Those “alternate cuts” are different digital versions of basically the same typeface design. They often vary in character set, letter proportions and kerning. Some are published under different names.

74 Professional Sports Logo Design Inspiration

lava360 — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:35:42 +0000

Time to share with our readers professional and beautiful sports inspired logo designs. We pick 74 some of the best and eye catching sports logos with a great idea and very well deigned. Designers use the typography, characters and sports element to give these logos a great sporty look and very energetic feeling. If you want to design a sports based logo, these logo examples will give you a great idea and inspiration to start your own logo. So now enjoy these 74 professional sports logo design inspiration

Download 40 Fresh & Free Fancy Fonts

lava360 — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:30:14 +0000

40 fresh and totally free fonts for your next design. These fonts are fancy, like cartoon, comic, old school or western type of fonts. So these fonts can be very handy if you want to design some cool vintage poster or need some typography illustrations or artwork. Both for commercial and personal use, download them now and enjoy.

Download Free Creepy Fonts for Your Next Design

lava360 — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:59:55 +0000

Download free creepy fonts for your next design element. Blood Of Dracula · Buffied · Cenobyte · Creepygirl · Donree’s Claw · Fangs SC · Monstroula etc. Weather you want to create a typography creepy and spooky poster or want to make a logo, these fonts gonna be very handy for you. Some fonts are based on symbols and characters so you can create some horror without any handwork.

Black Oak by Billy Argel

YouMurderer BB by Blambot

Trinigan FG by Fontgrube

A Lolita Scorned by AngeliQ

skull_TS by Billy Argel

VladTepesII (Vlads Dad) by Bolt Cutter Design

Zombie Holocaust by Sinister Fonts

Wild Wood by Jester Font Studio

Buffied by GemFonts

VTCAllSkratchedUpOne by Vigilante TypeFace Corp.

Evilz by N+

HoMicIDE EFfeCt by Nihilschiz

Nightmare 5 by Filmfonts

skullphabet by Skull-A-Day

Bacon by someshinzz

sin of the innoccent by Teabeer Studios

Blood Of Dracula by Brain Eaters

Guttural by Meztone Design

LT White Fang by Nymphont

Vtks espinhuda by VTKS DESIGN

Solstice Of Suffering by GraveTech

Honeydripper by someshinzz

Gypsy Curse by Sinister Fonts

Bloodsuckers by The Empire of the Claw

Dominatrix by Bolt Cutter Design

Shaun of the Dead by Filmfonts

Mars Attacks by Filmfonts

Misfits by Ravenous Media

Horror Dingbats II The Victims by The Empire of the Claw

Calaveras 323 by 323 Productions

KR Boo Lane by Kat’s Fun Fonts

Grave Digger by Fontmaker

Headhunter by David Rakowski

Spiderfingers by Sinister Fonts

Valium by Divide By Zero

ROCKY AOE by Astigmatic One Eye Typographic Institute

Monsters Attack! by The Empire of the Claw

Kreepy Krawly by Sinister Fonts

Windswept MF by Rick Mueller

Wooden Casket by Gaut Fonts

Visions of the Dead by Livin Hell

Nosferatu by Kiwi Media

13th Ghostwrite by Filmfonts

Gommogravure by K-Type

Frank Knows by Livin Hell

Incantation by GraveTech

LMS Bloodsucker Proxy by London’s Letters

Helloween version 2 by GemFonts

KR Bootown by Kat’s Fun Fonts

BN Manson Nights by Ben’s Fonts

40 Free Stylish Retro Fonts for Designers

lava360 — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:48:47 +0000

Retro can be used to simply mean “old fashioned” or old, functioning much like “timeless” or “classic”. Its font type is used in a variety of retro sport garments. Brands such as Adidas, Puma and Nike have their own divisions specialized in retro products. Some soccer, baseball and basketball clubs also have re-edited their former garments to raise their sales. Here are 40 free stylish retro fonts for designers .These all are great Retro free fonts for your next web design and its free to download.

1960s Hippie Font

Catalunya Choo Choo NF Font

Chell Chrome Bold Font

Chelsea Studio Font

Chi-Town NF Font

Chippewa Falls NF Font

ChippewaFallsNF Font2

ChocolateBox Font

ChocolateBoxDecorative Font

Cinema MF Font

Claritty Font

Coyote Deco Italic Font

CType AOE Font

Daddy Longlegs NF Font

Daisy Regular Font

Darmstadt Arts NF Font

Day Poster Black NF Font

Day Poster Shadow NF Font

Debonair Inline NF Font

Decadence condensed Font

Baldur Shadow Font

Becker Black NF Font

Bellerose Light:1.0 Font

Bellhop NF Font

Belshaw Font

Benjamin Franklin Font

Bete Noir NF Font

Bifur Font

Big Apple NF Font

Big Top Font

AerojonesNF Font

Air Conditioner Font

Airstream NF Font

Americana Dreams Font

Anagram NF Font

Anagram Shadow NF Font

Anchor Steam NF Font

Aranea Font

Art Nouveau Caps Font

40+ Stunning Examples of a great redesign: Top Picks

lava360 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:43:38 +0000

A run down of a collection of my favourite redesigns in recent years

A redesign can be worth its weight in gold if you get it right. There is a thin line between freshening up your design, and taking a step backwards with a redesign. Sometimes a redesign can be subtle and simple, and other times it can be a huge re-vamp of a company and it’s goals. Here’s a look at some of my favourite re-designs in no particular order. So have a look on 40+ stunning examples of a great redesign.

01. AT&T Inc.

This is an ideal example of how a subtle upgrade can make a huge difference.

02. BP Garage

A completely different direction and modern feel. A huge improvement!

03. Sprint

Looking at the old sprint logo it’s obvious a re-design was needed.

04. Mindshare

A great find via Brand New. Great use of colours & typography.

05. Mustang 2010

The current 2009 Logo, compared to 2010. Subtle improvements, but wow so much more aggression! Source: AutoBlog.

06. Adobe Photoshop CS4

Adobe has come a long way in a short time, I like the way things are going.

07. Discovery Channel

Probably one of my favourites. Really love the placement of elements.

08. Fanta

The old can really does look dated compared to the new look.

09. Johnsons Baby

Not one of the obvious choices, but I love the softer approach.

10. Fiat Bravo

Yeah that’s right, a car made it into the list. A great example of a successful redesign, and Fiat’s recent sales figures prove it. Plus I drive this car, so a very biased choice!

11. Steinlager

I hate lager, but if you presented me with this… It’d be rude to say no.

12. Applebee’s

Great example of a redesign where the concept stays similar but the execution is on a completely different level.

13. Firefox / Firebird

A name change, and a great leap forward. Time really is a healer.

14. QVC

A huge Brand, and a major revamp. And a much needed one.

15. Vauxhall

A UK car maker with a new, more prominent identity. I like the old one, its clean and not much is wrong with it. But the new logo reflects more on a new company direction and style of their cars.

16. MSNBC

A fresher look, more open and less in your face. Works well I’d say!

17. Ford

Yep, more cars related stuff. But a much deserved mention here.

18. Ford Fiesta

Sticking with Ford, their new style Fiesta really is a beauty.

19. The BBC

One of the most recognizable UK brands, good job it looks great then.

20. Direct TV

The same concept, shape and fonts. Just better.

21. Barack Obama

What a difference a year makes. The 2007 site compared to the ‘08. Probably one of the best website re-designs around right now.

22. Grooveshark

David Pache, this guy knows how to redesign a brand identity.

23. BusinessWeek

Simpler, Bolder, Cleaner. A successful redesign in my book.

24. Viget Labs

It is amazing how far we’ve all come in terms of web design in just a few years, Viget is a great example of this.

25. Toys”R”Us

A much more playful typeface and colour scheme. I found this via a great article on Logo Design Love: 10 Sucessful Logo redesigns.

26. Seat Leon

The old model wasn’t hideous, it’s only after you see the new model you start to believe it is. A truly amazing revamp, hats off to Seat design team!

27. N Design Studio

How to flip your website into an iconic design, courtesy of Nick La.

28. The BBC website

Words cannot describe how much I hated the old design. The new site really is something for the BBC to be proud of.

29. WordPress.org

A much more engaging and approachable design from WordPress.

30. Microsoft

Making something out of nothing, and doing it well. Microsoft.

31. MailChimp

I dare you to find a better looking mascot. A huge improvement, but a much needed one I must say, the new chimp really does have that “cute-factor”

32. CNET

A subtle update, and you know I love subtle. Beautiful end result.

33. Wembley Stadium

When updating something so Iconic, you need to make something just as iconic. I’d say a job well done on this one.

34. Apple iPod

Advanced technologies and production methods sure do look good.

35. The Simpsons

Right? Now you’re including cartoons… This list is crazy! Maybe so, but this has to go down as the redesign I’m most glad of.

36. XBOX

A new direction with the XBOX design, colours shapes etc are a huge leap in the right direction.

37. Design Shard

With a growing blog it’s important to design for the needs of your visitors. Max does a great job here on Design Shard.

38. KFC

Colonel Sanders is looking better in his old age. A cleaner look.

39. Walmart

A more modern feel to a logo which was showing its age.

40. Envato

A sleeker looking logo really can help kick off your re-branding.

41. Best Buy

A logo which is more fitting to the company & its products.

42. Macmillan

A great bold move by MacMillan Cancer care charity, but one that works really well and a very recognizable brand now.

43. Holiday Inn

Quite possibly my favourite, something about this is just so welcoming. Which is good for a Hotel company right!

44. British Telecom

I have no idea what that guy is blowing into, and I don’t want to know. Needless to say the new logo represents a more dynamic company, with more to offer than just horn blowing.

45. Vicks

The old logo very possibly was made in MS Word. You’d struggle to make the new one in Word, so I like it!

46. Fuel Your Creativity

Adelle really has put a lot of thought into her new logo, and it really has paid off. The new logo has a much more lasting impact.

47. Amazon

For an online store like Amazon the old logo didn’t really fit. The updated version looks better in both web and print.

48. Virgin Media

Not really a redesign, more of a buy-out and brand build. Never-the less it was a refreshing moment for customers like myself!

49. Macbook Pro

Top to bottom glass front, one solid aluminium base and you’ve got yourself a pretty Macbook Pro.

50. HP

I’ve not actually seen this used anywhere but adverts. But I really like it!

Sources of Information

Below is some of the sites and blogs I used for research on this post, along the way I found some great resources and inspirations.

Brand New

Without doubt a lot of these have already been covered by Brand New, a wonderful project by UnderConsideration which I urge you all to add to your RSS feed and start to follow. The content really is amazing, and if you love the logo’s I’ve featured above you’ll love it for sure.

Logo Design Love

As I’ve already mentioned there is a fantastic post on Logo Design Love which you might also find interesting “10 Sucessful Logo redesigns“. The logo design Love website is well worth checking out for various posts on Logos and Brands on a regular basis.

Identity Works

Another great resource which documents the process of various redesigns and their goals from 1998 onwards was Identity Works. A really great site to explore and find out about the history of the brand identities.

30+ Inspiring Web Designs for designers

lava360 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:13:53 +0000

My personal list of 30+ websites that inspire creativity and web design. Most of my favorites are because of the simple grid based design, typography and layout (oh and don’t forget the great content!)

Hope some of you find this list useful as I did!

Design View / Andy Rutledge

Jesus Rodriguez Velasco

Design Reviver

Webstock

Subtraction / Kohi Vinh

Loris Stavrinides

Authentic Boredom / Cameron Moll

Weightshift

5am-Studio / Samuel Bismes

Future of Web Apps / Carsonified

99 More Quality CSS, XHTML Free Templates: Part 2

lava360 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:03:52 +0000

As promised second part follows, here I continue free XHTML and CSS template and free layout article, which actually at first was supposed to be one really long article, but WordPress doesn’t allow to have such long posts. Anyway those post are directly linked with each other, together there are 198 templates, I picked only those which I found to be interesting for research for people just starting out and looking for new techniques. If You are really advanced user You should consider going straight to this post however -

Hope this helps in Your development process.