In his famous essay “Ornament and Crime” in 1908, the then fashionable architect Adolf Loos wrote: “The development of culture entails the displacement of ornamentation from the design of everyday things.” With this statement, he excluded many of the ornate decorative typefaces developed over the past centuries from being used in high-end design. Now, fast forward to today: Web 3.0 is full of nearly flat sans-serif fonts and classic roman fonts, which is why designers miss the frills of the typographers of yore.
Take advantage of the powerful expressiveness of antique fonts and give your graphics the vintage charm that's all the rage in print and online. From cowboy and Victorian styles to avant-garde and calligraphy, the choice is very wide. Fonts are grouped randomly, modern interpretations may coexist with (almost) authentic prototypes. All of them are available free of charge for use in private projects, just please remember to read the license agreements carefully.
Imitations of prints from wooden boards and poster fonts
This font, reminiscent of cheap prints from wooden boards, is not without its charm: it reeks of the faded posters of a run-down theater. The look is equal parts dark and challenging, suitable for graphics ranging from informal to frightening.
Circus Ornate by Dieter Steffmann creates the same mood as classic circus graphics, but retains its originality as an ornamental, eye-catching poster font.
- (similar to Rosewood font)
Designed to emulate fonts such as Rosewood and Ponderosa, which in turn are reminiscent of late 18th century poster fonts, Coffee Tin brings vintage advertising graphics to life with a modern twist on crisp lines.
-
Another beautiful pseudo-antique font, created on the basis of 19th century poster letters. Typology foundry borrowed both the style and the name from the font developed in 1884 by D.T. Ames.
-
Another pseudo-antique masterpiece by Dieter Steffmann, Egyptienne Zierinitialen, transforms two-dimensional letters into luxurious three-dimensional carvings.
-
A lovely vintage masterpiece from Jester Font Studio.
-
Nasty is an aged “remix” created by Eduardo Recife from the Extra Ornamental font developed by House of Lime. Released in two versions, which Recife also recommends using in combination with each other.
-
Freely licensed software developer David Rakowski created this font in 1991. 17 years later, the harmony of monumentality and grace in its outlines looks like a sensation from the past that makes a lasting impression today.
-
Rick Mueller's Tuscan is one of his many vintage fonts that, however, stands out from the crowd. total mass intricate contours combined with weighty simplicity. This font is reminiscent of antique poster letters without the extra flourishes.
-
Clearly inspired by Sideshow, developed by Harold's Fonts, Fusty Saddle is a hand-drawn and then digitized cowboy-style font. Bittbox offers you not only the typeface of its font, but also an explanation for it: “fusty,” as stated on the author’s website, means “old-fashioned in both essence and appearance.”
-
Digital version of the print with wooden board with a distinctly Wild West flair, designed by Matthew Austin Petty of Disturbed Type. The cowboy-stubble look of the font, the rough-hewn edges and sloppy surfaces of the block elements give this font a distinctly vintage, masculine feel.
-
The product of independent digital print studio Fountain, Azteak combines echoes of the past with dreams of the future. Superimposed on the mechanical basis of this font are various decorations, which evokes associations with science fiction films about an alternative future in the era of steam engines.
-
The name of this font is derived from the phrase "guardian angel" in French, and him capital letters, indeed, are crowned with figures of winged guards. AngeGardien's combination of grace and solid contours, which it shares with other quality vintage fonts, may be something worth preserving.
Antique and Renaissance fonts
An authentic 18th century Caslon typeface might now look like Caslon Antique: slightly worn around the edges, but still hard. This interpretation of the classic Caslon serif adds maturity and authority to the text without losing clarity.
-
Dominican is another artificially aged antique font, and a very unique one, the outlines of which are inspired by the special charm of old books.
-
An unusual, all-caps font, Old Dog New Tricks is interesting because the lower elements of its, in principle, classic serif letters are lowered below the line line. The combination of Art Deco style with antique echoes does not allow us to trace its origins with certainty, but, as the theory of “remix culture” teaches, unexpected combinations of components bear fruit in the form of truly unique phenomena.
-
Developed by David J. Perry in 2003, Cardo was intended for teaching aids in classical languages and medieval writing. The pointed letters of this font resemble both the handwriting of chroniclers and the inscriptions carved on stones.
Old printed and calligraphic fonts
The broken line and faded letters could give it an unkempt appearance, but this font is durable enough to fit into any non-alignable markup to match.
-
Similar font to the title of P.T. Anderson's 2007 film, this example clearly demonstrates the admixture of cowboy style with traditional Gothic style.
-
Olde English is an interesting example of a font that, despite belonging to one time and place, was easily associated with another. Although its style is reminiscent of medieval German Gothic fonts, Olde English is actually named after the Old English language written in insular minuscule.
-
The Schwabacher font received its name from the German village of Schwabach, and the style - from the calligraphic handwriting of the chroniclers. Although it has been used only occasionally in Germany since the 17th century, it has had a huge impact on the history of printing.
-
Fraktur was widely used in printing in Germany even throughout the 20th century, and comes in many variations. Fette Fraktur is a sedate, sparse version, legible for a reader accustomed to the serif font, without losing the distinctness of the outlines.
-
A font designed to evoke nostalgia for the early days of baseball, when stadiums were still named after their neighbors. settlements and people. It's like vintage baseball jerseys, flashy and tough in equal measure.
-
Wrexham Script is a denser and more angular font, inspired by inscriptions on sports equipment, with a touch of vintage.
-
In the abundance of imitations of handwriting presented on the Internet, the connection between the usual nameless typeface and its ancestors from past centuries, through whose use, and often their professional improvement, it was formed, is easily lost. ALS Script, proportionate and graceful, is a worthy continuation of its dynasty: its outline recalls the handwriting of official clerks of the 18th and 19th centuries.
-
Despite Mr. Loos's aversion to ornamentation, the elaborate decorativeness of Adine Kirnberg does not interfere with either its legibility or its applicability. With a subtle hint of antiquity, this cleverly designed cursive is suitable for more than just wedding invitations.
-
Straight italic, geometrically regular and ornamental in equal measure. The contours of the Ecolier have echoes of the Art Deco style, but they are apparently based on the subtle curves of calligraphy along with the skyward forms of creations of modern engineering.
-
According to designer Billy Argel, the idea for the Olho de Boi font was first suggested by Postage Stamp, issued in Brazil on August 1, 1843. The characteristic strokes and curls give the characters in this font the appearance of letters copied directly from old letters.
- ("Skeleton scribbles on the treasure hunter's map")
There may only be one International Pirate Slang Day, but why not write in pirate at least four times a week? This font is named very accurately: squiggle style pirate stories reminiscent of water-blurred handwritten notes from a map of a lost treasure island.
Art Nouveau and Art Deco fonts
Fletcher Gothic by Casady & Greene is a Art Nouveau font with crisp outlines and striking finesse: bring that special turn-of-the-19th-20th-century feel to your new-century graphics.
-
The curves of the outlines of this font are reminiscent of the floral motifs of the contours of Art Nouveau. Hadley brings the text to life, giving it a touch of antiquity without losing its contemporary relevance.
-
If Alphonse Mucha had designed fonts, he would have come up with Secesja. Intricately curved serifs and floral pattern give the letters a mood of joy of life.
-
In the early 20th century, Charles Dana Gibson became famous for his pen sketches of women in corsets and high hairstyles, known as the Gibson Girls. Trinigan, with its wavy cross-sections and shaped silhouettes hourglass, brings those classic images to life in the form of printed characters.
