Looking for the best Serif font on earth

jabberjaw · August 18, 2006

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

I need some typeophile help:

I'm in search of an incredible serif font.

I'm ready to spend some cash / i'm not looking for any free stuff.

Perhaps something a little unique, but classic?. something you'd see in a very high end publication.

Any ideas?

noftus · August 18, 2006

Subjectively...

- Thesis (TheSerif)
- Chapparral Pro
- Fedra Serif

Grot Esqué · August 18, 2006

There are many aspects of incredibility but perhaps one option could be
• Adobe Garamond Premier Pro (“free” with Creative Suite 2)
• House Industries Paperback
• Freight
• Incognito + Terra Incognita

dan_reynolds · August 18, 2006

Jabberjaw, your question is like asking us to name the best song ever recorded. The only answers you'll be able to get from it will be subjective. I might think that Adobe's Garamond Premiere Pro is the best serif typeface on Earth. But another poster might point to FF Maiola. Or Palatino nova, or Sabon, or a typeface from Steffan Hattenbach's MacRhino collection.

While there are certainly a number of typefaces that *I* would definitely say are not the best serif types on the planet, this wouldn't be helpful either. The best typefaces are tuned to specific periods, moods, media, environments, and printing technologies.

Are you looking for a font for corporate identity, a novel, a newspaper, a website, a logo, or something else? For each of these uses, you'll still get different answers from most Typophile posters here, but at least the answers, like the question, will be more specific and help you make the right purchase and create the best design.

matthewbuchanan · August 18, 2006

Tobias Frere-Jones' Mercury perhaps? Initially created for Esquire mag.

timd · August 18, 2006

http://www.chank.com/freefont_detail.php?sku=1037

Incredible serifs here, unfortunately it's free so no good to you :)

Seriously though, give us a clue as to use.
Tim

Stefan H · August 18, 2006

Mission impossible I would say!

Here are some more of my own subjective proposals... ANZIANO, DELICATO and TAROCCO

Judge yourself at; http://www.macrhino.com

Termopolium · August 18, 2006

If I could chose only one serif font it would be Minion. For sheer versatility it's hard to beat.

Actually if I had to chose just two fonts it would probably be Minion and Trade Gothic, a awesome twosome.

finn · August 18, 2006

My 'best' is Fournier's 1764, but I suppose this is immaterial since it hasn't yet been brilliantly translated.

John Hudson · August 18, 2006

I have a big soft spot for Monotype Erhardt.

ffub · August 18, 2006

Try Bembo.

Linda Cunningham · August 18, 2006

Geez. I can cast votes for Adobe Garamond, Minion (which I use a lot!), and Bembo that have already been nominated.

Depending on use, size, and necessity of having a bold, italic, OSF, blahblahblah, I would also add Baker Signet, Book Antiqua, Jenson, Palatino, and Stone....

Palatine · August 18, 2006

If you choose not to go with Stefan H's suggestions - though Mac Rhino stuff is hard to beat (Luminance!) - you might want to look at the greatest digital version of what is regarded by many as one of the most beautiful and legible serif faces of all time, easily:

Sabon Next, Porchez's revival of Sabon.

http://www.linotype.com/53159/sabonnext-family.html?PHPSESSID=c

And if you can wait long enough . . .

http://www.porchez.com/article/352/sabon-next-opentype

Palatine · August 18, 2006

ffub:

The only digital Bembo worth having is Bembo Book, and it's pretty good:

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.htm?pid=420699?ovmkt=JK0U0JDQ41GIT...

brampitoyo · August 19, 2006

Don't forget TEFF's stuff, too!

thetypegod · August 19, 2006

Definitely Scala Serif or Absara Serif.

George Horton · August 19, 2006

John, is it possible to get digital Erhardt to look nearly as good as it was in metal? I have a solitary book in 13 pt metal Erhardt that proves it can be one of the very finest, but long experience of dismal Penguins set in it make me wonder whether it's the digital cut or the publisher that's at fault.

Si_Daniels · August 19, 2006

The best, Times New Roman of course - thirty six billion readers and users can't be wrong!

alexhb · August 19, 2006

I believe Coranto is one of the most beautiful typefaces I've seen in a very long time.

Jem · August 19, 2006

I second Coranto, infact any font by Gerard Unger.

I also love Enigma by Jeremy Tankard.

typequake · August 19, 2006

I can't get enough of Albertina.

ben_archer · August 19, 2006

Anyone who is seriously after 'the best serif font on the planet' usually ends up having to draw their own, after all, so if you have time... or the money and the inclination, why not commission some of the good people who hang out here?

The Yale Typeface that Matthew Carter did for the university there is a case in point – commissioned as a proprietary face, it sure is nice, but you can't use it unless you're at Yale. Apparently it's based on the Aldine roman.

Would that be unique, classic and high-end enough for you?

BTW I agree with the people who have already mentioned the newer, better versions of Bembo, Sabon etc in this thread. Apart from Mrs Eaves does anyone know of a similarly overhauled version of Baskerville? I might also add Hoefler Text and Stempel Garamond to the list for consideration.

Jem · August 19, 2006

Not to forget "Arnhem" by Fred Smeijers
http://www.typotheque.com/site/article.php?id=128

"Like many of the most enduring modern text typefaces, Arnhem addresses the past in an intelligent way while making a contribution very much of its own time."

http://www.typeradio.org/loudblog/index.php?cat=Smeijers,Fred