When graphic designers create a poster, they have to consider a number of different elements. What message is the poster trying to convey? What is the poster size going to be? What colours should they use? How should the text be formatted – and, perhaps most importantly, what font should they use?

A poster’s font plays a very large role in creating the proper design aesthetic. As the words on a poster actually convey the company’s information to the viewer, the font does a lot of the heavy lifting in regard to the brand’s style. However, font can’t focus on looks too heavily; it also has to be clear and legible if your customers are going to understand what you’re promoting.

So, what are the best fonts for a poster? Here are nine popular fonts that will make a big splash on your next poster design.

Sans Serif Fonts

Readability is an absolute necessity for any type of print marketing material. If your audience can’t read your poster, flyer, or business card, they are unlikely to remember your business – and even less likely to look you up on their own time. For this reason, san serif fonts are the best kind of typeface for poster copy.

What is “Sans Serif”? This term refers to fonts that do not have a small “brushstroke” (known as a serif) at the edge of each letter. Sans serif fonts are considered cleaner and easier to read, which makes them particularly popular on posters that contain a lot of text copy.

Some of the best sans serif fonts include:

Franklin Gothic

Any discussion of poster fonts must include a discussion of Franklin Gothic, the “father” of the sans serif font family. This font was originally designed by American typeface designer Morris Fuller Benton at the turn of the 20^th century, and it quickly became a go-to font for newspaper headlines of the time. These days, Franklin Gothic (and the other “gothic” fonts inspired by it) is used for billboards, movie posters, print ads, and a wide range of other advertising signage.

Helvetica

Helvetica has been a very popular font among graphic designers for many years. This is for two main reasons: it’s a free font included in most design programs, and its thick, sans serif letters are easy to read. However, it is important to keep in mind that Helvetica uses very tight spacing, which can make it hard to read at small font sizes.

Futura

Futura is a clean, geometric-style font inspired by the Bauhaus design style popular in Germany from 1919 to 1933. This is a great font that looks retro and futuristic simultaneously, and its slender letter shape makes it readable at very small fonts. Many designers use Futura for logo design, copy text, or brochures because it is clear, efficient, and professional.

Equinox

If your business wants to use a sans serif font with a science-fiction style, you might want to consider the Equinox font by Tugcu Design Co. This typeface has very thin letters that make it legible, but the is sleek and minimalistic design adds a unique edge. However, it is important to note that the Equinox font does not include lowercase letters, which can make a large swath of body text hard to read.

Gilmer

Gilmer is a classic, versatile font that looks great on a variety of printed material. This geometric typeface actually belongs to a larger “font family” (another name for a group of similar fonts), which includes five different weights (or letter thickness) and one outline option. This makes Gilmer a popular choice for logo design or branded company materials, as you can vary the font to suit your needs and still have a consistent look throughout.

Decorative Fonts

While sans serif fonts are an excellent choice for poster design, they are certainly not the only option available to graphic designers. Sometimes, a company needs an elaborate, decorative headline to convey a certain feeling, and that can require using a more stylized display font. Here are a few of the best fonts for making a big splash on your poster:

Bodoni

If you want your poster to have a sense of class and elegance, you might want to look to “the most elegant typeface ever designed”: Bodoni. Designed in the late eighteenth century by Italian typographer Giambattista Bodoni, this vintage font adds an element of old-school sophistication to any document. With a serif typeface and a combination of thick and thin strokes, this font looks like the text you might expect to find in a classic work of literature.

Coldiac

Another elegant font option that rather popular with typographic experts is Coldiac, a serif font with large, square-like letters. This font is particularly popular for materials like wedding invitations. because it looks fancy and upscale, while still being very legible. Coldiac is a great font for businesses that want to convey an air of luxury around their brand.

Lavenderia

Another popular choice in the world of display fonts is the calligraphy style. A script-style font can be great for logos, t-shirts, and lots of other items for commercial use. James T. Edmonson’s Lavenderia, which was inspired by the fonts in laundromat windows in San Francisco’s Mission District, is a particularly useful script font because it is both beautiful and readable.

Hello Beautiful

If you’ve spent any time looking at female-oriented brands on Instagram, you’ve probably seen a post or two featuring this font style. The Hello Beautiful font family, designed by Nicky Laatz, is a brushstroke-inspired font with a look that is both bold and eye-catching, yet casual and playful.

Best Fonts for Posters

So, what is the best font for your company? The answer depends entirely on two things: your message and your audience. Whether you are looking for a stylized look with a decorative font or a classic sign that gets right down to business, you can always us a high-quality online printer to create the perfect poster for your company.