What font does the Japanese fashion label Girls Don’t Cry use?

Tokyo-based fashion brand Girls Don’t Cry uses the font Bookmania for their retro-looking wordmark. Bookmania is Mark Simonson’s digital revival of Bookman that highlights the flamboyant swashes that were popular in the 1960s. The logo appears to be customized, as the curvy tail on the lowercase s isn’t included in Simonson’s version, which contains over 680 custom swash characters.

What font does the Billie Eilish album Happier Than Ever use?

Billie Eilish’s 2021 album Happier Than Ever uses the font Coronet for the album cover artwork. The uppercase T in Than is customized here to make the title more legible (it kind of looks like an uppercase J in the original). Coronet gives off a retro 1950s diner vibe and also recalls the 1967 Velvet Underground album featuring Andy Warhol’s iconic banana artwork with his “signature” set in Coronet.

What font does Cook This Book use?

Molly Baz’s 2021 cookbook Cook This Book uses a custom typeface designed by Violaine & Jérémy for the title on the cover. The bespoke type is somewhat similar aesthetically to VJ’s Kobe font, which is used in the interior of the book alongside their typefaces Voyage and Dida. The author name and subtitle are set with Grilli Type’s GT Haptik (using an alternate R), which is also used inside for the book’s body copy.

What font does the Mrs America TV series use?

Mrs America, a historical drama TV series produced by FX, uses the font Benguiat Caslon for the main title wordmark. Benguiat Caslon was originally designed in 1965 using phototypesetting technology and later digitized by House Industries. The flamboyant swash caps perfectly evoke the 1970s world that the show takes place in.

What font does the Demi Lovato album Dancing With the Devil… The Art of Starting Over use?

Demi Lovato’s 2021 album Dancing With the Devil… The Art of Starting Over uses the font Grande set in all caps for the artist’s name and MADE Mirage set in all lowercase for the album title.

What font does the Lovecraft Country HBO TV series use?

Lovecraft Country, a horror TV series produced by HBO, uses the font ITC Serif Gothic for the title and poster artwork. ITC Serif Gothic was released in 1972 and has been commonly used in slasher and sci-fi flicks ever since. It is set here with a background layer that is slightly offset, giving it a disoriented, blurry effect.

What font does the movie Wild Mountain Thyme use?

Wild Mountain Thyme, a 2020 romantic drama, uses the font ITC Clearface for the poster artwork. The title is set tightly using negative letterspacing, with some letters bumping up against each other.

What font does the movie Uncle Frank use?

Uncle Frank, a 2020 comedy-drama released on Amazon Prime, uses the font Windsor for the poster artwork. The film takes place during the 1970s, and Windsor perfectly encapsulates that era. Correction: This actually looks more like Verona, a digital adaptation of Windsor that is slightly less lumpy and has a longer, sharper serif on the “c.” Thanks to Matt Plays for the keen eye!

What font does the book The Four Winds use?

The Four Winds, a 2021 novel by Kristin Hannah, uses the font Peignot for the book cover art. When set in lowercase, Peignot is extremely easy to recognize due to its distinctive mix of small caps and traditional lowercase forms. However, when set in uppercase like this, it takes on a much more plain and stoic appearance.

What font does the Tame Impala album The Slow Rush use?

The Tame Impala album The Slow Rush uses the font Microgramma on the cover, a typeface that the band has used consistently on all of their album artwork.

Stay Tuned for the Next Edition

Enter your email in the box below to be notified when I publish a new post in this series. For website design inspiration, check out the Site of the Day section.

I strive to be as accurate as possible with the font identifications, but if you notice any errors, please let me know: jeremiah@typewolf.com.

What font does the Bacurau movie poster use?

The Bacurau movie poster uses the font ITC Grouch for the title, set in all caps. ITC Grouch features a distinctive curvy uppercase U and a high-waisted uppercase R, making it easy to recognize. The rest of the type on the poster looks to be using Cooper, which adds to the vintage 1970s vibe.

What font does the Body at Brighton Rock movie poster use?

The Body at Brighton Rock movie poster uses the font Molot, a blocky, uppercase-only sans designed by Roman Yershov.

What font does the Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever album Sideways to New Italy use?

Sideways to New Italy, the 2020 album by Australian indie rock band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, uses the font Futura bold for the band name and Cloister for the album title. The Futura treatment has an artificial stroke added, which gives the letters a more rounded, bubbly appearance and smaller counters.

What font does The Politician TV show use?

The Netflix series The Politician uses the font Roslindale for the show logo, set in the bold condensed style of the display version. Additional type on the poster art (not shown in the example above) uses the open-source serif Playfair Display.

What font does the Black Is King movie poster use?

Black Is King, a 2020 film from Beyoncé, uses the font Adieu for the title in the poster artwork. Extended sans-serifs like these can be difficult to identify, especially when set in all caps. I saw this font incorrectly identified elsewhere as Shapiro, but a quick look at the uppercase G, with its bar that extends deep inside the letterform, confirms that it is Good Type Foundry’s Adieu typeface.

What font does the Space Force TV show use?

The Netflix series Space Force uses the font Eurostile for the show’s logo, set in the bold extended style. Or it may possibly be using Microgramma, the predecessor to Eurostile, which is essentially the same design but without a lowercase.

What font does the Emily A. Sprague album Hill, Flower, Fog use?

Emily A. Sprague’s 2020 album Hill, Flower, Fog uses the font P22 Aragon for the cover artwork. The typeface perfectly complements the spacey, 1960s psychedelic aesthetic.

What font does the movie The Mountain use?

The poster for the 2018 film The Mountain, starring Tye Sheridan and Jeff Goldblum, uses the font Arthaus for the title. The rest of the poster type is set with ITC Bauhaus, which gives off a 1970s sci-fi vibe.

What font does the Axiom’s End book cover use?

Axiom’s End, a 2020 novel by Lindsay Ellis, appears to the use font ATF Poster Gothic for the book title and Bank Gothic for the author’s name. I’m not 100% sure, as neither font looks like an exact match. The uppercase E in the title seems to be customized with the top and bottom terminals sheared at an angle, the uppercase M has a sharper apex and the uppercase D is more rectangular. Also, the author’s name has a smudgy, blurred effect that gives the letters rounded corners. So it’s hard to say what is part of the actual font versus a custom modification. I will post a correction if anyone reaches out with a more accurate identification.

What font does the Trick Mirror book cover use?

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, a 2019 novel by Jia Tolentino, uses the font Hawthorn for the book cover design. The type, along with the color treatment, recalls paperback designs from the 1970s. The smaller text for the book’s subtitle uses Noe Display from Schick Toikka.

Stay Tuned for the Next Edition

Enter your email in the box below to be notified when I publish a new post in this series. For website design inspiration, check out the Site of the Day section.

I strive to be as accurate as possible with the font identifications, but if you notice any errors, please let me know: jeremiah@typewolf.com.

What font does the Tiger King TV show use?

The Netflix series Tiger King uses the font MPI No. 507 for the cover poster art. Although MPI No. 507 was designed in 2013, the typeface is based off wood type from the late nineteenth century. There is a subtle grunge texture overlayed on top of the type, which gives it a worn, vintage feel. The condensed sans-serif used for the titles within the show itself is Press Gothic, a revival of Aldo Novarese’s Metropol typeface from 1967.

What font does Stranger Things use?

The hit Netflix show Stranger Things uses ITC Benguiat as the main branding font. It’s shown in the poster above in the red outline and in the white text at the top. The opening credits use the geometric sans-serif ITC Avant Garde Gothic. The iconic design recalls classic Stephen King book covers and 1980s horror movies.

What font does Fjällräven use?

Swedish outdoor clothing maker Fjällräven uses a bespoke font called Arctic Fox for all of their branding. Arctic Fox is a rounded, bubbly sans-serif created by Letters from Sweden. The design is based off Frankfurter, a typeface from 1970 that was used in the original Fjällräven logo.

What font does the movie Parasite use?

The poster for the 2019 South Korean film Parasite uses a customized version of Gotham with added serifs. It’s a very ’90s look that recalls the serif/sans hybrids of the grunge era such as Dead History. The rest of the poster uses the standard version of Gotham set in uppercase.

What font does the Life Support book cover use?

Life Support: 100 Poems to Reach for on Dark Night, a 2019 collection of poems by Julia Copus, uses the font Albertus for the book cover design. The text is set center-aligned with generous letterspacing.

What font does the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco use?

The poster for the 2019 film The Last Black Man in San Francisco uses the font Caslon Graphique. The type is set center-aligned with tight letterspacing, which gives it a 1970s feel.

What font does The Glass Hotel book cover use?

The Glass Hotel, a novel by Emily St. John Mandel, uses the font Lydian for the book cover design. The type is set with generous letterspacing, which lends an open, spacious feeling to the stark cover artwork.

What font does the Charly Bliss album Young Enough use?

The Charly Bliss album Young Enough uses the font Roslindale for the artist name and Harbour for the album title. Roslindale was designed in 2017 by David Jonathan Ross, while Harbour was designed in 1998 by Gareth Hague. Correction: The serif used for the artist name is actually Hawthorn not Roslindale. Thank you DJR for the heads up!

What font does the The Water Dancer book cover use?

The Water Dancer, a 2019 novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates, uses the font Harbour for the book cover design. The bold weight of the typeface is set center aligned with added letterspacing.

What font does the Untamed book cover use?

Untamed, a 2020 novel by Glennon Doyle, uses the font Prohibition for the book cover design. Prohibition was designed by Mattox Shuler of Fort Foundry in 2013 and features flat sides and all caps. The scrawled script below the title is most likely custom hand lettering.

Stay Tuned for the Next Edition

Enter your email in the box below to be notified when I publish a new post in this series. For website design inspiration, check out the Site of the Day section.

I strive to be as accurate as possible with the font identifications, but if you notice any errors, please let me know: jeremiah@typewolf.com.

I started writing these monthly favorite site roundup posts way back in March 2014, about nine months after I launched Typewolf. I wanted a way to highlight my favorite sites featured on Typewolf and to write about the typographic details behind the designs.

I’ve enjoyed writing these posts over the years, but lately it has been harder and harder to come up with new things to say every month. I often feel like I’m repeating myself. I think I’m just getting a little bored with this format.

I haven’t missed a single post (even through the births of two babies), so I’ve been questioning why exactly I’m so blindly dedicated to keeping these going. I know the posts probably seem easy to write, but I actually spend quite a significant amount of time each month putting them together.

It’s also becoming more difficult to just pick a handful of favorites each month. The quality of the daily featured sites has improved over the years to the point where each one could be a contender now.

So in short, I just don’t feel the need to keep writing these any longer.

I wanted to make it to 60 posts so it would be an even five years, but once I made the decision to stop I just kind of lost all remaining motivation to continue. So I’m throwing in the towel early…

Onward to Better Things

I’m still working on Typewolf full-time—I’m just going to be spending more time on other things now:

1. Higher quality curation for the daily Site of the Day section (this is why you visit Typewolf in the first place).
2. Keeping my products updated (this is what pays the bills).
3. Making more top 10 font lists.
4. A huge backend overhaul is planned with tons of new features (like you’ll actually be able to search Typewolf).
5. My monthly newsletter will be switching to a new weekly format which will take more time to curate.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading these posts over the past five years.

Leader Bag Co

Ogg is a beautiful serif that is full of character and personality. It has some unusual features, such as the lower stroke on the e that tends to stick out into the letter that follows it, but that is what makes it so unique and memorable. It’s combined here with Freight Text for body copy and Pitch Sans for navigation and captions. I love the colorful, childlike illustrations, but they feel a little out of place next to the products being sold which come across as more chic and fashionable than fun and quirky.

Notation

This is the first use of Halyard I’ve featured on Typewolf which is a little surprising as the entire family is readily available on Adobe Fonts (Typekit), and Joshua Darden’s other superfamily, Freight, has been massively popular for quite a long time. The design of Halyard was influenced by the classic grotesques of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but it feels a little more even and regular compared to the grotesques of that era which often feel a little off-kilter and wonky. It’s paired here with Freight Display which is used at large sizes for headlines (as intended), while Freight Text is used for body copy. The Freight and Halyard families pair together nicely, as is oftentimes the case with typefaces from the same designer.

The Story of Vermont’s Quiet Digital Revolution

I love the Q on Colophon’s Mabry typeface—it was the perfect choice for setting the title here as it immediately stands out and gives a distinctive look to the branding. It contrasts nicely with the serif Larish Neue, set directly above it. The body text, set in Graphik, has a readable, narrow width, and the pullquotes breaking out from the grid make the page feel more dynamic. The wide-bodied Adieu is used for bylines and labels, and a fourth sans-serif, Helvetica, is used sporadically as well but probably isn’t really needed since there are already three other sans-serifs being used.

Porter & Pals

When I first saw this site, I had no idea it was for a dog food company as the branding is completely bizarre. But I think it is brilliant. As a dog owner myself, I know that the market for specialty dog food is completely saturated—and every brand kind of looks the same. Porter & Pals are probably aware of this and wanted to do something to quickly distinguish themselves from their sea of competitors. And I think they have succeeded here. Their brand feels crazy and exciting and different from anything else out there.

The type plays a huge role in this. The sans-serif Danzza is a geometric/grotesque hybrid that feels genuinely happy—the oversized tail on the g makes it look like it is smiling at you. Windsor has a retro charm that exudes warmth. And Suisse Int’l Mono has a techie feel that matches the aesthetic of the colorful gradients. The type choices, combined with the imagery and colors, come together to create one of the most memorable brands I’ve seen.

Kleinschmidt

Extended sans-serifs have been all the rage lately, especially set in all caps like seen here. It’s refreshing to see Hoefler & Co’s Ringside family used, as opposed to GT America or Druk which seem to be dominating the extended sans market. The entire site is set in Ringside with no other typefaces used. Ringside is a huge family available in a wide range of weights and widths, so it’s well suited to take on such a task.

Playa

Canela continues to be massively popular in the fashion and beauty products space as evidenced here. The slight tapering on the stroke endings give it a refined, elegant quality that exudes style. It’s paired here with Klim’s geometric sans Calibre which adds a contemporary feel to the design. It’s always nice to see sites like this where the typography matches up perfectly with the product packaging. I’m always surprised at the number of products I see with beautiful type, only to be disappointed when I visit the website to find that it’s set entirely in Open Sans.

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

I think this is one of the few times I’ve seen a compressed style of GT America used as opposed to the extended style which seems to be everywhere these days. A layered effect is added to the headline type using the CSS text-shadow property, making the text pop out from the background. The smaller headlines and body text are set in Eames Century Modern, which feels like a more modern and refined version of Clarendon. The playful brush script Suti rounds out the design set entirely in uppercase.

Heard at Work

Berlingske Serif is one of my favorite typefaces, but it seems to be overshadowed by other more popular serifs such as Tiempos (which seems especially overused for this particular style of design). I love typefaces like these that have small details that are unique but don’t immediately jump out at you—the arm on the lowercase r is actually a detached floating circle, but it doesn’t seem to negatively affect the readability of the typeface. Berlingske Serif is paired here with Work Sans, a free font available on Google Fonts. The site uses proper apostrophes and quotation marks, which is pretty important for a site comprised entirely of quotes from co-workers.

Twin Soul

The Twin Soul site combines two fashionable, contemporary sans-serifs—Adieu, a wide-bodied sans with high contrast, and Sneak, a quirky grotesque with an s that looks like it is flipped upside down. The addition of the serif ITC Clearface adds a warm, retro touch to the design which harmonizes nicely with the colorful geometric shapes. My only critique is that the type sizes continuously scale up based on screen size, so on a large monitor like mine the headlines end up with gigantic text that fits only one or two words per line when the browser window is at full width. Update: this minor issue has since been fixed.

Emergence Magazine

Windsor, together with ITC Clearface mentioned above, are two of the more popular typefaces leading the resurgence of 1970s-evoking serifs. I think they add a welcoming feeling of warmth to the design landscape, amidst the cold sterility of neo-grotesques and geometric sans-serifs. The serif Ogg, used for headlines here, has fairly wide proportions, so it was a clever idea to pair it with the extended cut of GT America. When stacked on top of each other, they feel balanced and even.

Emergence

Emergence (completely unrelated to Emergence Magazine featured above) is a venture capital firm with a brand that comes across as stylish and classy in contrast to the techie look that is stereotypical of VC companies. The illustrations help with this as does the type. Canela feels chic and elegant, while Styrene adds a more modern touch. Neither Styrene nor Canela are ideal for body copy (although a text version of Canela was actually just released by Commercial Type last month), so the ever-popular neo-grotesque/gothic hybrid GT America is added into the mix to set the body text.

MIT

The MIT redesign was lead by the talented folks at Upstatement, who are one of my favorite design agencies at the moment. It seems like I end up featuring almost all of their projects on Typewolf (they also did the Emergence site above). The entire site is set in Luzi Type’s Messina Sans, with typographic contrast coming from different sizes and weights rather than different type families.

The Spotlight section on the homepage features colorful text that switches to a different color theme every day. Some people really despise this kind of type treatment, as evidenced by the “this must have been designed by the same color-blind folks that did Dropbox” comment I saw on Designer News. But that seems to be a common complaint of a certain subset of people whenever a site strays too far from default black text on a white background. I personally love the look and think it adds personality to brands which is sorely lacking on the web these days.

Jerome Harris

This site uses two freely available open-source fonts—the serif Cormorant and the sans Gothic A1—but still has a distinctive look. The headline type is set tightly with negative letterspacing, recalling the tight-but-not-touching vibe of 1970s typography. The designer of Cormorant actually commented on Twitter how he wasn’t a fan of the tight setting here, but I think it matches the look of the rest of the design and gives the type a less formal and more raw aesthetic.

Long Lean Club

Canela and GT America are two of the hottest typefaces of the moment, and they are both combined here. I really love the overall branding—the logo, type choices, colors and photography all feel spot on. However, I feel like the execution on the website could have been better. The paragraphs extend the full width of the browser window, which makes reading difficult on a large screen. And the introduction of a second sans-serif here—Futura—feels unneeded. Perhaps a different width or weight of GT America could have been added instead to keep the design more cohesive.

An Interesting Day

Norwegian design studio Bakken & Bæck host a one-day conference every year, with each event getting its own unique website design. This is the fourth feature on Typewolf (check out the 2017, 2016 and 2015 versions), so it’s an interesting way to watch design trends evolve over the years.

The 2018 site is a perfect representation of what is on trend at the moment—wide-bodied sans-serifs, heavy borders and quirky illustrations. An extended cut of GT America is used throughout with an even wider expanded style used for the main headline. Will the extended sans still be all the rage next year? We will have to wait and see…

Whittle School & Studios

I get the occasional complaint from people who think I feature too much harsh, brutalist-inspired design on Typewolf while passing over anything that takes a more timeless and classy approach. The Whittle School & Studios site should please this group. Nothing about it feels overly trendy—it’s just solid typography executed in a tasteful manner.

The huge headlines set in the Big optical size of Freight contrast nicely with the smaller text set in GT Walsheim. GT Walsheim is a unique geometric sans that is full of personality, but it still reads quite well at smaller sizes. And it helps that the line lengths of the paragraphs are kept at a narrow, readable width that fits nicely in the oft-recommended 45–75 characters per line range.

Jonesy

The 1970s-evoking Windsor typeface continues to be popular here on Typewolf. It gives off a warm, vintage aesthetic which feels like a perfect fit for a brand selling high-waisted underwear. The serif Plantin is used for the text set at smaller sizes where Windsor might be a little too ornate for optimal legibility. Calibre, a geometric sans from Klim, is paired with the two serifs, making the overall design feel a touch more modern and contemporary.

Cup of Couple

The Cup of Couple site uses four type families, but it doesn’t feel like too many as each typeface is used in a consistent way for a specific purpose. Displace, a high-contrast calligraphic sans, is used for the page headers. The article headlines use Perpetua Titling, a display cut of Perpetua that is available in uppercase only. Franklin Gothic is used for navigation and the body text is set in Garamond. Everything except the body copy is set entirely in uppercase which creates even more contrast between the text areas.

Swallowtail Tea

Louize Display is an inscriptional typeface from French foundry 205TF that is somewhat similar in style to the ultra trendy Canela from Commercial Type. It isn’t used nearly as much though, so it feels a bit more fresh and distinctive. The monospaced cut of GT Pressura is an unusual pairing choice as it feels more techie and industrial compared to the classical look of Louize, but I think it still works nicely.

Texas Monthly

Condensed typefaces make for excellent headline choices as they allow for a larger font size while fitting more words per line compared to a standard-width face. The end result is a more efficient use of space with less awkward line breaks. The Texas Monthly site uses Grifinito, a compressed member of R-Typography’s Grifo family, for the main titles with the regular width used for the smaller headers. Hoefler & Co.’s Ringside and Chronicle Text round out the design, used as workhorse faces for navigation and body text.

Checkout.com

GT Super was officially released by Grilli Type just a few weeks ago, but some designers have been able to get their hands on the font early as there have been uses on Typewolf going all the way back to mid-2017. My prediction is that this typeface is going to blow up this year. It ticks all the boxes of what is trending with designers right now—high contrast, 1970s-evoking and sharp, blade-like serifs. The Checkout.com brand feels a bit corporate to adopt this look, but it shows that this style is going mainstream.

You might notice that the body text on this site (as shown in the paragraph in the screenshot above) is set pretty tight—the letters and words all seem kind of smushed together. However, it’s not the CSS letter-spacing or word-spacing causing this but the particular version of Neue Haas Grotesk being used. Rather than using the text optical size, everything is set in the display optical size which has tighter spacing built-in. I’m not sure of the reasoning behind this decision, as the type is set pretty small and definitely not used at the kind of large display sizes that would warrant the tighter setting.

Herb

Eksell Display is somewhat similar to GT Super, mentioned above, with its razor-sharp serifs and general all-around evil appearance. It was originally drawn by someone who was a graphic designer rather than a type designer, which no doubt contributes to its oddball, off-kilter appearance. The body text is set in Commercial Type’s Styrene family which reads surprisingly well despite its quirky features, such as the overly wide crossbars on the t and f, as well as the prominent curve on the J.

Gaimo

SangBleu Empire, a member of the SangBleu collection from Swiss Typefaces, is yet another typeface that may fall into the “evil serif” category with letters that look like they could be used as weapons. It’s a very distinctive typeface that helps create a strong identity for the Gaimo shoe brand. The pairing with Roboto feels out of place though—it makes me think of Google and their suite of products, as well as generic website templates that rely on the Google Fonts service. Another member of the SangBleu family could perhaps have been used instead to create a more unique visual identity.

Dwell in Other Futures

Beatrice Display is a coming-soon release from Sharp Type, so there isn’t much information available on it yet. I’ve noticed lately that foundries have been making their upcoming releases available early to select designers, perhaps to create buzz ahead of the official launch. I’ve seen designers fawning over Beatrice on Twitter, so this strategy may be working.

I think this typeface has a visceral appeal to designers due to its striking visual qualities—the ultra high contrast, hairline horizontal strokes and the dot on the i that is just a straight line. It feels very avant garde. Its real-world usefulness, however, is probably quite limited. The hairline strokes completely disappear at small sizes—even at large sizes they are barely there. But that won’t stop designers from reaching for it in situations where aesthetics and emotional response trump pure readability.

A much more neutral and legible typeface, Programm, is paired here with Beatrice Display. Programm is a sans-serif that originated in the 1960s and has since been revived through Dinamo Standards, a branch of Swiss foundry Dinamo that focuses on revivals and interpretations of forgotten typefaces.