Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, and David Carson shattered the way I think about typography in their applications of organic, freehand character-writing. For so long, even non–conventional applications of digital typefaces seemed so dry, formal, forced. Letters drawn by hand were a fresh breath—no, a gasp! out of astonishment, but also for oxygen anew to fuel my little typographic grey cells.

Such typography, one comes quickly to realize, doesn’t suit all applications. In fact, it doesn’t suit most applications. The majority of typesetting isn’t done to draw attention to the text, but rather to make its characters melt their meaning with as little distraction as possible. It pays to know this—especially when that pay is coming from a client expecting your understanding of conventional typography to benefit her business.

That stated, listed below are the typefaces I most commonly employ. I use them for their stylistic range, completeness of character set, and most importantly, as a framework from which I can branch out and build more creativity—perhaps by employing or creating an entirely new typeface. No more delays. Here they are:

  • ITC Garamond Std
  • ITC New Baskerville Std
  • Mrs. Eaves
  • Futura Std
  • Trade Gothic LT Std
  • Helvetica Neue LT Std

I’d say I use these for 80% of the work I do. Other typefaces I might consider are listed below. Some are either related or variations of the faces above. Others are slowly building up to workhorse status, or are used in extremely specific instances.

  • Adobe Garamond Pro
  • Adobe Jenson Pro
  • Avenir LT Std
  • Univers LT Std
  • Bodoni STD
  • Frutiger
  • Gill Sans
  • Helvetica LT Std
  • ITC Franklin Gothic Std
  • Poetica
  • Gotham HTF

What are your typographic workhorses?