cool Banner Fonts
17 minutes read

Whether we are talking about serif, sans serif, proportional, or monospaced typefaces, one thing’s clear—the font dictates how your brand is perceived by others.

Nowadays, design tools offer thousands of banner fonts for you to use to make a banner.

There are no limits when it comes to banner design besides your own inspiration and imagination.

Not so long ago, however, advertising relied only on printed media inserts and outdoor displays. Back then, the marketer’s job was infinitely more difficult.

Moreover, the choice of fonts was limited to a few typefaces. Metal fonts were stored in metal boxes, and texts were assembled manually, letter by letter.

Now, you may wonder how to choose the best fonts for banners when so many options are available today. 

Hopefully, this article will help you make a quick and inspired choice because I’m going to talk about 35 cool banner fonts.

Before you continue reading, you have to keep in mind that fonts are not only about your taste in design. Colors, fonts, and typography should also represent and appeal to your target audience once you create your buyer personas.

Now that we’ve established that let’s get started.

Table of contents

  1. Volkhov
  2. Source Serif Pro
  3. Advent Pro
  4. Allura
  5. Open Sans
  6. Playfair Display
  7. Rock Salt
  8. Sacramento
  9. Ultra
  10. Veteran Typewriter
  11. Short Stack
  12. Quattrocento Sans
  13. Poiret One
  14. Pinyon Script
  15. Nobile
  16. Luckiest Guy
  17. Knewave
  18. Montserrat
  19. Parisienne
  20. Francois One
  21. Helvetica
  22. Univers
  23. Frutiger
  24. Futura
  25. VAG Rounded (VW)
  26. Gill Sans
  27. Avant Garde
  28. Meta
  29. Avenir
  30. Times New Roman
  31. Knockout
  32. Akzidenz Grotesk
  33. DIN
  34. Franklin Gothic
  35. Minion
  36. What Are the Different Types of Fonts?
  37. Conclusion

1. Volkhov

Volkhov fontphoto source

Our first classic font is Volkov, a Serif typeface with a robust, legible, and prominent design, suitable for complex texts.

You can use it as a title in your banner designs, but it will be more suitable as a message bearer font. Unlike other Serif fonts, Volkov looks elegant in a modern design and features a natural flow that makes it readable.

2. Source Serif Pro

Source Serif Pro font photo source

Source Serif Pro is yet another excellent example of a Serif font. It’s thinner than Volkov but similar in style. Also, it makes the perfect choice for a banner that relays a longer message.

It works well, however, with any kind of copy text, regardless of its length. It’s elegant and easy to read.

3. Advent Pro

Advent pro font photo source

Advent Pro is our first Sans Serif entry on this list of great-looking banner fonts. It’s a modern-looking typeface with a thin design that makes it perfect for banners with a simple monochrome background.

However, it comes in seven modes: thin, extra-light, light, regular, medium, semi-bold, and bold. This is why it can be adjusted to suit any banner regardless of its design.

4. Allura

Allura fontphoto source

Although it is a Script font, we like Allura because it looks stylish and easy to read.

Therefore, it is perfect for a banner design. Allura was designed by Rob Leuschke and comes from the finest hand lettering fonts family, including non-Scripts.

5. Open Sans

Open Sans fontphoto source

If you are looking for a free banner font that will give your banner a clean and readable look at the same time, take a look at Open Sans.

The font is optimized for both print and web, and it also looks great on mobile.

If you are preparing a marketing campaign, the way the banner looks on mobile devices is fundamental since most consumers spend a lot of time on their smartphones.

Another important fact is that Open Sans contains a complete 897 characters set, which makes it available in almost all languages, including Greek and Cyrillic.

6. Playfair Display

Playfair Display font photo source

Our list of 35 best fonts for banners continues with yet another typeface you can use as the primary choice for banner titles.

Even though it is not a traditional Display font, Playfair bears this name because it was designed especially for large-scale display use.

However, you can also use the Regular style for body text.

7. Rock Salt

Rock Salt fontphoto source

Another cool banner font is Rock Salt, a typeface that will give your banners a personal and out-of-the-box look. It was designed with felt-tip markers, and it certainly looks like it. It is available only in Regular style and uppercase.

In many ways, it looks very similar to the fonts we can find in comic books.

8. Sacramento

Sacramento fontphoto source

Sacramento is a free banner font that falls into the Script category. In other words, it mimics handwriting. It does this quite well, being one of the most accurate Script typefaces available today.

The font is round, stylish-looking, and easy to read, just like traditional handwriting.

Sacramento may be the perfect choice if you are looking for such a font to complement your title or body text.

9. Ultra

Ultra banner fontphoto source

Ultra is a free banner font that falls into the Display category. It’s a wood-type style with bold letters but very easy to read. It’s perfect to create a powerful headline that looks sharp and dramatic.

If you are looking for a traditional-looking headline, this may be precisely what you needed. However, note that it can take a lot of space, so it may not be suitable if you intend to squeeze in a longer message.

10. Veteran Typewriter

Veteran Typewriter display fontphoto source

Veteran Typewriter is another display font that can be mistaken with a Serif font because it perfectly mimics typewriter letters.

Although it bears a Serif looking typeface, this font is recommended for titles only and call to action in some cases.

It may not convince you at first, but we assure you it is quite readable and stylish looking when you use it on the right banner.

11. Short Stack

Short Stack free banner fontphoto source

Short Stack is a great choice if you are looking for a free banner font similar to Rock Salt but with lowercase letters included.

The semi-geometric, low contrast look gives this typeface a stylish appearance that resembles the handwriting that mimics block letters. You can use it for texts that range from medium to large sizes.

12. Quattrocento Sans

Quattrocento Sans fontphoto source

Quattrocento Sans will give your body text a classic yet elegant look. This font is designed to be legible even when used in smaller sizes. It provides warmth and readability to your message and comes in four styles: regular, italic, bold, and italic-bold.

It will look better when combined with other Sans Serif fonts or in conjunction with a script typeface.

13. Poiret One

Poiret One fontphoto source

Are you looking for a font that will look decorative, geometric, and fresh at the same time? Well, Poiret One encompasses all these traits successfully.

It is the ideal font for titles, labels, headlines, signs, and even logos.

You can use it for body text on your banners if you want to add some style to your message. Although it looks good in all caps, it’s recommended to use Poiret One in lowercase.

14. Pinyon Script

Pinyon Script script-type fontphoto source

Pinyon Script is yet another Script font that adds refinement and readability to your message. It looks friendly enough not to be intrusive, and its legibility can add to the power of your message.

Note that Pinyon will look best when used in larger sizes. It comes in only one style—Regular.

15. Nobile

Nobile banner fontphoto source

Nobile is an excellent banner font suitable for both body text and titles. The font was created by Vernon Adams, a designer that graduated with an MA in Typeface Design.

Like most of his fonts, this one is an open-source Google font.

What makes it suitable for banner design is that Nobile looks great on desktops and mobile devices as well. It’s legible, good-looking, and comes in six styles: regular, italic, medium, medium italic, bold, and bold-italic.

Related articles:

20+ of the Best Script Fonts to Make Your Creative Projects Stand Out

30 of the Best Vintage Fonts to Use for Timeless Designs

60 Modern Fonts To Help You Find A Cool Voice For Your Brand

16. Luckiest Guy

Luckiest Guy display fontphoto source

Inspired by the advertisements of the mid-twentieth century, Luckiest Guy is a display font suitable for titles and other texts that are meant to catch the viewer’s attention in just a few seconds.

It comes in only one style, Regular, and only with uppercase letters. In a way, it resembles handwriting but in a very bold manner.

17. Knewave

Knewave fontphoto source

Knewave may be your choice for a title font if you don’t like Luckiest Guy. It also comes only in a Regular style and supports lowercase characters, which resemble more an italic style.

This is also a bold font suitable for very prominent messages, mostly titles or calls to action, to instantly draw attention.

18. Montserrat

Montserrat banner fontphoto source: Behance.net

Another great addition to our banner fonts list is Montserrat. It was created by Julieta Ulanovsky, another designer with a degree in Typeface Design.

The font was inspired by some old signs and posters from Buenos Aires. It is perfect when you want to highlight different messages or lines of text in the same typeface.

This option is possible because Montserrat comes in 18 different styles. They vary from thin to extra bold.

All of them are easily readable and suitable for both title and body text.

19. Parisienne

Parisienne fontphoto source

Remember our 8th entry from this list, the Sacramento font? Well, Parisienne comes with a similar style that mimics human handwriting but with a rightward slant.

The letters are round, stylish, and good-looking. They are also easy to read and connected, like the Sacramento letters.

If you use an italic title or an italic body text that needs to connect with a similar message written in a handwriting-type font, Parisienne may be your best choice.

20. Francois One

Francois One free banner fontphoto source

Francois One is a Sans Serif font perfect for web use and readable on desktops and smartphones.

Although it’s best to use it for titles, it may prove to be effective as a body text if you use short sentences or short calls to action.

It comes in a single Regular style, which looks rather bold, which is why we recommend it for titles.Create Ad Campaigns 1

21. Helvetica 

helvetica typeface

Photo source

Helvetica is a neo-grotesque typeface. It was created in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, and it was highly used in the 60s and 70s.

It’s clear and easy to read, and it has many variants—this being the reason for its popularity. In 2007, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of typography, Gary Hustwit directed a documentary about this font. 

Everyone knows Helvetica because it’s everywhere—from income tax forms to television ads, online advertising, and billboards.

Designers either love it or hate it, but they never argued its dominant presence.

So why is this classic font so popular?

Although it has tight-spacing letters, it is ordered, clear, has an oblique rather than italic style, and it basically goes everywhere and with everything—online or offline.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Helvetica

This highly acclaimed font is the face of online advertising for various famous brands, such as LG, Lufthansa, or NBA.

Here are some examples of display ads where some variations of Helvetica were used.

lg advertising

lufthansa advertising

nba advertising

22. Univers 

univers typeface

Photo source

Created by Adrian Frutiger in 1957, this typeface had the greatest success in the second half of the 20th century, and now it’s one of the most used font styles in advertising and media.

What makes this font great? It has various weights, but even if you combine them, it still gives the reader the feeling of steadfastness.

Among its characteristics, you can see that the letter Q has the tail on the baseline, and the dot on i is a rectangle.

This font was considered so effortlessly elegant that it became an instant classic. 

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Univers

With so many variations, this font can be used in different combinations and still be eye-catching, making it one of the best fonts you can choose if you want to make the text pop. 

Here are some ad examples from eBay and FedEx.

ebay display advertising

fedex display advertising

23. Frutiger 

adrian frutiger font

Photo source  

Adrian Frutiger designed this sans serif typeface, created especially for the directional sign system in the Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The font has its roots in the Concorde font, the one that determined Frutiger’s beginning. 

Even the lower cases have increased clarity due to their open apertures. Because of its high legibility, it can be used for various purposes and materials. The A has a low central bar, and i has a square dot.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Frutiger

Besides being seen everywhere in the French airport, Frutiger was preferred by the popular online photo-sharing platform Flickr.

flickr banner ad

24. Futura

futura font

Photo source

Designed by Paul Renner in 1925, a truly versatile and stylish typeface ideal for any form of advertising, posters, magazines, and books, Futura was also the subject of a book published in 2017 called Never Use Futura (The History of a Typeface).

It’s everywhere, including on the commemorative plaque left by Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon in 1969.

It explains the “uses of a face that’s so common you might not notice until you start looking, and then you can’t escape it.” The condensed variants make an excellent display for designs.

This font can also be squeezed into small spaces and still be legible.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Futura

Futura is indeed one of the most versatile fonts.

It was preferred by notable directors such as Stanley Kubrick, and it was everywhere throughout the movie V for Vendetta.

Bethesda Softworks used the font in many of their games, and the list can easily go on.

Large brands such as Cisco, PayPal, D&G, and Nike also chose this font for their online advertising. Here are some examples. 

nike inspiration advertising

paypal advertising inspiration

cisco banner ad

d&g advertising inspiration

25. VAG Rounded (VW)

vag rounded font

Photo source

Initially designed for the corporate typeface for Volkswagen in 1979, this font got to be owned by Adobe.

It’s still used in advertising, precisely for its simple, corporate style, yet so powerful. It resembles the font Futura, but it has, as the name suggests, more rounded shapes, which can be considered friendlier by most people.

It’s space-efficient, linear, and fun to use. Imagine putting this font on a colorful background. Exactly, it’s the hippie age again.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using VAG Rounded

Being so warm and friendly-looking, this font is currently used by Reddit in their logo and online advertising: 

reddit advertising

26. Gill Sans 

gill sans font

 Photo source

It’s a sans serif font created by Eric Gill, based on the 1916 Underground Alphabet, the font of the London Underground.

Gill Sans was released in 1928 by Monotype, and its appearance combines a modern and classical look altogether.

In 1948, British Railways chose Gill Sans to be the typeface for all the posters and timetables. This font soon became the top choice for the titles on Penguin Books. 

Can it get more classic than this? 

Its simplicity and clarity made it easy to be used in both small and uppercase, being a perfect choice for advertising as well. 

To this day, Gill Sans is the face of BBC’s logo.

Although in 2017, BBC designed its own typeface called Reith, created precisely for the digital world, they didn’t change it in the logo. This one simply has a British aura.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Gill Sans

Gill Sans was the choice for BBC and Tommy Hilfiger in their online advertising.

bbc news advertising

tommy hilfiger advertising

27. Avant Garde 

avant garde font

Photo source

This font was a breakthrough for the world of typefaces. It was designed by Herb Lubalin for the Avant Garde magazine logo, but it instantly gained success and became a font. 

Its style is futuristic, with precise geometric shapes and hard angles that line up. The letters work together, and the text stands out, thus being perfect for titles or logos.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Avant Garde

Avant Garde can be seen in the digital space used by big brands such as Adidas, Calvin Klein, or Bloomingdale’s.

calvin klein advertising

bloomingdales ad

adidas banner ad

28. Meta 

meta font

Photo source

Designed in 1991 by Erik Spiekermann, this font is a humanist sans serif typeface.

It has been used ever since by companies in their texts and logos, one of them being The Weather Channel. Since 2010, it’s been the official typeface of the Greece Government.

Spiekermann wanted to create an entirely different font from Helvetica. This aspect can be noticed in the letter M, which resembles more with Futura.

Meta was also used for a massive range of product labeling.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Meta

The Meta font is currently being used by The Weather Channel and Herman Miller in online banners.

the weather channel advertising

herman miller online

29. Avenir 

avenir font

Photo source

This font was designed in 1988 by Adrian Frutiger and considered by the typeface designer himself the best work he ever created.

It is classified as a geometric sans but has a human touch as well, like the tail on the t or the imperfect o

It was adopted by many universities as their main sans serif font in branding guidelines or text captions. Avenir was even used by the Eurovision Song Contest for all the brand communication materials between 2014 and 2017.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Avenir

Avenir is the font of choice for Aol, Toyota, or Black Decker, among many other brands.

black decker ad

aol advertising

toyota advertising banner

30. Times New Roman 

times new roman font design

Photo source

Another classic we cannot miss. This font was initially created in 1931 after designer Stanley Morison said the newspaper is not legible enough.

In 1932, Times New Roman was used in the paper. It was also one of the first fonts to be digitized. Nowadays, you can find it everywhere. 

When you want to play safe writing a paper, you cannot go wrong with this timeless font. 

I know—it’s categorized as a serif font, but some brands still use it in their digital advertising. I simply think it deserves to be on this list.

Ad Examples from Famous Brands Using Times New Roman

A classical look for classy products, this font also knows how to help them look good online. We’re talking about Tiffany & Co. and GUESS.

tiffany advertising

guess advertising

31. Knockout

knockout font

Photo source

This is a sans serif typeface designed by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones in 1994.

It has nine different widths, and each of them has 32 variations, taking us back to the 19th-century typefaces that foreshadow the idea of uniformity.

32. Akzidenz Grotesk

Akzidenz Grotesk font

Photo source

Even the first word from its name indicates its purpose—for commercial and publicity.

It was created in the late 19th century but gained popularity during the 50s and 60s when designers started using it. This font left the influence of Art Nouveau and embrace simplicity.

The letters have a similar width, and unlike most sans-serif fonts with a double-story g, this font uses just one story for it.

Akzidenz Grotesk made a smooth transition from posters and brochures directly on-screen, allowing pages to have a distinctive feel.

33. DIN 

din font

Photo source

This font seems to be one of the most used ones by graphic designers. It’s a realist sans serif typeface, designed in 1995 that manages to differentiate itself from other fonts with its perky high x-height and curled l.

It even got to be the best-selling typeface on MyFonts. It is legible and easy to use when giving an industrial, corporate look to your marketing materials.      

34. Franklin Gothic

franklin gothic font

Photo source

This typeface was designed in the early 20th century by Morris Fuller Benton, and it used to be present in many advertisements and newspaper headlines.

It started to gain popularity among designers in the 40s. Being perfect for headlines rather than the body text, this font will make your title look like you have something significant to say.

It simply stands out.

35. Minion 

minion font   

  Photo source

Designed by Robert Slimbach for Adobe Systems in 1990 in the form of a body text—condensed on-page but easily readable—it’s perfect for printed materials as well. 

This seems to be a rather shy serif font inspired by the Renaissance era. Nonetheless, the classical look on this was also perfectly designed for body text, with high legibility.

The classification into the serif family should not scare you. 

What Are the Different Types of Fonts?

We can easily separate fonts into four major categories:

  • Serif
  • Sans Serif
  • Script
  • Display
  • Monospace

Serif fonts look rather traditional and have little lines attached at the ends of each letter. Times New Roman, for example, is the best-known font type in the Serif category.

Sans Serif (French for “without Serif”) fonts look similar to those mentioned earlier but without the attachments at the end of each letter. They are believed to give a modern look to your text. A good example, in this case, is the font Calibri.

Script is a denomination used for all the fonts that look cursive by imitating handwriting. You can quickly identify them because, in most cases, they carry the word Script after their name. Take, for example, the font Pacifico.

Display fonts are usually used in decorative texts or when you want to attract even more attention to your message. They are used mostly to make an impact and not for long texts or phrases. A good example, in this case, is the font Permanent Marker.

Monospaced fonts are typically employed in settings where uniform character spacing is essential, such as coding, tabular data, or technical documentation. They ensure each character occupies the same amount of horizontal space, providing a clean and organized appearance. Monospaced fonts are not typically used for large blocks of text or decorative purposes. A good example of a monospaced font is Courier New.

Conclusion

When it comes to banner design, everything relies on how you relay the message to your audience.

The visuals matter, but the body text is also important. At the same time, it is essential to make it not only readable but attractive as well.

To do that, you need to carefully select the appropriate fonts for each banner in particular. The fonts should complement the message but also the overall style and look of the banner.

This article was meant to present you with 35 fonts for banners so you can choose a suitable banner font based on our examples and descriptions. 

So, let us know: what’s your favorite font to use for online advertising?

1814374
Sergiu Iacob
I've been working in digital marketing for over 8 years. My background is very diverse when it comes to SEM, and most of my experience involves financial products, B2B and B2C. I am highly motivated and enthusiastic about online marketing. I like to get involved as much as I can in SEO, Email Marketing, PPC advertising, Strategic Analysis and Planning.

18 Comments

  1. I love these fonts! I’ve created a collection of fonts to use on all my graphics and it all depends on the mood of the graphic. My faves are the san serifs, like Nobile and Poiret One.

  2. Beautiful collections, these fonts are amazing and great for logo design. Thanks for sharing!

  3. This article is worthy of recognition and comment. I found this material attention-grabbing and engrossing. This is well-scripted and highly informative. These views appeal to me. This is how real writing is done. Thank you.

  4. There are many aspects of this article on which I concur with you. You have generated synapses in my brain not used often. Thank you for getting my neurons jumping.

  5. Thanks for sharing, those are awesome
    What font you use for your blog?
    Thank you

  6. these fonts are really helpful.

  7. just my 2 cents on storefront or street banner fonts… the industry standard (i believe) is that you have to communicate your message within 5-6 seconds since viewers will likely be driving and distracted. so, an eye-grabbing visual — teamed with the cleanest, most easy to read fonts may be best for banners and billboards.

    while they may be attractive and suggest elegance, some of the above fonts (like Parisienne and Pinyon, for example) may be too difficult to read at a glance, i think. but Luckiest Guy looks like a winner for this application!

    thanks for sharing these.

  8. that font really help me to create banner. Thanks for sharing

  9. Great work thanks for sharing.

  10. thanks for sharing.

  11. Great article! thanks for shared

  12. Great article! thanks for shared

  13. that font really help me to create banner. Thanks for sharing

  14. Thank you so much for posting such cool stuff on here!!

  15. Awesome! It is a great resource for designers. I personally use some fonts from this collection and my clients appreciated me. Thanks!

  16. Very good fonts to design my Flex, Thanks creatopy…

  17. Thanks for sharing this informative collection of banner fonts. Every font in this list has unique features. These are very attractive fonts.
    Once again thanks for this useful information.

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