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Type Styles of the Rich and Famous

Arial view of a yacht cruising in the sea

Typography tells a story: What do these rich font examples say?

Well-designed, rich fonts are beautiful to behold. Their angles and forms are an inspiration.

Fonts have a “personality,” and if you tune into what their shapes are trying to say, you can make those traits work for your business.

Let’s say on the other side of your town a company is developing an upscale neighborhood high on a hill overlooking the ocean. They’ve decided to call it “Grandview Estates.” Their tagline is “Rising Above the Rest.”

[Pretty snobby, right?]

Now let’s say you’ve been asked to design the sign that will sit at the entrance to the neighborhood.

You’ve been told that the sign needs to “reflect the caliber of people we want to attract to our estate properties.”

You know what that really means.

You need to attract rich people!

Time to break out …

Type styles of the rich and famous

Because you know, dahling, the rich and famous won’t be seen with just any old font.

Only the best will do!

Here’s what to look for when you need rich fonts to speak to an upscale audience.

1. Rich fonts with classic forms

The rich and famous would like to think that they’ll always be that way.

Using fonts with classic forms that have been around since Roman times will help them perpetuate the illusion!

Even though the font should look like it’s been around since Roman times, you should stay away from Times Roman.

Why? Because it’s overused. The rich and famous want to be distinct.

That eliminates the Georgia typeface, too, and any other typeface that’s on the standard system menu when you first fire up your computer.

Instead, try serif typefaces that have some personality, like:

Crimson Pro upscale, rich font example

Crimson Pro on Google fonts

gentium pro rich font

Gentium Book Basic on Google fonts

Baskerville font

Libre Baskerville on Google fonts

Cormorant font

Cormorant on Google fonts

2. Rich fonts with a calligraphic feel

Classic typefaces include those that look like they’ve been penned by the hand of a distinguished calligrapher.

What better way to say “I have so much money I don’t know what to do with it” than to look like you have a personal scribe who addresses all your correspondence?

These typefaces have the swashes and flourishes that will do the job:

Dancing Script font

Dancing Script on Google fonts

Great Vibes font

Great Vibes on Google fonts

Parisienne font

Parisienne on Google fonts

Tangerine font

Tangerine on Google fonts

Allura font

Allura on Google fonts

Alex Brush font

Alex Brush on Google fonts

3. Set your rich font loose and open

Now that you’ve chosen rich fonts from the lists above, let’s look at how we can set them so they communicate the upscale vibe we’re looking for.

One way to accomplish this is to set the serif typeface in all capital letters, and open up some space between the letters. You’ve seen this before:

A close up of a sign

For maximum effect, don’t spread the letters out too much. You want the words to be readable.

4. …or tight and solid

You shouldn’t spread out the letters in a script font at all. They’re designed to look like a calligrapher has written them in one sitting, sometimes in one continuous stroke. So set the script letters tight together so they flow from one to the other.

The idea below uses a script font set nice and tight, and a serif font on the second line. Fancy, schmancy, huh?

A close up of a sign

Our little secret

Here’s a surprise for you.

Every rich font mentioned in this post is available at Google fonts for free. Links to the fonts are under each image.

I promise not to tell the rich and famous you used a free typeface to attract them to their overpriced neighborhood!

This post was first published on January 26, 2011, and has been updated with all-new fonts in December, 2019. Enjoy!

Type Styles of the Rich and Famous

Pamela Wilson

Pamela Wilson is a marketing advisor, executive coach, author, and keynote speaker. She's the creator of the Offer Accelerator Program. Learn more about Pamela's books, and read reviews of the tools used to run this site.
Pamela Wilson coaches people in midlife to build profitable online businesses
I’m Pamela Wilson

In 2010, at the age of 45, I started this site and grew it into a business that offers freedom, flexibility — and consistent revenue.

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24 thoughts on “Type Styles of the Rich and Famous”

  1. Wonderful Pamela! You’re right of course but I’d never considered there would be a set of ‘wealthy’ fonts!

    And needless to say they’re lovely! I’ve bookmarked this one so I can choose some nice fonts for future products.

    • These are the kinds of fonts I look for when I have to design for this demographic group, so I thought I’d share them with all of you!

      I’m glad you found it useful, Rachel. Thanks for your comment. 🙂

  2. I find this quite interesting considering I’ve been looking at fonts for cufon and @font-face replacements on websites for the last three days. I firmly believe that fonts with personality and pizazz are the final finishing touch for any site, or brochure. Thanks for the list!

    • I’m glad it was helpful, Kaelin. I don’t know how many of those fonts are available on web font servers, but as long as you know the basic traits to look for, you’ll be able to find some that work.

      Have you looked at Typekit for font replacement? That’s what I use on this blog, and I’ve been very happy with it.

  3. How neat was that, looking through all those fonts. Thanks for the Squirrel site. Now, if I can only figure out how to make changes to my blog header….Wish Id had this feature when I was taking typed pages to the printer, trying to get them to do what I envisioned.

  4. I’m in negotiations with one of the font authors for the use of his font as a web-font. It’s possible to turn any ttf or otf font into a web font, but you have to get permission. TypeKit however…. gosh that’s nice. That’s exactly what I’ve been coding by hand- and they already have author permission. Thank you!!

  5. Pamela,

    Another great typeface article. I have loved fonts for a loong time – my library is huge. It is so nice to see a series for articles just on this topic!

    Also, thank you for the link to Font Squirrel – this is a new one for me.

    Thank you again,
    Theresa

  6. I’m working on a piece targeting personal injury attorneys. I can’t even begin to image what kind of font would resonate with them. Yikes.

    Love the view from the tub at your mountain home.

  7. Very well written Pamela. The example you relate is awesome. It helps us understand and relate better.

    Now we know why we need to choose typefaces.

    I can only say Simply Superb.

  8. Hi Pamela
    Love your stuff. I forward it as often as I can.
    Fonts…some real beauties for sure.
    What’s the scoop on receiving these fonts as set up in e-letters?
    If I use one, does that mean they will display as such on recipient’s screen or do some systems transpose them to another default system font? Perhaps you’ve covered that in a previous post…if so, can you point me in the right direction? Thanks.

    • Well hi there, Dawn!

      Unfortunately e-mail is still in the dark ages when it comes to typography. You have to stick to the basic 8-10 fonts everyone has installed on their computers.

      I did write about web typography in general though here: https://www.pamelawilson.com/typeface-combinations-that-work-on-the-web/

      You can use custom typefaces on your website now, but they have to be “served” up by a third party. I use Typekit, which is a paid service. The Google Font API is free, but has a smaller selection to choose from.

      It’s good to see you here! Thanks for the comment. 🙂

  9. Oooh, the fonts! 😀

    Yes, as a fellow font addict, articles like this are wonderful to see.

    They let me expand my collection intelligently and help me to control my own ‘download everything NOW!’ desires.

    Thnx so much! 🙂
    Am also including this in this week’s Roving Robin for EugenOprea.com – gotta share the love, ya know! 😀

  10. Hey, is it coincidental that the title makes me think of the Good Charlotte song- Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous? 😛

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