Pirate

With the resurgent popularity of all things pirate you’d better have some swashbuckling fonts at hand (or hook), matey.

Noah Nazir

Last edited September 01, 2018

With the resurgent popularity of all things pirate – think Talk Like A Pirate Day, the blockbuster success of the Pirates of The Caribbean film series, and Starz’s Black Sails – you’d better have some swashbuckling fonts at hand (or hook), matey. This list includes cartoonesque takes as well as typefaces inspired by ancient maps.

The Handel Gothic™ typeface has been a mainstay of graphic communication for over 40 years - all the while looking as current as tomorrow. Designed by Don Handel in the mid-1960s, and used in the 1973 United Airlines logo developed by Saul Bass, Handel Gothic was an instant success when released to the graphic design community. Its generous lowercase x-height, full-bodied counters and square... Read More

Noted British type designer David Quay designed Blackmoor in 1983. Based on an old English letter style, this textura-style Blackletter evokes a mediaeval character, expertly mixing a gothic lowercase together with Lombardic capitals. Blackmoor's rough, distressed features make it ideal for a variety of applications, from serious historical publications to horror movies, and comics.

ITC Blackadder is the work of British designer Bob Anderton, an eerie transformation of insurrectionist Guy Fawkes' signature after his torture. Anderton based his design on 16th century handwriting, captured the scrolls and curlicues and then added the sinister tremble. This elegant, yet potentially menacing display face is perfect for theatrical or "scary" applications.

Algerian is the creation of Letraset Design Studio. This alphabet of capital letters also includes many alternate characters. Algerian is reminiscent of 19th century woodcut types and is perfect for any work which suggests the Victorian era.

Captain Quill is a lively calligraphic style script font designed by Jim Ford, based on the handwriting of a fictional pirate figure named Paul Pierce, aka Captain Quill.The story behind the Captain Quill font is quite an adventure. While vacationing in Jamaica, Jim Ford stumbled on a small chest buried just a foot or two below the white sandy beach. Inside he found some items, most notably,... Read More

Poetica font was designed by Robert Slimbach in 1992 with particularly generous characters. The typeface family consists of 21 weights to allow for an unusual variety of design possibilities within one typeface family. Numerous swash letters, ornaments and ligatures remind one of the early Renaissance and its unforgettable masters, for example, Giambattista Palatino, who later gave his name... Read More