Best Fonts for Word (And Where You’ve Seen Them Before)

Believe it or not, Microsoft Word is packed full of stylish and cool fonts and typefaces—you’d just never know it because you’ve only used the program for basic word processing, right?

Well, what if I told you major blockbuster films, big-time musical acts, and designers from different corners of pop culture have used fonts you can easily find in Word for some of their biggest projects?

So, I’m sorry to burst your Calibri-filled bubble, but take a look at all that’s waiting for you under that mile-long font dropdown.

Garamond

Think—what is the purpose of a font? To help your words stick in the mind of the reader, right? It’s certainly one thing a good font is supposed to do. Well, beyond where Garamond has been used out there in the real world (which we will get to in a second) Garamond is one of the best fonts in Word because it instills confidence in writers. 

I’ve heard this from others, and tweets like this confirm—there is something about writing in Garamond that just makes you feel like you’re writing the absolute best text ever. 

Now, in terms of where you might have seen Garamond used before, does this look familiar? As solopress.com notes, the Notting Hill font is in fact Garamond (and remember American Eagle Outfitters?)

Bodoni

“Thick and thin” is a great way to describe Bodoni as mentioned in this helpful tweet.

A fancy and luxuorious font, Bodoni is used in more places than you might have originally noticed, but seeing where in fact it is used will cement the thought of it being an elite and upscale vessel.

I had no idea, but Vogue, Calvin Klein, Elizabeth Arden, and the movie Mamma Mia! all utilize Bodoni.

Futura

With a name like Futura, you know we are in for a bit of a modern ride, and straight clean lines confirm—Futura is that font.

First, though, I love this tweet because it mentions Garamond, which is already on this list, and because it is from someone who says they studied typography. So, while I and others might simply think Futura is cool (and love the fact that it is in Word), you have experts out here also giving the font praise.

Next, in terms of where you’ve seen it, The Hangover seems to be a popular source. Besides that, though, and what you have to appreciate about fonts, is that simple tweaks allow for words to take on a completely different look, feeling, and meaning.

Read More: Fonts Similar to Futura in Canva

As Solo Press points out, in addition to The Hangover, Futura has been used for The Help, Gravity, and other movies. As you can compare here, The Hangover poster gets its point across in all caps, while The Help opts for mixed case, with both working beautifully. Then you have Gravity which also uses all caps, but utlizes spacing for a, well, more spaced out feel.

Eurostile

I went through a lot of this when talking about Star Wars fonts on Canva, but having a good space-age font on standby is always a valuable endeavor. On Word, that font is Eurostile, and it might look familiar if you’re a fan of the show Space Force. Never mind that the show is a parody, Eurostile has a place in all things space-age (as cemented by the tweet below).

Cooper Black

Without beating around the bush, Cooper Black is all over the place. I mean, Vox even has an article titled “Why this font is everywhere” with the subhead of “Cooper Black is pop culture’s favorite font.” That same piece goes on to mention the use of Cooper Black…

“Perhaps you know it from the Garfield comics, Tootsie Roll logo, or the Pet Sounds album cover by the Beach Boys. It’s called Cooper Black, and its popularity and ubiquity have never waned in the 100 years since it was first designed.”

Just by me mentioning it here you’ll start seeing it more and more.

Helvetica

I don’t even have to write anything about Helvetica. (Just Creative has labeled Helvetica the “most iconic font overall.”) I mean, if I did want to talk about how many organizations, movies, TV shows, etc. have used Helvetica, we’d be here all day.

So, let’s just focus on this list from Daily Synopsis, and look at how many times some form of Helvetica is mentioned on their list of “Fonts Used in Famous Logos.”

• American Apparel – Helvetica Black
• Caterpillar – Helvetica Inserat Roman
• Fendi – Helvetica Bold
• Jeep – Helvetica Bold
• LG – Helvetica Black
• Lufthansa – Helvetica Bold
• NBA – Helvetica Condensed Black
• Panasonic – Helvetica Black
• Standard Chartered – Helvetica Neue 55 Roman
• Subway – Helvetica Black
• Target – Helvetica Neue Bold
• WhatsApp – Helvetica Neue 75 Bold