Vintage typography has a very relevant place in our modern digital world. With the digital taking over, it is important for designers not to forget where it all started, what are the roots of their design techniques, and sometimes, to even get back to basics.
There are many people who are tired of the ultra-futuristic look of some designs, the “way-too-minimalist” approaches and thus, try to revive old concepts. This is seen in our everyday life, but also in design.
Even though typography has evolved a lot in the past decades, vintage fonts are used today too, by more and more designers. We can see many websites, branding projects, and prints that have a vintage style approach. This approach suits many types of businesses even more than popular modern design trends because it creates a certain atmosphere that stays in the consumers’ minds.
Vintage designs have the ability to transport audiences back in time, so it is essential to choose the right font for the era you want people to think about. As a designer, if you want to approach this trend, then you should definitely do thorough research beforehand.
Editors Note
After reviewing this collection you may want to consider the high-quality and excellent selection vintage assets from Adobe Stock. It’s hard to beat the quality and vast selection they have available of vintage and retro images, fonts, and vectors that are displaying typography we all love, which is nostalgic and historical looking.
Currently Adobe Stock is offering 10 free downloads with a trial subscription to thier platform consisting of over 21 million digital stock assets for web and graphic designers.
If you want to design something that will make people reminisce, then these 25 vintage typography projects are definitely worth bookmarking right now!
We selected some gorgeous retro typography projects, each one of them with its special characteristics. Some of them will also guide you through all the design processes, from concept to final results, so you can learn a lot from them if you’re a fan of vintage typography design.
1. A Tour of the British Isles
The first example will take on a tour of the British Isles and it will make you fall in love with vintage type. Even the way this artwork is presented is unique and elegant.
2. One L of a letter
One L of a letter is a great source of inspiration with this creative work. The letter design is unique and creative and it presents a really nice way of designing different elements.
3. Matchbox madness
Let’s continue with a really nice set of matchbox designs. This has a classic look and the fonts used are similar to our modern web safe fonts. There are more examples in this post, all of which look great.
4. GraphicRiver – Vintage Typography Poster
If you’re up for more great examples of vintage, old-world typography, here’s another good source of inspiration. This poster has a dark layout and light gray and textured typography. The poster also has a vintage frame integrated into its design.
5. Vintage Italian Posters
This is a vintage Italian poster that integrated simple typography with a cool shape. The poster has a dark background and the rest of the graphic elements use a similar color palette.
6. Vintage T-Shirt Packaging Design by Stranger & Stranger
This example is also nice and it has a retro and vintage feel. The typography chosen is really nice and mixes well with the project’s design concept. This example is perfect for t-shirt prints, packaging designs, and much more.
7. Vintage lettering
If you’re a fan of vintage lettering here’s a great source of inspiration. Each letter was nicely crafted.
8. Tobias Saul – Midnight Sugar Co. Logo
This vintage project was created by Tobias Saul and it looks great. It has a simple dark blue background on which the designer placed his vintage logo. Again, the typography looks great and the details on the logo are a nice touch.
9. East London Liquor Company
This is a packaging project that involves a vintage style of typography displayed well on a beverage bottle. In this link, you will find many examples that will inspire you in your next project.
10. 1903 Queens New York Vintage Map Poster
Here we have another very elegant and creative example of typography used in the early 1900s. It mixes different types of typography into making this awesome poster and is definitely worth being on your bookmarks list.
11. Spalding Bicycles
Spalding Bicycles will inspire you into making an awesome vintage design. This example uses black textured typography and a papyrus paper texture as a background. The centerpiece is a bicycle that completes this vintage poster project. The chosen typography looks great in this project.
12. Specimens of printing types
Here’s a nice set of vintage typography examples and badges used for menus which are definitely worth being in your bookmarks list. Each example is different and has a unique retro look.
13. ‘Guy Clark’ – Editorial Illustration
Guy Clark’s editorial illustration is definitely inspiring. This example is very creative. In the link, you will also find photos of the drawing process. You can see how much the artist has worked on this illustration.
14. Classic Vintage Typography On A Letterpress Business Card
Letterpress business cards aren’t something you see every day. This card was specially created for an illustrator and it looks really nice. It uses letterpress vintage typography which, mixed with the paper texture and angled lines and graphics makes a really nice vintage project.
This example is also worth your attention. It is a vintage typography project that uses a simple light pink background and blue details. The typography project itself uses some really nice and highly detailed typography.
16. Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
If you’re up for a really nice vintage typography project, here’s one. This example contains many classic retro details and the chosen typography looks great.
17. Menus from the 1800s
Here’s what menus used to look like in the 1800s. In this link, you will find many vintage typography projects.
18. Braver By Design Presented by gingermonkey
This project has a vintage touch thanks to the typography it uses and the graphic elements that surround the text.
19. Dreamland Motel
This is a real-life vintage typography project. It was done for the Dreamland Motel.
20. Vintage Packaging – Soda Labels
Vintage Soda labels are a great source of inspiration in regards to typography projects. There are more examples in this link, so make sure to go through all of them!
21. Hand Lettering by Tobias Saul
This link contains many hand lettering examples done by Tobias Saul. All of them look really nice and they have a vintage touch to their design concept.
22. Decorative Vintage Lettering
If you’re a fan of vintage typography here’s an awesome example from which you can draw your inspiration.
23. September Lettering
This project is called September Lettering and besides its elegant and melancholic feel, this project is a really nice example of vintage typography.
24. Typography Pt. 01
Vintage typography surely looks great if its textures and placed on a photo that has a white haze overlay.
25. Cymone Wilder
Cymone Wilder is the artist who designed this beautiful vintage typography artwork. This example looks really nice and it mixes different types of typography. 
Conclusion
As you can see, vintage lettering, or typography, is definitely an art. It has a nostalgic feel and can be very relevant when applied to your classic digital content or offline print projects. To keep your reader and users engaged, this may be a great alternative to a standard or plain web safe font so commonly used today. We hope you’ve enjoyed this collection and please comment below.
