Typophile

Recommendation please on pairing Goudy Old Style to evoke an ancient feel

Elora Danan0 votes

Hello,

I’m looking for a font to pair with Goudy Old Style. I’m using GOS for the body text of a fantasy novel that takes place in ancient times, and I initially thought I might use Goudy Trajan (with swashes perhaps) for the chapter headers.

However, I thought that Trajan would be cliched, and I’m leaning toward using Goudy’s Forum Titling instead for a fresher use of ‘ancient Rome’ fonts. The Lanston Type Company suggests 'hybridizing' GOS lowercases with Forum Titling's capitals, but I wondered if it might work if I used them as-is. I’m open to other options to pair with GOS, of course, just so long as the font evokes that ancient feel.

There is one caveat – I may need the font to be available for ebook licensing.

Joshua Langman0 votes

What about Goudy Oldstyle suggests "ancient" to you? That's not an association that I think many typographers would have. Maybe look for a better body font before choosing a display font.

Nick Shinn0 votes

Goudy Old Style is a fantasy inspired by ancient times.
That sounds about right.

Elora Danan0 votes

Hi,

I see clarity is needed here -- I was asking for a Chapter Title header font (not a body font) that evokes ancient times. I specifically named two fonts that made this wish abundantly clear; I've never heard of writing body copy in Trajan. It's a type of font that could only be used for titles, etc., yes? The question was what title font is a useful alternative to Trajan in this context?

I've found another source to answer this question, so thanks anyway.

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