I think that HFJ's Whitney would look beautiful (san serif wise), but it's $200 for 1 workstation. Klavika would also be nice for display. Serif-wise, Proforma is pritty "fresh".

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sorry about those comments from "raynman," I'm on a school computer that someone else didn't properly log out of.

How nice to see a full description from the get-go! Instead of the typical "Hey, I'm designing, like, a magazine - what's your fav fonts?" Followed by some people's "Clearly, you should just be using one of mine." :-/ Even a teen choosing her accessories is more in tune with context... Anyway.

Mike, I'm thinking a Fleischmann would go well with the
topic and contrast well with your "clean text blocks".
http://www.typographer.org/2005_06_01_digests.html#111945232557055739 _
(The Bald Condensed part.)

hhp

Arnhem is pretty nice.

Mike,

Serif suggestions: Delicato, Tarocco* or Anziano.
Sans serif: Sophisto or Stalemate

Have a look yourself at: http://www.macrhino.com

* Will be updated and extended soon

Your budget will force you to be very picky. Anything from H&FJ will be cost prohibitive since they don't sell single weights.

I like Hrant's suggestion of a Fleischmann-based design. Take a look at Farnham:
http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Farnham

Whitman is also nice, but has a more limited weight range:
http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Whitman

Some sans serifs for headlines/subheads:

Benton Sans
http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/BentonSans

Agenda
http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Agenda

Nobel
http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Nobel

These are very safe recommendations, and may not be distinctive enough, but there you have my 2 cents. Good luck.

For a serif, check out Eason, although, the yet-to-be-released OT version will probably be over your budget, leaving nothing for a sans counterpart. >^/

A coordinated family like Freight.... Solves all problems at all sizes. Pick the size variants you need. Arnhem is also nice for this reason. Or, X. Dupre's new Absara and Absara Sans.

I have to ask, why are you talking about negative tracking your text before you even have the type selected? Very few text fonts are spaced too widely to begin with. I would expect you to open the spacing of a normal text face for use at caption size.

FANTASTIC suggestions everyone, I have examined most of them, but I will be re-examining them this week. My boss is carrying around the sheet of the Cæcilia sheets that I printed, I am going to try to pry them from his fingers...as I don't believe that is what I am looking for exactly.

The reason for the negative tracking spec is that when I am showing sheets, they keep using the words tighter. I have Cæcilia set at 9/10.2 and -25/1000 tracking... and it may still be not enough. It is killing me.

So far, I have liked the Fleischmann revivals alot, but I am not sure the x-height is what I need, since they keep talking smaller. I downloaded a pdf of it, and will be printing it tommorow. ( I LOVE TYPE SPECIMENS ) Thanks, everyone... your thoroughness and dilligence is much appreciated. I will be sure and post a proof of the *finished* product. I have to get my æss to work

Oh yeah, Stefan, thanks for pimpin' and for Hattrick... what is the license on that anyway? I converted it to PC TT and would like to use it on my site...

Not sure if I understand why the perceived need for negative tracking?..... There's only so much economy you can squeeze out of the type before you're making things difficult for the reader.

Yeah, the negative tracking is very unlikely to help.
Except if it's a font originally intended for small sizes,
although then it's likely to look too dark when set larger.

hhp

Mike,

Hattrick is freeware! Go ahead and use it for your site if you like. Contact me if have any other questions regarding my retail typefaces or need try-outs (oops more pimpin').

Cheers

Dwell uses Proforma and a custom (Michael Abbink cut of Trade Gothic) and it is pretty fresh.