If you want your type to look high-end and cutting edge you need to commission custom type. Otherwise you're just using the licensing the same type anyone else can.

Thanks for the advice, but I'm not sure a custom type face is the right thing for this job. There are so many existing fonts out there that I'm sure someone can suggest one I haven't looked into yet.

I don’t understand your last comment. A custom typeface is designed to solve the task at hand in the best possible way, so how can it not be the right thing for your project?

Anyway: What about Ruse or Lexicon?

Here's a short list of "essential" typefaces used as body copy for publications.

http://typophile.com/node/14634

perhaps you can find something to get your project completed. Keep your selection clean and legible and you should be able to imbue the feeling of sophistication. Good luck on your project.

...a short list of "essential" typefaces...

So those are the kind of mainstream, middlebrow and hackneyed typefaces to be avoided.

NS>...a short list of "essential" typefaces...
So those are the kind of mainstream, middlebrow and hackneyed typefaces to be avoided.

I like your perspective, Nick. "Essential" as synonymous with same old, same old.

I have to agree with Nick on that one. Those are classic "safe" typefaces, there is so much more to investigate... I only suggest using these if you have to, if they are really fitting to the character of the magazine, or the brand is firmly established. Or use them as a spring-board to find something similar but not so pedestrian. More often, I tend to think everything wants to have its own custom type :)

Good luck!

Criticize as you will, no one is offering up any suggestions to help this fellow out. While I might not have thrown out something fresh off the production line, I did offer something. Hackneyed as they might be. (I do agree, that list could use some sprucing up.)

http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/exljbris/calluna/

http://www.linotype.com/521506/malabar-family.html?gclid=CKDt6-DnrKMCFQp...

try Calluna or Malabar.

Thanks for thinking high-end of Calluna, Chris :)

it is!

While avoiding the usual suspects, a suitably recherché choice could nonetheless be classic and conservative.

Interview, for instance, opts for Janson -- no doubt as a counterpoint to its archly illegible all-cap didone decks.

Information about the magazine is somewhat limited. Anyway, I'm trying to add some suggestions not-so-much-mainstream and pretty contemporary at least in some aspects:
Loreto
Girando
Tisa
Tanger Serif
Cordale

"The general feel for this issue is high-end, sophisticated and cutting edge."

Where and how many times have I heard that before?

Why won't you show or prove to us how "high-end" and "sophisticated" your magazine really is before people here go out of their way to convince you? Come on, show us some layouts, some design maquettes, some content examples..

sweat a little :)

Wow...thanks so much for everyone's suggestions.

@angurshamal...I apologize for not posting any layouts or "sweating" enough for you lol. Truth is, I would if I had anything to show. Choosing a typeface is always a huge decision for me and usually the first thing I do once I know the overal aesthetic of the project I'm going to be working on.

The magazine can't be too high-end...it's a school publication and the budget is almost nothing. I'm trying to do a lot with very little.

Why would you want to make a school magazine feel high-end, sophisticated and cutting edge?
Even if you were able to succeed on no budget, very few of your readers would get it, even if it's a private school with very wealthy pupils.

On the other hand, this is marginally better than the usual way designers approach youth, with fun, trendy, sloppy banality, distress and bright colours for the kids.

Surely there has to be a better way to "target this demographic"?

@Nick Shinn...my school, The Art Institute of California - Orange County, puts out a small magazine every quarter for the student body. This magazine is the assignment for one of my classes this quarter and I'm the Art Director for the project. Usually, this magazine is nothing to brag about, but I'd like to change that with my issue. It just so happens that this is the 10th Anniversary of my school and they want to make this issue special. My goal is to produce something that the students won't just throw away; to make it something they want to keep around. I'm doing this by slightly altering the usual dimensions of the magazine, kicking up the visual quality to levels not seen in previous issues, making reading it a very tactile experience with lots of spot UV throughout, etc.

You ask why, if virtually no one will see it, would I want to make "a school magazine feel high-end, sophisticated and cutting edge?". The answer is simple: I take pride in my work. And in addition to it being a 10th Anniversary edition, if it comes out like I want it to, it's something I'll put in my portfolio. I'm no spring chicken...just a few months shy of my 30th birthday.

I hope that gives you a little more insight into my reasoning for wanting a mere school magazine to look like more than it really is.

...if virtually no one will see it...

I meant they won't "get it" (grok?), if "high-end, sophisticated" isn't their normal cultural milieu, which is a reasonable assumption for school students. But perhaps I underestimated the sophistication of your readers, and no doubt it's true many people admire upscale glamour, even if they can't afford it. Although I would imagine that the students at your particular school are pretty well off.

I wasn't implying that it was a "mere" school magazine -- there is no value-judgement in identifying different economic tranches for marketing purposes. In fact, IMO "high-end" is often tacky, relying on expensive materials (e.g. white space) and profuse workmanship to impress. Bling.

The idea is to target (match) the work to the audience, not merely to create something exceptional for one's peers and portfolio.

My goal is to produce something that the students won't just throw away; to make it something they want to keep around.

That's good.

If you want high-end and sophisticated, besides those already mentioned, you could look at stuff from The Font Bureau, Hoefler & Frere-Jones, Dutch Type Library, TypeTogether....

Cheers,

T

Write it by hand. PMT the pages (oh, okay, scan them if you must). Play with layout, apply spot colour etc. Print.

Have a look at this list here:

http://typophile.com/node/72024

I'm quite enjoying Alright Sans and Skolar right now. But my favourite serif to use has been FF Meta Serif.

Yes, Skolar is beautiful if maybe a little ornamental.

Have you checked out Floris yet:
http://www.lucasfonts.com/fonts/floris/floris-text/

'…mainstream, middlebrow and hackneyed'

I have added my own suggestion to the Essentials List (Sentinel, Mercury Text & Chronicle), and while I don't feel that the above descriptions are applicable to my choices, it is going to be a highly opinionated list as it grows.

Maybe Vesper? It's beautiful!

I prefer the Briosa family. A lot has to do with the kind of paper to be used.
Dr. Type
http://dr-type.net