Typefaces that evoke Myth & Legend

timfm
25.Jul.2006 5.37pm

I’m thinking Harry Potter, Tolkien, but not necessarily limited to Celtic style. Possibly more indigenous, tribal, indo feel as well. Still need more info from client, but looking to get a short list together to clarify what’s in their mind’s eye.

Cheers,

-t

Bobby Henderson
25.Jul.2006 7.17pm

While the term “legend” seems heroic, it is also pretty murky as well.

Two questions. What specific geographic region and cultural influence does the type need to reference? What time period does the type need to invoke?

Answers to both of those questions will narrow down the field of obvious choices to a mere few.

If the client wants something more non-specific which can work for a variety of time periods and cultural themes, you might consider a good all-caps titling font. Adobe Garamond, Perpetua, Utopia and Goudy Old Style are a few that come to mind.

I would suggest Trajan or Trajan Pro. It is a very attractive typeface. But it has been terribly overused for the past decade, especially on movie poster titles.

edward maddison
26.Jul.2006 4.31am

how about requiem

oldnick
26.Jul.2006 4.34am

Tribal, saga-esque, Homeric or storybook...take your pick.

Chris G
26.Jul.2006 5.07am

Legende

typofoto
26.Jul.2006 5.25am

American Uncial has a ’Robin, the Hooded Man’ feel ...

http://www.myfonts.com/search?search%5Btext%5D=american+uncial

James Grieshaber
26.Jul.2006 6.13am

I designed Yule to be purposely vague. It is a mélange of ancient inscriptional writing, with visual references to Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, medieval and even a bit of ancient Greek and roman letterforms. It is an all caps font, so there are alternates for every letter in the lowercase position, plus there are a number of alternate letter forms and ligatures hidden in the font. The heavy weight has an admittadly Neuland feel, which might also work well for you.

Or maybe Numismatic. Same deal—all UC with alt lc and hidden ligas & alts. But this one may be a bit too Harry Potter.

Tim Ahrens
26.Jul.2006 7.05am