Periodic Table of Typefaces

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The Periodic Table of Typefaces is obviously in the style of all the thousands of over-sized Periodic Table of Elements posters hanging in schools and homes around the world. This particular table lists 100 of the most popular, influential and notorious typefaces today.

(thank you jake)

17 Comments leave a comment below

  1. This is fun, except these aren’t arranged in Periods! The whole point of the Periodic Table is to group similar [typefaces] based on their properties. If there were holes, you’d be able to deduce the characteristics based on the existing samples in that Period.

    But like I said, it’s fun.

  2. I agree with Prescott… very fun overview of type, but it would have been cool if the groupings had more to do with similar properties.

  3. I think it’s so right that Helvetica takes the #1 spot.

  4. I’m with Prescott and Scott — It seems like someone eventually does one of these for everything, but they always seem to miss the point. The original is great because of how clearly it communicates so much information. Relying on the form of the original just kind of makes it an exercise in kitsch…

    but i also agree that it is pretty cute.

  5. That is the beauty of being a high school chemistry flunky. I never did understand the original, so any organizational failings in this one elude me!

  6. saw this on behance and almost squealed. okay, so it’s not true to the original intent of the periodic table, but it’s really fantastic and the fact that its led with helvetica and futura makes me all the happier. LOVE it!

  7. No love for Georgia or Verdana? I know they were designed at MS and all but Georgia is almost the de facto web serif these days.

  8. No Comic Sans, listed as an unstable and deadly element of nature?

  9. I have a red t-shirt of the Periodic Chart of Elements from Brooklyn Industries that I love – if only they had a Typefaces version!

    Good points Prescott and Scott – what does Ott think? (I kid, I kid).

  10. Thanks for the nice words all.

    To all those confused about the periodic nature, I completely understand. To get a bit more information about the reasons and thought process, please read the copy I posted at Behance (linked at the top as the source).

    If you are the least bit interested in the FURTHER thought process, see this conversation in the comment section I had with someone that hated the design for very good reasons: http://punya.educ.msu.edu/2009/03/11/yet-another-periodic-table/

    Again, thanks for the write up Tina!

  11. Hey we just got permission from the designer Camdon Wilde to produce this as a wall decal. You can check it out here:
    http://www.scribbleoneverything.com/typefaces/prod_108.html

  12. Prints, source files and other stuff now finally available!

    here:
    http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html

    Thanks for all the kind comments and support!

    – Cam

  13. Hey All, we just did a new run of the original out of print camel hair paper version of this this poster.

    http://www.scribbleoneverything.com/prints/periodic-table-of-typefaces-poster/prod_137.html

    Cheers, Jon