I have to respectfully disagree with Rick as to the usefulness of the fonts supplied free with Corel and many signmaking applications. These libraries are first rate work and provide excellent results for the most part. Their primary shortcoming is that everybody pretty much has them.
To me, fonts are divided into two groups:
1. Fonts that I design with and do the selection of for work I produce for clients who have made no predetermined type style choices.
2. Fonts that I will use to meet the requirements of clients who have previously produced work and want to carry forward those type face selections.
For group #1, I want to be using fonts that are well designed and executed but which aren't overused. For these, Rick's list is an excellent starting point.
For group #2, I have found that about 25% of it comes from the free libraries supplied with Corel and other applications. About 50% comes from designs offered by the major players who have made deep inroads into the design community: Adobe, Linotype, Agfa-Monotype and ITC-Letraset. The balance will come from sources such as URW, Berthold, Emigre, FontFont, FontHaus, The Font Bureau and others.
As already pointed out, the key is organization and font management. The best product I've found has a price tag of $35 but it gets used 10 to 20 times a day in my shop. That tool is named
Typograf.
He who dies with the most fonts wins.
