Retro fonts are a broad category of typefaces designed to transport the viewer back to a specific era — say the swinging 1920s or the neon-illuminated 1980s. Retro fonts focus on capturing the aesthetic energy and cultural spirit of the past. They are the typographic equivalent of a vintage leather jacket or a classic vinyl record: and in that respect, they’re timeless, full of character, and instantly recognizable. There are also fonts that are retro while looking decidedly futuristic — especially those you’d usually associate with time-travel, space travel, and science fiction themes.

Examples of retro-futuristic sci-fi-themed font families are the pixel font Archive Matrix or the fast-looking Talaris. For a retro font family that elicits the 1920s, try something from the Art Deco / Art Nouveau fonts category, for example, Anisette, Exentrica, Valvolina or Sisteron. Want full-on grunge typography? Then take Battery Park, Heft Distressed, Panton Rust Script or Roadkill for a spin. Or for that mid-century modern look, license Jazzman.