The 10 Most Beautiful Italics Fonts
A truly beautiful and functional italics font can be difficult to track down. As most font sites preview regular weights by default, sometimes the italic weight of your favourite font can surprise you, for better or worse.
Skip the disappointment and the time-wasting by checking out our edit of the italics fonts with the best and most beautiful italic and cursive styles.
Below you’ll find italics fonts that can be synced from Adobe Typekit, some long-established classic typefaces and our pick of the very best free fonts with irresistible italic weights.
1. Latin Modern Roman Italic (FREE)
Designed by GUST e-foundry, Latin Modern Roman is a classical-inspired serif with five sub-families. Look to the Roman Dunhill 10 Oblique style (pictured) for the perfect vintage-flavoured italic.
2. Orpheus Italic
A contemporary reworking of the original 1920s Orpheus typeface design by Walter Tiemann, Orpheus Pro is presented by Toronto-based foundry Canada Type as a fresh take on the minimal serif which enjoyed brief circulation in Germany in the 1930s.
Blending classical elegance with a clean inter-war aesthetic, the italic weight is both romantic and functional.
3. Baskerville Italic
This transitional serif typeface, which borrows and develops traits from its old-style predecessors (like Caslon, see below), Baskerville brings together the best of two worlds—classic and modern.
Baskerville is elegant and intellectual. Use the italic weight to typeset literary quotes or poster typography.
4. Reforma Italic (FREE)
Reforma was created by Argentinian foundry Pampatype for the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, an institution with a 400-year history.
Inspired by the lengthy and rich history of the university, the designers leaned towards Roman type styles to create the Reforma letterforms, which, according to the designers, embody ‘dignity, authority and sobriety’.
5. Mrs Eaves Italic
Inspired by Sarah Eaves, the housekeeper who became John Baskerville’s wife, Mrs Eaves is the companion font to retro-tinted sans serif Mr Eaves.
Designed by Emigre, the italic style of Mrs Eaves is clean and legible, while still retaining the romantic formality of Baskerville.
6. Kepler Italic
Designed by Adobe type designer Robert Slimbach, Kepler is a classic serif inspired by modern 18th Century type styles.
More humanistic than Baskerville, Kepler is warm and energetic, with the italic weight feeling particularly fresh and optimistic.
7. Cormorant Italic (FREE)
A very pleasing alternative to Garamond, Cormorant is a modern serif created by Christian Thalmann of Catharsis Fonts. Light and airy, with rounded letterforms, the bright and breezy spirit of the regular weight is translated beautifully to the italic style.
Use on elegant stationery or retail websites to make the most of this stylish, light-as-a-feather italic.
8. Caslon Italic
Another well-loved classic, Caslon is the name given to the family of serifs designed by London-based typefounder William Caslon.
This old-style serif is loved by designers for its ability to add warmth and romance into their designs. It’s a versatile font, suitable for typesetting both body text and headlines, and its italic weight also happens to be one of the most beautiful around.
9. Freight Text Italic
A serif with a difference, Freight Text is a characterful and super-legible typeface which was designed with the reader in mind.
Its highly readable qualities makes the Freight Text italic well suited for typesetting long quotes or extracts for newspapers, books or text-heavy websites. Published by foundry GarageFonts, it also features an extensive character set comprised of five weights.
10. Crimson Italic (FREE)
Designed by Sebastian Kosch as a typesetting font for books, Crimson Text is a modern take on Old Style serifs.
Complete with all the extra glyphs like small caps and fleurons which make traditional serifs extra-special, the italic weight of Crimson is also highly legible and works brilliantly for longer chunks of text.
Looking for more typography inspiration? Discover our edit of the best fonts for magazine design here.