---
title: "Typefaces designed in the 1980s"
description: "4 typefaces first cut in the 1980s, who drew each one, and what a design using it reads as today. Plus what came before and after."
url: https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1980s/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Typefaces designed in the 1980s

4 typefaces first released in the 1980s, in order.

| Typeface | Year | Designer | Kind | What it signals now |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Arial | 1982 | Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders | Sans-serif | A default. Something nobody chose. |
| Papyrus | 1982 | Chris Costello | Display | A smoothie bar, a yoga studio, or Avatar. |
| Chicago | 1984 | Susan Kare | Sans-serif | The original Macintosh, and the first iPod. |
| Trajan | 1989 | Carol Twombly | Serif | A film poster. Specifically a serious one, or a legal drama. |

- [Arial](https://atoneplace.net/font/arial/) — Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, 1982
- [Papyrus](https://atoneplace.net/font/papyrus/) — Chris Costello, 1982
- [Chicago](https://atoneplace.net/font/chicago/) — Susan Kare, 1984
- [Trajan](https://atoneplace.net/font/trajan/) — Carol Twombly, 1989

## Related pages

- [Typefaces from the 1530s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1530s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1720s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1720s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1750s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1750s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1780s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1780s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1790s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1790s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1840s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1840s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1890s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1890s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1900s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1900s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1910s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1910s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1920s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1920s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1930s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1930s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1950s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1950s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1960s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1960s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1970s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1970s/)
- [Typefaces from the 1990s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1990s/)
- [Typefaces from the 2000s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/2000s/)
- [Typefaces from the 2010s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/2010s/)
- [Typefaces from the 2020s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/2020s/)