---
title: "Franklin Gothic (1902) — Morris Fuller Benton"
description: "Franklin Gothic was designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1902. What it signals, where you have seen it."
url: https://atoneplace.net/font/franklin-gothic/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Franklin Gothic

**Franklin Gothic: Morris Fuller Benton, 1902**

Sans-serif · American newspapers, headlines, twentieth-century news.

Named for Benjamin Franklin, who was a printer before he was anything else. Its heavier weights hold together at very large sizes, which made it the default for headlines in an era when a headline was set in metal. It is still one of the most legible sans-serifs at extreme weight.

## The facts

- **Designed by:** Morris Fuller Benton
- **Released:** 1902
- **Classification:** Sans-serif
- **What it signals now:** American newspapers, headlines, twentieth-century news.

## Where you have seen it

- Newspaper headlines throughout the twentieth century
- Lots of book covers
- Numerous US political campaigns

> This page describes the typeface rather than showing it. Displaying a specimen requires a licensed font file and almost none of these may be redistributed, so the descriptions name the letters to look at instead.

## Common questions

### Who designed Franklin Gothic?

Morris Fuller Benton, in 1902.

### What is Franklin Gothic used for?

American newspapers, headlines, twentieth-century news. You will have seen it on Newspaper headlines throughout the twentieth century, Lots of book covers, Numerous US political campaigns.

## Related pages

- [Typefaces from the 1900s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1900s/)
- [Akzidenz-Grotesk](https://atoneplace.net/font/akzidenz-grotesk/)
- [Johnston](https://atoneplace.net/font/johnston/)
- [Futura](https://atoneplace.net/font/futura/)
- [Gill Sans](https://atoneplace.net/font/gill-sans/)
- [Helvetica](https://atoneplace.net/font/helvetica/)
- [Univers](https://atoneplace.net/font/univers/)
- [Optima](https://atoneplace.net/font/optima/)
- [Eurostile](https://atoneplace.net/font/eurostile/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]