Incredible Black and White Typography

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I love the use of different colors in design. Designs that use vibrant colors really attract my attention. I’ve definitely done my part in showcasing colorful designs.

Today, we will be focusing on black and white. In the world of design, black and white definitely have their place. Using black and white can definitely add a touch of class as well as a classical element to a design. Just take for instance, black and white movies. Because of the lack of color, these movies automatically generate a classic feel.

White

When using white in design, it signifies purity, innocence, minimalism, as well as a very clean feeling. White definitely goes well with any other color.

Black

On the other hand, black just always stands out. The reverse "print", as some would call it, is very popular in newspaper ads because they attract the most attention. Black is bold, elegant, mysterious, sophisticated, but it can also convey a conservative feeling as well.

“If everything isn’t black and white, I say, why not?”
- John Wayne

Let’s take a look at 50 incredible examples of black and white typography.

Note: Please click on the images to see them in their websites and to learn more about their artists.

Stop

Fur

Wireframe

Sick

Aeroplane

State to State

Milk

City

Tangerine

Ink

Papercut

Fine Lines

Love

Tough

Future Deco

Black

Buy Gun

Bring

Solid

Stone

Vital

Hi

Sneak

Mari

Salam

Kulprate

Lukano

Izizi

Lightning

Love

Question

Day

M

Sensible

Snag

New York

Superfine

Love

Culture

SVSW

Wash

Friend

Blackwood

Todo

Okay

Things

Look

Utwory

Hobo

Purpose

In the words of Stefan Kanfer,

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

So what are your thoughts about these typography pieces? Which ones are your favorite and why? Please make sure that you join in on the discussion and leave your thoughts below.

Well, thanks for viewing and if you liked this post, please stumble and bump it. You can follow me on twitter here.

My name is Jad Limcaco and I am the editor of Design Informer. I also do freelance web and graphic design work on the side. You can view my portfolio here. I currently live in Santa Clara, CA. Go ahead and follow me on Twitter.

  1. 1

    Simon B

    December 4th, 2009 2:12 pm

    These truly are ‘incredible’, thank you :o)

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  2. 2

    Bluefaqs

    December 4th, 2009 2:18 pm

    Nice list! I was hoping that you were going to post today. Keep up the great work!
    .-= Bluefaqs´s latest Blog Entry – 15 WordPress Plugins To Enhance Your Comment Section =-.

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  3. 3

    Josh Star

    December 4th, 2009 2:18 pm

    An excellent showcase of some very beautiful designs. Black and white does add a vintage feel and it adds a very sophisticated and elegant tone. Some of these designs are also reservedly modernistic Great stuff!

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  4. 4

    typegoodness

    December 4th, 2009 2:42 pm

    What a great selection of type. Very nice article.
    .-= typegoodness´s latest Blog Entry – Orbitron =-.

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  5. 5

    Jordan Austin

    December 4th, 2009 3:00 pm

    Wow, seriously awesome post. You really did a lot of work to to bring these all together. I honestly cannot decide which one I love the best. And I’m so glad you found a lot that I’ve never seen before.

    Great work Jad!

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  6. 6

    Joppa Design Peeps

    December 4th, 2009 3:04 pm

    Was very inspiring. Super sweet stuff. Loved it. Did I mention it was good stuff? Thanks for sharing!

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  7. 7

    vikas ghodke

    December 4th, 2009 3:09 pm

    Woow thanks for such a beautiful collection..
    .-= vikas ghodke´s latest Blog Entry – 65 Light Graffiti For Inspiration =-.

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  8. 8

    devildesigner

    December 4th, 2009 3:14 pm

    I just love it when both the form AND function of type is explored…add a twist such as black and white and you have just gone and made my grey day! well done and thanks!

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  9. 9

    Edgar Leijs

    December 4th, 2009 3:24 pm

    You made a great showcase… love typo and black & white…

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  10. 10

    Jad Limcaco

    December 4th, 2009 3:28 pm

    @Simon B You’re welcome mate!

    @Bluefaqs Your wish came true. :)

    @Josh Star Thanks Josh. I agree with you. That’s why black and white is always in style.

    @typegoodness I checked out your site and it’s awesome! I’m definitely going to be a regular visitor. By the way, your favorite should be SOLID cause I made that one. :)

    @Joppa Design Peeps You forgot to mention that it was good stuff.

    @Jordan Austin Lot’s of work to gather these but it’s worth it. Thank you for your compliments.

    @vikas ghodke You’re welcome!

    @devildesigner Happy to make your day! :)

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  11. 11

    Iniwoo

    December 4th, 2009 3:30 pm

    Great collection ;)
    Added this post in our weekly ‘Best of Web’.

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  12. 12

    Designzzz

    December 4th, 2009 3:56 pm

    Very well done good share!!!
    .-= Designzzz´s latest Blog Entry – 50 Most Beautiful Trees Photography =-.

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  13. 13

    KASTORYANO

    December 4th, 2009 4:37 pm

    Wonderful post I love typography. Great inspiration.

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  14. 14

    Egils Grikis

    December 4th, 2009 4:37 pm

    It is simply incredible! Looking on these great compositions you even are forgetting the headline Black & White. They are so rich and colorful! Our imagination plays with them… Thank you for great moments!
    .-= Egils Grikis´s latest Blog Entry – balsamstudio new identity, website =-.

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    • 15

      Jad Limcaco

      December 21st, 2009 1:58 pm

      I agree. I don’t think color is always necessary in design. Black and White designs that are executed properly are often “timeless.”

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  15. 16

    Site Reviver

    December 4th, 2009 4:40 pm

    Awesome collection. Very nice effort :)
    .-= Site Reviver´s latest Blog Entry – Windows 7 Continued =-.

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  16. 17

    Arian Xhezairi

    December 4th, 2009 5:53 pm

    I wanted to fav one over another, but I realized it’s impossible since nearly each of them was as terribly beautiful as the others.

    Thanks for the inspiring collection Jad.
    .-= Arian Xhezairi´s latest Blog Entry – PoentaStudios: 22 Advanced CSS Text Effects And Web Typography Tips http://bit.ly/4HvZYw (RT @iBlend: RT @1stwebdesigner) =-.

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  17. 18

    Adit Gupta

    December 4th, 2009 10:15 pm

    Pretty awesome collection!! :)

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  18. 19

    Petrus

    December 5th, 2009 2:43 am

    Beautiful showcase of B&W Typo. Very interesting and good for inspiration. Thank you for this work.

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  19. 20

    Sakib

    December 5th, 2009 4:00 am

    wow! in your post, i found some are really really so so cool. truly incredible.
    .-= Sakib´s latest Blog Entry – 100 Must-Read Articles For Entrepreneurs =-.

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  20. 21

    Bea Litao

    December 5th, 2009 4:56 am

    Probably one of the best collections out there! Black and white sure does bring out the important context there is in typography. Not saying color doesn’t. It’s just more striking this way.

    Thanks for posting!

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    • 22

      Jad Limcaco

      December 21st, 2009 2:12 pm

      I agree. With color, a lot of times, we get distracted, but black and white typography simply makes the type to really stand out.

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  21. 23

    nFormas design

    December 5th, 2009 7:36 am

    Nice collection and a great Inspiration! Thanks!
    .-= nFormas design´s latest Blog Entry – YOUPIX – Criatividade Digital =-.

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  22. 24

    Richie

    December 5th, 2009 7:38 am

    Awesome collection.
    .-= Richie´s latest Blog Entry – Stunning works of art by German designer, Loïc Sattler =-.

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  23. 25

    IVAN

    December 5th, 2009 8:08 am

    amazing ! .. great collection ♥
    .-= IVAN´s latest Blog Entry – Saturday inspiration #10 [Scenes] =-.

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  24. 26

    eric washburn

    December 5th, 2009 2:47 pm

    beautiful displays of Black & White Typography!

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  25. 27

    Fenson

    December 5th, 2009 2:54 pm

    B&W will never go out of style. Great collection.

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  26. 28

    Manz

    December 5th, 2009 3:06 pm

    “The reverse “print”, as some would call it, is very popular in newspaper ads because they attract the most attention” – true. However, the consideration of how the negative space is used with the black is important. Just because you have white on black doesn’t automatically make it interesting enough to grab attention – the expression of the idea needs to be good also.

    There are some amazing examples in the post. “Ink and Water Don’t mix” is very cool. Not sure you could reverse it and have the same impact though. That’s a post on it own… and one I plan to write soon ;) Might bookmark this article as something I can reference and link to. Would that be OK?
    .-= Manz´s latest Blog Entry – A Convenient Truth (Part 2) =-.

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    • 29

      Jad Limcaco

      December 21st, 2009 2:14 pm

      Great point Manz. Thank you for bringing that up.

      I agree, with reverse “print,” you definitely have want to have better letter-spacing as well as a generous amount of padding.

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  27. 30

    Mike Jones

    December 5th, 2009 3:30 pm

    Great collection—love it!

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  28. 31

    kailoon

    December 5th, 2009 3:42 pm

    Nice round up :) Thanks!

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  29. 32

    michu

    December 5th, 2009 5:39 pm

    My favorite was the one in the clouds, excellent collection mate! thanks for sharing! CHAO

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  30. 33

    Thomas

    December 6th, 2009 6:14 am

    This is the best design article I’ve read in ages!!

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  31. 34

    j000

    December 6th, 2009 7:09 am

    Thanks for sharing. Retweeted, mooed, floated, and blended :)
    .-= j000´s latest Blog Entry – 19 Sites with Attractive Headers and Footers =-.

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  32. 36

    Danillo

    December 6th, 2009 10:12 am

    Great list. Very inspiring!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Stay with God! =)

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  33. 37

    loswl

    December 6th, 2009 5:57 pm

    very nice collection, Typography is so cool and art form by itself :)
    .-= loswl´s latest Blog Entry – The Lord’s Purpose Prevails =-.

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  34. 38

    web design maidstone

    December 6th, 2009 11:28 pm

    wow somw great examples, gotta love mono!

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  35. 39

    Design Ideas

    December 7th, 2009 1:55 am

    Amazing typography examples

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  36. 40

    LukeSF

    December 7th, 2009 3:18 am

    I definitely remember seeing some of those in color… And i couldnt stop thinking that designs were simply inverted for B&W… yet, great collection!

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    • 41

      Jad Limcaco

      December 21st, 2009 2:15 pm

      Actually, I found all of this in black and white. Anyway, if you see the colored links, shoot them over to me. I’d like to see it.

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  37. 42

    Torrie Foster

    December 7th, 2009 7:31 am

    I’d have to say, black and white typography is absolutely gorgeous. Each and every one of these designs are very unique and really draws attention to my eyes. They all seem so classy, which is what I love about them.
    .-= Torrie Foster´s latest Blog Entry – TorrieFoster: @mgoldst I love your website and your work that you do. Awesome! =-.

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    • 43

      Jad Limcaco

      December 21st, 2009 2:15 pm

      Black and White definitely brings a touch of class to a design if executed correctly.

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  38. 44

    TJ

    December 7th, 2009 11:53 am

    Great post, so inspiring!

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  39. 45

    gzstudio

    December 7th, 2009 1:29 pm

    These are all very nice. I’m a big fan of Black and White design but its quite rare to see such a variations like this. For me I prefer the one with only pure black and white (no grey) with the exception of “paper cut” and “black mood” which are very nicely done.

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  40. 46

    DesignBeep.

    December 8th, 2009 2:42 am

    thanks for the collection..i like the 3rd one so much

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  41. 47

    Aslam A Memon

    December 8th, 2009 4:29 am

    awesome collection!
    you might like this one as well

    http://aslam-memon.blogspot.com/2009/06/that-sorry-seems-to-be-hardest-word.html

    thanx

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  42. 48

    RM - InBoundMarketingPR

    December 8th, 2009 9:13 am

    What a wonderful collection of black & whites… These do stand out more because of their simplistic but beautiful coloring contrast!

    Thank you so much for the share!
    .-= RM – InBoundMarketingPR´s latest Blog Entry – Alternative Energy and Smart Grid- and More =-.

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  43. 49

    DaniloH.

    December 8th, 2009 2:14 pm

    Very nice Post!
    Bonito pra kct!

    0
  44. 50

    Stannmusic

    December 12th, 2009 1:11 pm

    I love all of these typography, the Bring Me the Horizon logo looks great I have it on a t-shirt! Keep up that good work!
    .-= Stannmusic´s latest Blog Entry – Punk rock Christmas =-.

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    • 51

      Jad Limcaco

      December 21st, 2009 2:16 pm

      That’s cool. Must be a nice shirt then. ;)

      0
  45. 52

    ibrahim abu touq

    March 29th, 2010 9:25 am

    Really amazing!

    0
  46. 53

    Oko

    May 14th, 2010 6:19 am

    Great inspiration. Thx!

    0
  47. 54

    Felone

    March 5th, 2011 2:58 am

    This is so inspiring work, it makes me speachless. Huge respects to the creator :D

    0
  48. 55

    Will Poremski

    May 4th, 2011 12:12 am

    Great article. It’s very unfortunate that over the last one decade, the travel industry has already been able to to deal with terrorism, SARS, tsunamis, influenza, swine flu, and the first ever real global downturn. Through it all the industry has really proven to be powerful, resilient and also dynamic, locating new tips on how to deal with adversity. There are always fresh challenges and opportunities to which the business must all over again adapt and behave.

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