Forte is a bold, lively typeface that appears to have been written with a thick brush. It is cursive in style, but in a very modern manner rather than an old-fashioned one; its letters do not connect like a more traditional script typeface. It can have a powerful effect in titles and headlines, contrasting well with text in a sans serif typeface such as Franklin Gothic or a classical modern typeface like Bodoni MT. It will stand out well in flyers, brochures, presentations, and informal signs. Forte’s heavy weight and simple letterforms make it readable at surprisingly small sizes, though it is not intended for paragraphs of text.
As its name suggests (“forte” is Italian for “strong”), this is a typeface designed to have an effect. It was created for Monotype in 1962 by Austrian type designer and commercial artist Carl Reissberger, and it became very popular as a typeface for advertising.
