Tom Mullaney

In the era before the pandemic, I had the honor of participating in a Google For Education SXSW EDU panel about immersive learning. I spoke about designing digital learning materials that immersed students in the curriculum. I was recently looking at my Shirley Chisholm digital escape room. This digital game teaches students about her historic run for president in 1972. As I looked at the website, I did not feel immersed in the early 1970s.

I tinkered with the font of “Shirley Chisholm” at the top of the website. One simple font change increased the early 70s-ness of the site.

In Google Workspace, I usually default to the Lexend fonts designed to help readers. That said, fonts with a vintage feel make learning materials more immersive. Use Google Fonts to see all fonts available to Google Workspace users. I regret to inform you that two fonts are not available in Google Fonts:

With that out of the way, the good news is there are a lot of vintage fonts teachers can use to immerse students in the past. Have a look:

Here are some things to keep in mind when using these vintage fonts:

• Most of these fonts are best as headings and titles. I usually stick with a Lexend font for paragraph text.
• Two exceptions to that rule are Special Elite and Quattrocento. Have a look at Quattrocento in this Alexander Hamilton digital escape room.
• Some of these fonts feature the handwritten lowercase “a” as Lexend does. That is useful for teachers who need fonts that address this issue.
• Bungee Shade, the font I added to the Shirley Chisholm digital escape room, is perfect for the 60s-70s look. It screams old-school signage.
• Monoton is another 60s-70s vintage font worthy of consideration.
• Special Elite is not the only typewriter font in Google Fonts. Others include:
  • Courier Prime
  • Nixie One
  • Hepta Slab
  • Cutive
• Special Elite is my preference because it is so inky. It evokes 60s-70s intrigue and drama. Look at Special Elite in this Cuban Missile Crisis digital escape room.
• If you are teaching about money, please look at Asset and Notable.
• Oldenburg looks like a silent film title card font.

• To learn how to add these fonts, please watch this video about adding Lexend fonts.

• Make a copy of the Google Doc with these vintage fonts.

What do you think? What fonts did I miss? Please comment below or tweet me, @TomEMullaney.

Does your school need professional development that helps teachers design immersive learning experiences? Look at some of my offerings and connect with me on Twitter.

Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash.