Fifteen Typefaces That Make Paper Look Real
Authenticity in a fake newspaper comes almost entirely from type. A look at the faces we rotate through, and why mixing them is the point.
June 12, 2026 · 6 min read
Real newspapers are typographic chaos. A masthead in one face, a kicker in another, a headline in a condensed grotesque, body copy in a workhorse serif, and a caption in something entirely unrelated because the layout desk was in a hurry. Consistency is what gives fake newspapers away.
What each role needs
- Masthead: high contrast and old. Didone and transitional serifs read as institutional.
- Kicker: small, bold, often sans. It should feel stamped on rather than typeset.
- Headline: condensed and heavy. Width is the variable that sells urgency.
- Body: a serif with a large x-height so it stays legible at six pixels.
- Caption: anything slightly wrong. Mismatch is authentic.
Why we randomise per frame
Each generated frame picks its own masthead face, headline face and body face. Across ten frames you get ten different papers rather than ten variations of one paper. That is what makes the flicker read as a montage of clippings instead of a single page redrawing itself.
The one thing we keep constant
The keyword. Its position shifts, its face changes, but it is always centred, always the largest element and always under a marker stroke. Everything else can move. The word cannot.
“Mix five faces badly on purpose and you get a newspaper. Mix one face well and you get a poster.”
Try it on your own keyword. Free, no account, thirty seconds.
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