Papyrus Font

Papyrus is a decorative display typeface created in 1982 by Chris Costello, an American graphic designer and illustrator. He was only 23 at the time and hand-drawn the entire typeface with a calligraphy pen on textured paper over a period of six months.

Because it was preinstalled everywhere, everyone used it to look “exotic” or “ancient” — church flyers, restaurant menus, local spas, movie posters… you name it.

Papyrus is a commercial font, but it’s included for free with many operating systems. The designer sells expanded versions (Papyrus Std, etc.) via MyFonts.