55 of the best free fonts for designers
September 2, 2017 2:17 PM Subscribe
55 of the best free fonts for designers. Sometimes in the world of free fonts, you get what you pay for. But Tom May (at art and design blog Creativebloq.com) has found the best free fonts by professional designers from a range of countries including Spain, Argentina, Indonesia, Brazil, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, the UK, Uruguay, Finland, the US, Ireland, and Canada. The fonts are arranged into eight categories: serif, sans serif, handwriting, vintage and retro, brush, tattoo, graffiti and "unusual".
The last "unusual" font, BF Tiny Hand, will most definitely not be everyone's cup of tea.
The last "unusual" font, BF Tiny Hand, will most definitely not be everyone's cup of tea.
So, my college locked our computers down last year to such an extent that I have to call tech support just to install a font.
Lol
They're about to regret that decision.
This is a great post.
posted by oddman at 3:42 PM on September 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Lol
They're about to regret that decision.
This is a great post.
posted by oddman at 3:42 PM on September 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
What fun! I acquired Futuracha a couple of months ago and am still working out exactly how to use it. The blurb here doesn't mention that some letters change shape if used in a certain way. I'm sure there are rules but I haven't worked them out yet. It sure is interesting, though. Great post.
posted by MovableBookLady at 4:18 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by MovableBookLady at 4:18 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Well, I'm no designer (as look at any of my personal sites will prove) but I've been a font maven since before computer fonts... when I was doing a paper newsletter in the '70s, I discovered rub-off letters in a Bookman Swash variation that was perfect for my masthead and all my personal branding since. Still loving those fonts with a "60s-70s look" like Eurostile, Avant Garde, Hobo, Mistral and Peignot (the Mary Tyler Moore font) and sad for the shortage of public domain/free versions. Such is Intellectual Property...
But the need to winnow down the choices available today is made clear when the "1001 Free Fonts" site now officially hosts over 34,000 of them. But my favorite resource today for current, free fontery is Font Squirrel, with a couple thousand, semi-curated and all OK for commercial use.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:32 PM on September 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
But the need to winnow down the choices available today is made clear when the "1001 Free Fonts" site now officially hosts over 34,000 of them. But my favorite resource today for current, free fontery is Font Squirrel, with a couple thousand, semi-curated and all OK for commercial use.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:32 PM on September 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
Oh NO I wish I still had any need for fonts upon fonts, because the urge to gather and accumulate cool fonts is overpowering me right now. Gotta make a point of visiting this thread only on my phone or on my iPad ; )
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:54 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:54 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I find the vast majority of fonts to be silly and unusable. However, I enthusiastically recommend Lyon and Mercury. I've purchased both and I use them constantly.
posted by cribcage at 7:05 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by cribcage at 7:05 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
There's some great stuff here, thanks!
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:58 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:58 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is great. I feel like I've already found uses for at least half of them for future projects in my head.
I'm glad they included one font from the League of Moveable Type. Their Junction font has long been a favorite of mine.
posted by Anoplura at 10:43 PM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm glad they included one font from the League of Moveable Type. Their Junction font has long been a favorite of mine.
posted by Anoplura at 10:43 PM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm glad people are finding this useful! I came across it while looking for free fonts to use when creating documents for my students. Many of the free fonts I found were just a little off or looked slightly sloppy or amateurish, so I was really glad to find this list.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:02 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:02 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
During the 15 minutes I attempted to create a webcomic, I discovered the wonderful "comic font" resources at Comicraft and Blambot. Not free, but frequently on sale. Of course, later I discovered the Komika family free on fontsquirrel...
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:16 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:16 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I have managed to create a minor design standard within a volunteer organisation I joined by simply requesting everyone use Gentium Book Basic for body text and Josefin Sans Bold for headings and titles (preferrably all-caps or small-caps). I've been delighted with the results overall!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:54 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:54 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
Anoplura: I love Junction, and in my head I tend to think of it as "Gentium Sans" when I look at the angles on the 'u' or 'n'.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 5:09 AM on September 4, 2017
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 5:09 AM on September 4, 2017
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