How important is a font?
Surprisingly, fonts can be more valuable than you might believe. Visualize all the places where you see written words on a daily basis.
You may not think twice about a font when you see one, but you can always spot a bad font.
Choosing the proper font can be tough. You need to make sure it’s clear and legible as well as unique.
The fonts you use on the homepage of your website could be different from the font in your blog posts. Your Instagram story’s font will differ from the font of your email marketing campaigns.
What do you look for in a font? There are various elements of typography you need to consider besides the font itself.
A typeface—font family—is a set of fonts that share similar design elements:
- width
- slant
- italicization
- weight
- style
- ornamentation
- condensation
You’ll also need to consider elements such as leading, tracking, kerning, and line length. These typography components deal with the spacing between lines, letters, and characters.
With thousands of fonts available online, it can be overwhelming to choose the best one for your company.
While I can’t tell you which font to choose, I can show you where to find unique fonts.
These are my top 11 places to find free fonts.
1. The Northern Block
The Northern Block is a reasonable place to start your search.
I like it because the website has a simple design. The navigation is easy to follow, and you won’t have any trouble finding a font suited to your needs.
This platform is based in the UK.
If you want a chance to work with designers from another country, this platform has what you’re looking for.
It specializes in fonts that have a modern feel and design.
While the Northern Block offers free fonts, it also has licensing agreements and paid fonts if you want to be unique.
2. Jeff Schreiber
Some font platforms focus on quantity. Their main selling point is the number of different fonts their users have to choose from.
Don’t get me wrong—it’s great to have options. But sometimes too many choices can be overwhelming.
That’s why I love Jeff Schreiber’s website.
This graphic designer from the Netherlands focuses on quality over quantity.
One of his specialties is fonts specifically optimized for mobile apps.
Jeff also excels at graphic design, lettering, web design, logo design, illustration, and type design. He even deals with information design, iconography, and user interface design.
There are lots of different options to choose from on Jeff’s site. Some of these fonts are free, and others will require a payment.
3. Creative Market
Creative Market is much more than just a place to find fonts.
It offers design elements related to:
- photos
- templates
- themes
- graphics
- add-ons
You can also get 3D models from this platform as well.
There are roughly 23,000 designers sharing their work on the Creative Market platform.
The majority of the products need to be purchased, but you can also get some free goods. Here’s how it works.
Each week, the site offers six packages as free downloads. After that week, you’d have to pay if you want those fonts and other design elements.
If you visit this site every week, you’ll be able to get free fonts normally available for purchase.
While you’re on the Creative Market website, it’s worth checking out its blog. The topics covered are related to graphic design. You can get some inspiration and ideas from these posts.
4. Fontfabric
If you’re looking for fonts geared toward logo design, I recommend exploring the options available on Fontfabric.
It’s really easy to navigate through the platform and download fonts for your business.
As you’ll quickly see when you visit the website, it has tons of free choices.
If you are looking to redesign your company logo or even build a new logo for your startup company, you can use the fonts on Fontfabric as a guide.
The reason why these fonts are great for logos is they are big, bold, and easy to read. Legibility is extremely important when it comes to your logo design. Otherwise, people won’t know who you are.
5. Google Fonts
When most people think of Google, they think of a search engine.
As a business owner, you are probably familiar with some of the other tools Google has available, such as Google Drive or Google Analytics.
But most people don’t realize it also has a tool called Google Fonts.
This platform is great because you can change the example words for each font so you can see what it looks like directly on the platform. It gives you a chance to see what the font will look like with your own content.
You can also change the size of the font, as well as the pixel size, and customize the display options.
Set up your font for paragraphs, numerals, sentences, and different alphabets.
Google provides complete customization for your font. Next, all you need to do is copy the provided link, and you’ll be able to embed the font into your website.
You can set it up as one font for the entire site, or you can use different fonts in different sections. The platform allows you to change the color schemes of the fonts as well.
Google is known for its superior products. Its font tool fits this description as well. It’s worth trying out.
6. Font Freak
If you are looking for a platform with thousands of options to choose from, Font Freak has you covered.
There are more than 9,000 free fonts available for download on this website.
Furthermore, it has an additional 125,000 fonts that can be purchased.
Roughly 400 designers have contributed to the Font Freak library, and that number continues to grow. With so many designers, the site has unique fonts for nearly every scenario.
Font Freak has software that allows you to create your own fonts as well.
The fonts on this platform have different versions depending on which operating system you use. Mac and PC users will download different files, which ensures the fonts are optimized for each type of OS.
If you see several fonts you like, you don’t have to download each one separately. This can be extremely time-consuming.
Instead, you can download full libraries of fonts directly from the site and have access to these different options directly from your device.
7. Fontspace
Fontspace is another platform with a massive library of fonts.
It offers roughly 33,000 free fonts.
I like this platform because you can browse for fonts based on a category. Some of these styles include:
- fun
- famous
- trendy
- extreme
- decorative
- foreign
- holidays
You have the opportunity to find something based specifically on what you plan to use it for.
Fontspace has over 2,000 designers actively contributing to the platform. The best part is all these fonts are free.
If you see a font you like, you can click on the designer’s name and have access to their portfolio. Now, you’ll be able to see all the other fonts designed by that user if you like their style and want to check out more.
You just need to make sure you can see the difference between fonts for commercial use and fonts for personal use only.
Fontspace gives you additional information about each font as well. You’ll be able to see the rating for each font based on how users score it after a download. They also show the number of times the font has been downloaded.
If you want something that’s popular, you’ll navigate toward fonts with a high download rate.
But those of you who want to be unique can find fonts not many others have used yet.
8. FontStruct
FontStruct is unique because the platform allows you to build and customize your own fonts directly on the site.
This tool is 100% free to use.
In addition to creating fonts, you can also create custom geometric shapes through FontStruct as well.
After you create your own design, you can easily download your fonts and shapes. Use them for nearly any application.
I like this tool because it gives you a chance to be unique. You know that if you create a font from scratch, nobody else will have the same one.
If you’re not that creative and don’t think you can create a font out of thin air, you’re not out of options.
Just alter and customize fonts previously made by other users on the platform.
9. Font Squirrel
The reason why Font Squirrel should be one of the top options you consider is that all its fonts are licensed for commercial use.
You know that anything you download from the site can be used for purposes related to your business.
In addition, Font Squirrel has a unique feature, setting the site apart from the other platforms we’ve seen so far.
It offers a tool allowing you to identify fonts.
I’m sure you’ve come across a font before on the web and wondered what it was called.
From this platform, you can scan that font, and Font Squirrel will identify the name of it. The software will also show you other fonts with a similar design.
You can learn more about graphic design topics by checking out the platform’s blog.
To those of you who want to take full advantage of everything Font Squirrel has to offer, I recommend creating an account on the platform.
Now you’ll have a chance to communicate with designers, subscribers, and other business owners to discuss related topics through forums.
10. Abstract Fonts
There are nearly 14,000 fonts available for download from Abstract Fonts.
This platform allows you to search by category so you can limit your choices instead of feeling overwhelmed by the great number of options it offers.
Another reason why I like abstract fonts is you can search for fonts created by specific designers.
If you downloaded a font from a certain designer in the past, you can easily find other fonts they’ve created since the last time you visited the website.
If you’re a designer, Abstract Fonts is a great place for you to share your work with prospective businesses looking for something trendy and unique.
Abstract Fonts is a great resource for people who want something different from the typical fonts seen on popular websites.
The platform gives you a chance to download a font that will make your text stand out from the crowd.
11. MyFonts
There are more than 130,000 fonts available for download on the MyFonts platform.
When you visit the site, you’ll notice that some of these fonts are available for purchase. These are the premium options, and the prices vary from a few bucks to hundreds of dollars.
But the site has an entire section dedicated to free fonts.
If you want to find a unique font without spending any money, you’ll benefit from this site.
Conclusion
Finding a font may not be your top priority.
That said, don’t overlook the importance of a great font.
You want to make sure the fonts you’re using for all aspects of your business serve a purpose. Titles should stand out. Blogs should be easy to read. Logos must be unique.
If you take the time to search through fonts, you can even set up your site to have an overall feeling, mood, or theme related to what you’re trying to convey.
There is seemingly an endless number of fonts available online. Tons of various sources offer fonts for download.
I’ve narrowed down my favorite platforms for finding free fonts. Refer to the list above to give you some guidance.
But I know there are many other font resources.
What’s your favorite platform for downloading free fonts on the Internet?
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