101 essential free fonts for web designers

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May 05, 2014
101 essential free fonts for web designers.
thumbnailEvery designer knows that free fonts are a godsend when working on a project, but truly valuable free fonts can be tough to find. With this list we’ve endeavoured to bring you as many full font families as possible; fonts that are genuinely free (not just one style or weight free), a balance of fonts that work well for body text as well as display, and a full collection of fonts that are pleasing to the eye. Everyone can find something new and useful among these amazing free fonts.

Fonts love chunk

We’re kicking off our list with fonts that have some serious weight to throw around! ChunkFive is a classic, but there are some other heavy contenders in this batch as well. Check out Troika for an edgier, paper-cutting inspired display font.

Bemio

bemio

Chunk

chunk

Troika

troika

Abril Fatface

abrilFatface

Governor

governor

Vast Shadow

vastShadow

Komika Title

komikaTitle

PassionOne

passionOne

Born

002-born

Poetsen

poetsen

Tall and slender

If you’re trying to fit a lot of text into a small area, these narrow fonts can help you get the job done. Bebas Neue and League Gothic will be familiar names to some, but check out Valencia and Simplifica for new and interesting variations on the theme.

Bebas Neue

bebasneue

League Gothic

leaguegothic

Oswald

oswald

Langdon

langdon

Ostrich Sans

ostrich

Simplifica

simplifica

Valencia

valencia

Mohave

mohave

Yanone Kaffeesatz

yanonekaffeesatz

Happy families

Nothing makes a perfect pairing quite like fonts with sans and serif versions, so in this section we’ve found some of the best free couples out there - and a trio, too! Names like Merriweather and Merriweather Sans might be familiar to many, but check out Mission Gothic/Mission Script or the Permian trio for a fresh update.

Quaver

quaver

Merriweather

merriweather

Merriweather Sans

merriweather-sans

Afta Sans

afta sans

Afta Serif

aftaserif

Mission Gothic

missiongothic

Mission Script

missionscript

Permian Sans

permiansans

Permian Serif

permianserif

Permian Slab

permianslab

Curves are in

We love scripts for so many things, and the faces we’ve gathered below celebrate the best and most diverse free script typefaces available. Dancing Script is a longtime favorite for many, but be sure to check out fresh faces like Yellowtail and Grand Hotel.

Condiment

condiment

Cylburn

cylburn

Dancing Script OT

dancingscript

Euphoria Script

euphoriascript

Grand Hotel

grandhotel

Kaushan Script

kaushan

Lavanderia

lavenderia

Nautilus Pompilius

nautiluspompilus

Sonsie One

sonsieone

Yellowtail

yellowtail

Show-offs

Great-looking display fonts can be tough to come by; as the most popular category of free fonts, one has to sift through a haystack of options just to find the few needles worth keeping. We’ve made that process a little simpler by gathering up some of the best free display and experimental typefaces out there.

Adam

adam

Amaranth

amaranth

Bree Serif

BreeSerif

Barkentina

barkentina

Boogaloo

boogaloo

Cinzel

cinzel

Glamor

glamor

High Tide

hightide

Lovelo

lovelo

Odin Rounded

odinrounded

Oil Can

oilcan

Playfair Display

playfairdisplay

Slabs with style

A necessity for any designer’s collection, the slab serif remains one of our favorite styles. From the traditionally appealing Aleo to the architecturally inspired Korneuburg, this assortment of slab serifs is sure to delight any designer.

Aleo

aleo

Crete Round

creteround

Flagship 1997

flagship

Gaspar

gaspar

Klinic Slab

klinic_banner

Korneuburg Slab

korneuburgslab

Nixie One

nixieone

Rokkitt

rokkitt

Trocchi

trocchi

Pretty and playful

This group of fonts embodies the whimsical side of design, not quite display fonts, not entirely traditional, but each in its own way fun and unique. Check out Bellota and Overlock for more delicate designs, or Rawengulk and Exo 2.0 for sans-serifs with an angular style.

ABeeZee

abeezee

Bellota

bellota

Delicious

delicious

Dosis

dosis

Edmondsans

edmondsans

Exo 2.0

exo2

Fontin Sans

fontin

Hallo Sans

hallosans

Junction

junction

Overlock

overlock

Raleway

raleway

Rawengulk

rawengulk

Titillium

titillium

Tuffy

tuffy

Seriffic

Standard serif fonts tend to be easily dismissed, so with this collection, we aim to revive the classification and remind ourselves that fonts which are excellent for body copy or headlines need not be boring. Check out the gorgeous Playfair Display or lovely ligatures of Valentina and then repeat this mantra: “I’m never going back to Times New Roman.”

Bitter

bitter

Fénix Std.

fenix

Goudy Bookletter 1911

goudybookletter

Heuristica

heuristica

Judson

judson

Libre Baskerville

librebaskerville

Linden Hill

lindenhill

Poly

poly

Seshat

seshat

Valentina

valentina

Volkhov

volkhov

Sansational

For those of you with a preference for sans-serif fonts, we have collected our favorites below. Versatile and easy on the eyes, check out Neris, which looks fantastic at any size, Fira Sans, from the good people at Mozilla, or Encode Sans, the newest project from the folks at Impallari Type.

Aileron

aileron

Arsenal

arsenal

Asap

asap

Cabin

cabin

Encode Sans

encodesans

Fengardo Neue

fengardo

Fira Sans

firasans

Gudea

gudea

Linux Biolinum

linuxbiolinum

Muli

muli

Neris

neris

Oxygen

oxygen

Quattrocento Sans

quattrocentosans

Rambla

rambla

Rosario

rosario

Signika

signika

Melody Weister

Melody is a freelance writer and social media specialist from Montclair, NJ. Visit her website at www.interrobangthat.com or follow her on Twitter (@whatmelodywrote).

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