What The Font? Inkthreadable Graphic Design Resources
Written by: Toby Brighty, Digital Lead.
Reading time: Roughly 4 minutes.
The end of 2021 is near, and that can only mean one thing. It’s time to whip up some new designs!
Most brands launch new designs at the start of the year, and our customers are no different. We're here to help you, which is why we're sharing our cheat sheet with all of our best resources for various aspects of the design process!
For today's episode, we're going to be exploring Fonts.
Whether you need fonts for your design, website or even logos, we've got you covered! We'll share as many free assets as possible, but there are some incredible paid assets that we just couldn’t leave out. So if you’re looking to keep the costs as low as possible, make sure you check the pricing before falling in love with the font of your dreams.
We’re not sponsored or endorsed by any of the websites linked here; they are the asset libraries that myself and the Inkthreadable Digital Team use.
Before choosing any font, make sure you check the licensing included. Some fonts are free to use for 'Personal Use' and some require the purchase of a commercial lisense should you want to sell designs that include that font.
Google Fonts
URL: https://fonts.google.com
Price: Free
Google fonts is our go to font library. It’s free and easy to use, plus most fonts come with a web version. This means you can carry your design style through to your website and emails to make your brand’s fonts consistent across all platforms.
Like anything made by Google, their font library is powerful and easy to navigate. You can also see custom examples on their website before downloading and installing the fonts.
To find a beautiful all-rounder font for your brand, make sure to check out Google fonts.
Our rating: 10/10
Dafont
URL: http://www.dafont.com/
Price: Free
Dafont seems to be a website that almost every designer has used at some point in their career. I remember using this website in highschool to find fonts to use in my essays and powerpoint presentations! The website hasn’t changed much since then, but a lot more fonts have been added.
Dafont is a bit trickier to navigate than some of the other websites I use. But if you know what you’re looking for, there are some real gems available on Dafont.
Use Dafont for a extensive range of free fonts.
Our rating: 8/10
Adobe Fonts
URL: http://www.fonts.adobe.com/
Price: Free with a Creative Cloud subscription.
Over 20,000 fonts. That is a large number. The Adobe Font platform is a bit similar to Google in that it is a really powerful tool with a massive library of fonts to choose from.
The main bonus with Adobe is that you can browse fonts right inside your favourite applications like Photoshop and Illustrator. This quick search tool inside your Adobe apps makes it the most efficient font library to use for your art and designs.
If you’re an Adobe user, look no further!
Our rating: 10/10
Zeta Fonts
URL: http://www.zetafonts.com/
Price: Varies
Zeta Fonts is home to some of the most beautiful typefaces on the internet. There aren’t quite as many to choose from when compared to Adobe or Google, but the bonus with Zeta fonts is that they’re curated by a collection of independent artists.
Using a paid font from a library like Zeta reduces the chances of seeing your chosen font be used and abused by other brands/designers.
For only the most unique typography, use Zeta Fonts.
Our rating: 9/10
1001 Free Fonts
URL: http://www.1001freefonts.com/
Price: Free
1001 Free Fonts is home to over 60,000 free fonts (I’m guessing that the additional 58999 fonts weren’t planned before the domain was bought!). Despite the budget appearance, 1001 Free Fonts is a great website to find free fonts. You’ll have to navigate around some Google Ads but once you look past that, it’s a gem!
This font library is a bit like a town market. One minute you’re looking at a futuristic space font, then all of a sudden there’s a Disney inspired font stealing your attention. You might have to spend more time finding the perfect free font here, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
Try out 1001 Free Fonts if you’re looking for interesting free fonts.
Our rating: 7/10
To Wrap Up
This is just five out of the thousands of websites where you can find fonts. A font is a staple part of your brand's character, so picking the right one is pretty crucial to your brand.
As I said above, if you use any Adobe applications then you should definitely start taking full advantage of the Adobe Font library. You’ll have the advantage of being able to test and preview new fonts in your designs without having to install the font first. Plus they’re synced across all devices! You don’t have to miss out if you’re not an Adobe user though, there’s plenty of gems to be found elsewhere.
The most important part of choosing a font is that you don’t settle for the first one you find. Try a few different fonts alongside your logo and brand colours to see which fits best. Make sure you’re putting time into finding the font that gives your brand the emotional connection it deserves!
If you have any thoughts or just want to have a chat about some fonts that you like, head over to The Inkthreadable Hub. You’ll find me there along with a group of other people who are all on the same Print on Demand journey that you’re on!