Where can I find free fonts?
Whether you’re looking to add a little style to your blog or website, or want to make your presentation stand out from the pack, a new free font may be just what you need.
A different typeface can change the entire tone of a graphic or document — and even just experimenting with different font styles can get your creative juices flowing.
Free fonts & typefaces
We love typography, and one of our favorite sites to stock up on fonts is DaFont.com, which offers more than 27,000 fonts, sorted by style. The site is super easy to use, you can try out the fonts before you download, and they’re all freeware, shareware, demo versions or public domain.
FontSquirrel.com is another great site (with an awesome name). They offer well-designed freeware fonts/typefaces, all of which are licensed for commercial use. Also check out FontSpace, FontFabric, 1001freefonts.com and HelloFont.
Free fonts you don’t even need to download
A huge collection is available over at Google Web Fonts. They have more than 600 high-quality open source fonts, and you don’t even need to download a single thing to use them on your site! Simply add a line to your document head to call the font you want call, then add the appropriate font tag where desired to your stylesheet. (Font samples and full directions are on the site.)
You can also download the Google fonts to your hard drive to use in your non-web-based documents, graphics and presentations. To access the save feature, just click on the download tab after you choose a font to view.
The mom & pop font shops
If you want to get out of the corporate-style font groove, be sure to check out Kevin and Amanda’s “Fonts for Peas.” The fonts by this cool creative couple feature handwriting submitted by readers, plus they also offer some crafty fonts that are great for scrapbooking.
For yet more options, browse what’s available at Lost Type Foundry, a font/type foundry with a unique business model: Pay what you want… even nothing. And if you do decide to buy, you’re not funding a middleman, because all proceeds from font sales go directly to the designers. More:
Finally, if you’re just not getting the look you need with freebies and have a few bucks to spend, consider checking out Creative Market and Graphic River for well-priced fonts created by independent designers.
Rent-a-font company free trials
If you need something specific done, or are still searching for inspiration, you can get free 30-day trials from some font subscription service, including Adobe’s Typekit and Type Network.
Even if you decide to shell out some cash for the privilege of getting just the right typeface for your project, site or ebook, those two companies both offer affordable annual subscriptions with pricing that certainly beats Monotype’s spendy plans.
