Design

Free typography resources: The big list

4 min read
Shakti Sotomayor
  •  Mar 10, 2017
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Everyone, even non-designers, can agree that the smallest typographical change can make a world of difference (*cough* Warren Beatty *cough*). Elevating designs through typography is a skill every designer should have in their back pocket.

Do you want to become a typography wiz—and, ultimately, an even better designer? We want that for you too! That’s why we’ve gathered a list of the best free typography resourcesTwitter Logo—handpicked, just for you.

Free typography education

Check out these e-courses, e-books, and workshops to get started on your typographical journey.

Typedia – Like Wikipedia for fonts!

Kerntype – Test your skills by distributing space between letters, also known as “kerning”

Butterick’s Practical Typography – Created by Matthew Butterick, creator of original fonts for Apple and Microsoft

Hack Design: Dive Into Typography – Courses to guide you to design and typography literacy

Fontology – Learn typography in 4 awesome levels

 

Free downloadable fonts

From well-known sites to independent curated collections, downloadable fonts are right at your fingertips.

Google Fonts

Graphic design junction

1001fonts

Freebiesbug

Urbanfonts

Fontspace

DaFont

Font Squirrel

Fontdaddy

Free Fonts Download

 

Typography inspiration

Get your creative juices flowing with these stimulating type resources.

Designspiration – Just search for some good ol’ design inspiration

Typeinspire – Typography inspiration and gallery

Type Hunting – Hunt for loads of type inspiration

We Love Typography – A collection of typography inspiration by people who love typography

Behance – Search for great design and type inspiration

Palettab – Use this Chrome extension to get new font inspiration every time you open a new tab!

Typegoodness – Tons of resources, free fonts, and inspiration

Type everything – Browse fonts and submit your own work

Friends of Type – Features original typographic design and lettering

Fridayfonts – Browse typeface experiments by design students, developed in classes and workshops offered by Pascal Glissmann

Fonts In Use – An independent archive of typography

TypeWorship – Official blog of 8 Faces Magazine, featuring inspirational typography and lettering

Incredible Types – Curated collection of incredible design and typography by designers from around the world

Font identifiers

Don’t know that font? These tools will help you figure it out!

Identifont – A massive database for searching fonts using metrics

WhatFont – Use a browser extension to hover over text and discover more info about that particular font

What the Font – This program will output results based on images of fonts you submit!

Bowfin Printworks Serif Font Identification Guide – Use this tool to identify serif fonts

The Font Matcherator – Detects fonts from an uploaded screenshot

Type Sample – Download this Google Chrome extension for identifying fonts

 

Visual font calculators

Use these tools to get exact font measurements.

Typecast – Style type within your browser

Typetester – Get started with a free trial to make and edit your own fonts

Modular scale – Determine bases and ratios with this scale calculator

Px to Em – Use this tool to convert pixels to ems

Size Calculator – Calculates font size and visibility

Type Scale – A great visual type scale calculator

Prototypo – Customize and create your own original typeface in just a few clicks

 

Font pairing resources

A font match made in Heaven—and you get to be cupid!

Font Pair – Pair google fonts together

Font Combinator – Preview fonts in browser-based way

Typewolf – Combine various fonts and check out what’s trending in typography

Typespiration – Browse tons of web font combinations

Font Flame – Choose whether you love a font or hate it! They refer to themselves as “Tinder for font pairing”

Just My Type – A collection of font pairings from Typekit and H&FJ

Canva font combinations – Select the right combinations for your design needs

Pssstttt… Check out InVision’s guide to pairing fonts

 

This list will never be done

Have any awesome typography resources to add? Share them with us on Twitter!

 

More free design resources

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