5 free font foundries
Over the last year or so I’ve been curating a list on my phone titled “Design Hax”. To be honest the list is getting a bit out of hand now and sadly some of the links no longer work because I’ve taken so long to share them. Having gone through the list again, I’ve picked out a few that I think are great resources for other designers. Starting with everyone’s favourite, FREE FONTS….for the most part.
Below are a few font foundries that have loads of great quality free fonts. The websites themselves are beautifully designed! Some of the fonts are a bit more “out there” which is right up my street and hopefully yours too! Hopefully you can pick up a few fonts that inspire you. Happy font shopping!
The first site up is Death of Typography, a female led Singaporean type collective exploring type through creative inquiry and collaboration. The site features some top quality fonts, all available for you to grab for free. The site has an option to pay what you wish, so if you’re feeling flush you can fire them over some cash for their hard work. Above is one of my favourite fonts from the site - World Tour
Free Faces is pretty self explanatory. An extensive collection of free typefaces. You’ll have to watch out though as there are a few different licenses on the site. Some of which don’t allow commercial use. In my experience though most of the fonts are ready to go for all design purposes. The site allows you to organize the fonts into stylistic categories, which is really helpful for honing in on what you’re after. The whole thing is brought together in a very aesthetically pleasing package . Having the dark coloured background make way for the colourful backdrops which appear when you hover over your font of choice.
Uncut is one of the more tame choices on the list. The fonts on the site stand out from the usual suspects however there are a lot of options here that can be used for a more corporate/minimalist design style. Ideal for when you’re on the hunt for a good body text or clean title font. Once again you’ll have to keep an eye out for licensing as it varies across the site.
This one is definitely a bit more out there. Fond de riz is a heavily interactive site with some interesting letters going on. It’s honestly a bit of a nuisance to navigate but if you can manage it you’ll be able to grab some good stuff. Most of the fonts here are probably only going to come into action once in a while but I’m sure will make a big impact in your work when they’re used.
Certainly more of a mixed bag - Tunera Type Foundry has a little bit of everything. From strong serif typefaces that should probably cost a fortune to some crazy artistic fonts that you’ll struggle to read. The foundry is a transnational and aims to present new and original typefaces for everyone. Pictured above is one of my favourites from the site - Nyght Serif
I’ve given you 5 free foundries so now it’s time for the shameless plug - my font foundry Type Hoos. Having a big interest in typography I felt it was only right that I should have a bash at creating fonts. At the moment there are only 3 - Swib Hoos, Ware Hoos and Muscle Hoos. You can buy the first two from Creative Market or grab Muscle Hoos for free on my Gumroad. I specialise in experimental typography so currently all of my fonts are a bit on the wild side, perfect for eye-catching bold headers or logos. Have a look and if you do end up using them please, please, PLEASE send me some of your work because I’d love to see them in use.
