If you’ve ever come across a brand designer, graphic designer or website designer on social media, you may have noticed just how much we love fonts, and more so—free & affordable fonts. Like a kid in a candy store, fonts make designers ecstatic.
Having the power to elevate or cheapen your design, it’s imperative that you select a suitable font for your brand. For example, if your business offers ad hoc administrative support to law firms, a quirky font might not be the best option. Likewise, if you sell colourful, fun stationery, I wouldn’t recommend a traditional, or dear I say—boring font such as Times New Roman.
Opt for 2-3 Fonts
Another point to consider when DIY-ing your website is how many fonts you use. A common pitfall I’ve noticed is the overuse of numerous fonts. I’ve stumbled upon websites that have 5-6 different fonts! Not only does it look chaotic and unprofessional, but it’s a quick way to tell that somebody has designed their website themselves and has no idea what they’re doing—but not to worry, that won’t be you. Throughout this post, I’ll be sharing helpful tips that I’ve learned to assist you on your DIY journey.
To keep things simple and professional, my recommendation would be to opt for 2-3 fonts. An example would be one for body text (your main pieces of text, think paragraphs), one for headings, and another for subheadings. If that sounds too complicated, then by all means, stick to two fonts. In this case, I would suggest using your headings font in a smaller size for subheadings, or your body font in a larger size.
Avoid Too Many Font Sizes
In addition to websites that have been designed using a million different fonts, another thing that makes me cringe is when I come across a website that uses a multitude of various font sizes. In my attempts to decipher information, personally, I lose the desire to read anything.
If your website has a lot of varying font sizes throughout, users will find it difficult to determine what’s a heading, what information is the body and quite frankly, where to draw their attention. With that being said, try to stick to a maximum of 5-6 different font sizes. Here’s an example of what you could implement:
- Heading – 100px
- Subheading – 60px
- Paragraph (body text) – 20
(Perfect for the main text) - Paragraph (body text) – 16
(Perfect for button text) - Paragraph (body text) – 12
(Perfect for footer items)
One final point to take into consideration when choosing font sizes is to ensure they are accessible, particularly to those who might not be able to view extremely small text well.
Use Your Fonts Consistently
To ensure your brand’s appearance remains professional and cohesive, it’s crucial that you use your fonts consistently. The fonts you use aren’t solely for your website. Whether preparing some content for social media or composing a proposal for a potential client, it’s important that you use the same fonts throughout your entire branding.
Ensure You Have the Correct Font License
Before I reveal my favourite places to source free & affordable fonts, I think it’s important that you have a basic knowledge of font licensing. That being said, Creative Market has a section dedicated to the different font licenses available to purchase throughout their site which you can read here.
Where to Find Free & Affordable Fonts
While there are many type foundries and marketplaces online to source beautiful fonts, I’m going to share three of my favourites with you.
Google Fonts – Founded in 2010, and housing over 1,500 font families, Google Fonts is a great place to source free fonts. When starting out as a small business, most people don’t have the budget to invest in their branding by hiring a professional designer or spending hundreds on fonts, thankfully Google has a wide selection of fonts to choose from.
“All fonts are released under open source licenses. You can use them in any non-commercial or commercial project.” — Google
Tropical Type – Created in 2016 by designer Tom Cunningham, Tropical Type is a small studio based in Byron Bay, Australia. Tom designs stunning unique display fonts for small studios, freelancers and solopreneurs. Starting from as little as $16 for a single commercial font or $39 for various font bundles, Tropical Type is a great type foundry for individuals seeking affordable and beautiful fonts.
Creative Market – Launched in 2012, Creative Market is an online marketplace that sells a range of design assets including fonts, graphics, illustrations, mockups, templates and various digital goods. With the option to purchase a font for as little as $12, Creative Market was definitely my go to when I first entered the world of design. It’s also a great way to discover font designers that you may wish to support directly by visiting their website.
Free & Affordable Font Recommendations
Now, for the fun part—my font recommendations. I could sit here all day and list hundreds of fonts I love that are both free & affordable, but who has the time? Plus, that would take the joy out of you discovering fonts for yourself, so here are 20 of my favourites.
Analogue
Suitable for: logo, headings
Sage
Suitable for: logo
Raygun
Suitable for: logo, headings
Starlight
Suitable for: logo, headings, subheadings
Tangerine
Suitable for: logo, headings
Gloock
Suitable for: logo, headings
Montaga
Suitable for: subheadings
Gilda Display
Suitable for: subheadings
Marcellus
Suitable for: subheadings
Belleza
Suitable for: subheadings
Neuton
Suitable for: subheadings
Forum
Suitable for: subheadings, body text
Overlock
Suitable for: subheadings, body text
Cabin
Suitable for: body text
Raleway
Suitable for: body text
Montserrat
Suitable for: body text
Poppins
Suitable for: body text
Lato
Suitable for: body text
Open Sans
Suitable for: body text
DM Sans
Suitable for: body text
If you enjoyed this post and found it helpful, be sure to check out ‘Five DIY Website Tips for Small Business Owners.’ Lastly, if you decide to use any of the fonts I’ve recommended, let me know over on Instagram. Happy DIY-ing!
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Cited Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Fonts
https://developers.google.com/fonts/
https://tropicaltype.com?sca_ref=4775976.NZRR72gcQw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Market
