Where do I find good typefaces and how can I choose which ones to use in my projects? This is a question I hear all the time not only from my typography students but also professional graphic designers.
The sheer amount of fonts on the market has made it more overwhelming than ever to sift through the options and find the perfect typeface for the job.
I really dislike saying that a typeface is bad (you can watch me struggle with it on my chat with Oliver at Pimp My Type). I do, however, think that not all typefaces are created equal and some are more appropriate for professional design work than others. I think designers should focus on choosing type that is well-made, has the features you need, and won’t give you a headache later in the project—these are things that I think make a typeface “good”.
Being able to discern if a typeface has well-made letter drawings and careful attention to spacing is a skill that you can develop, but it takes some time. If you are not confident in this yet, I recommend sticking to safer options from foundries and market places that are know for quality until you can really tell the difference for yourself.
You can either get typeface licenses from marketplaces that carry typefaces from multiple foundries or direct from the foundries and type designers. Not all marketplaces are the same—some are curated collections that have been vetted for quality while others are a free-for-all-upload-anything-you-want platform with little quality control. Keep in mind that marketplaces usually take a 50-70% cut from type designers so it’s not always the best option for supporting independent type designers financially, but you get the benefit of being able to search through lots of options all in one place!
I am a type designer and I sell fonts, so my fonts are available at some of these websites. I will do my best to remain impartial and note which places carry my typefaces but as with almost everything on the internet, the following recommendations come from my (extensive) personal experience and are opinions.
These marketplaces are highly curated and only offer typefaces from proven type designers. They all feature quality typefaces appropriate for your professional graphic design work.
Subscription
If you use Adobe products, Adobe Fonts comes with your Adobe CC subscription and is a great curated collection of both classic and contemporary typefaces. Pretty much all the typefaces on here pass the test of quality drawings and spacing but some are quite overused because so many people have easy access to them.
Free
A project from Indian Type Foundry, with mostly high quality typefaces at a surprising price: free. There is some overlap with Google Fonts but many typefaces in the catalog are much less used so you are more likely to find something unique. There are some real gems in here if you have a very limited or small budget.
Paid
A curated marketplace from a great selection of independent foundries. The foundries are paid a fair royalty rate and the robust CEDARs search is very detailed so if you know what you are looking for you can narrow down your choices pretty quickly (full disclosure, I offer my fonts on this platform).
Paid – Rentals
Did you know you can rent fonts? If your project is short term you can rent the fonts monthly. The selection on Fontstand is top-notch and offers access to more exclusive, high-priced fonts by highly skilled type designers for a fraction of the usual cost.
Direct to Foundries
Okay, this one is not really a marketplace but I need to mention it because it’s a curated list of independent Type Foundries and one of the best ways to find new, quality fonts is to become a fan of some modern type designers. It might take some time to work through this list, but the pay off is finding amazing fonts you never knew existed and forming a direct relationship with some type designers (we don’t bite, I promise).
Free
The quality of fonts here has increased dramatically in recent years and most are actually pretty good quality. This doesn't make the top 5 because it’s also the most popular open source font catalog available, so chances are, whatever you choose is likely overused.
Paid (un-curated)
Middle market pricing and independent type designers are a-plenty in this marketplace. There are some unique display type finds and the quality ranges from moderate to good. Many fonts come in only a few styles which may or may not be robust enough for your project.
Paid (un-curated)
Priced at a similar price point to You Work For Them, Fontspring is in the process of merging with Creative Market and carries a semi-curated list of fonts. It takes a bit of sifting to make sure you are getting a quality font but there are some particularly fun display fonts if you look carefully.
Free
Open source foundry with some super interesting display styles. The fonts tend to be more expressive and experimental than other open source platforms.
Paid
Most of the fonts on this site are still in progress but they offer a chance to buy into the font project in the early stages and be a part of its creation. Great if you are patient and want to be involved.
Paid
Their pricing is aimed toward larger clients looking for more exclusive typefaces some might seem expensive compared to other marketplaces. This higher price means you are paying for a guarantee of quality and typefaces that are unique.
Free
A small collection of nice-looking free fonts. I’m sure their catalog will continue to grow.
Free
A good but smaller selection of open-source fonts. They also have a weekly newsletter that is full of great content.
I would probably only turn to these marketplaces if I couldn’t find what I was looking for at the above list. They are priced on the lower end and there are some descent fonts for display purposes but you really have to assess carefully for quality or risk having a typeface that doesn’t have the necessary features, poor drawings, or bad spacing. I realize that these websites have a pretty large chunk of the marketplace and are popular with many designers for the aesthetic range and low prices, but I would encourage you to see what else is out there.
I’m not saying that there’s nothing good on these websites, but you’ll need to sort through very large amounts of bad (not useful for professional design work) typefaces to find anything decent and it’s frankly just probably not worth your time. Some of these sites also sell pirated or bad copies of professional fonts (they may not be aware as anyone can upload anything with little oversight).
Dafont
1001 Fonts
Creative Fabrica
Envato
FontSpace
MyFonts has a huge catalogue and there are many fonts that are good quality including many historical typefaces but it’s mainly on the do-not-recommend list for moral reasons. As a type designer, in addition to getting buried in the massive catalog, royalty rates are some of the lowest in the industry and they often put fonts on massive sales that result in the type designer earning pennies for their hard work. If anything, I use this website to find typefaces I’m interested in and then search to see if I can purchase a license direct from the foundry or a different marketplace. They are also owned by Monotype, which is a large company that is gobbling up the industry, but that’s a whole other can of worms :P
Familiarizing yourself with individual type foundries or type designers takes some time but once you find people who make fonts you like, it’s easy to sign up for their newsletters and keep updated on what they are working on.
This list is curated by a type designer and includes filters for things like whether the foundry offers education discounts or offers their fonts on Adobe Fonts.
Oliver is engaging and entertaining while also delivering solid content about elevating your typography. The YouTube and podcast series usually focuses on typography in digital design but the Font Friday series will introduce you to a new font weekly. I definitely recommend subscribing to the newsletter!
A sporadic newsletter from Elliot Jay Stocks who has been involved with Type and typography for many years. The newsletter is relatively new but full of amazing type resources and news from around the industry.
This newsletter does just what it says, delivering freshly released fonts to your email inbox so you can try to keep track of all these new bangers.
Published annually, this little desktop tear-off calendar shows you a new font every day. It’s a pretty fun analog way to find some new fonts.
Does what it says – robust examples of fonts in use from old collected print materials to contemporary brands and websites. Filter by typeface to see how others are using it in their work.
Examples of popular fonts in use but usually more focused on contemporary web-focused examples. You can subscribe to their newsletter and get the latest featured in-use delivered to your inbox.