Comments on: 40 Free Fonts That Everyone Should Own

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:42:42 +0000

Regarding the "not for use by professionals" comment: that's actually mostly correct. While many of these fonts are quite nice, only a few would ever be used semi-regularly by a designer. The rest are only rarely useful at best. For comparison, take a look at the free fonts of The League of Movable Type: http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/ Fonts like Chunk and Goudy Bookletter 1911 will come in useful time after time. Or, if you're willing to pay for fonts, give House Industries a look: http://www.houseind.com/fonts/ A font like Neutraface is more useful by itself than a few dozen gimmick fonts put together, since it can be used numerous times to create a unique, professional look.

By: Yingwe

Yingwe — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:03:46 +0000

The point about "not for use by professionals" is not their quality or applicability but that most of the fonts can't be used for commercial work.

By: outhouse

outhouse — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:28:09 +0000

I don't see how any font can be deemed as "not for use by professionals". As always it depends on the application and, more importantly, the client. It's a matter of taste and if your client wants a font that is a bit tricky to use it's your job to make it work. I'm a professional and I believe the really skilled people are those who can take a font that the critics hate and tweak it to suit a fresh medium.

By: dindigul

dindigul — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:34:35 +0000

Nice font collection. I have used some of the fonts in my designs. Thanks a lot

By: @andycamara

@andycamara — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:30:10 +0000

I have most of these installed already but there were a few I didn't have. Thanks for posting this!

By: Sydney Web Design

Sydney Web Design — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:06:58 +0000

There are some really nice fonts here and some not so nice ones. I have been looking for the font Outlaw for ages. I also have used “alba” before.

Thanks for the post!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:33:53 +0000

Just as a counterpoint, I used Bleeding Cowboys to make several posters for a Novartis western-themed summer party and everyone loved it. Obviously they are not going to use it (or any of these other fonts) in their Annual Report or marketing materials anytime soon, but for a one off, internal event, these types of fonts are excellent.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:19:33 +0000

These generally aren't good for professional use because they're not good for setting type in. They're display fonts mostly, and are too graphic for even that purpose most of the time. If you're making a poster for a band, fine, but in 90% of professional work, you'll never get to use these. And Professional doesn't just mean "Bank Websites" and "Pharma Brochures", I mean anything that needs some level of legibility. A good typeface is versatile, and these are decidedly not. Additionally, especially the more tame ones (I'm looking at you 'Dream Orphans) – these aren't well crafted. A professional designer can spot awkward type a mile away – these are the kinds of faces you find people using on those spec logo sites.

By: Latrent

Latrent — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:05:42 +0000

Here's a link to the font file: http://www.fontcubes.com/Jellyka-Saint-Andrews-Qu...

By: Ashely Adams

Ashely Adams — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:19:15 +0000

This is a nice collection. Well, I could easily add about 50 more to the list, but then, it would have lost its pithy attribute. Some of these fonts are very high quality and I'm sure, in the right hands, they can be put to great use. Thanks for the post.

By: Silus Grok

Silus Grok — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:11:18 +0000

Some are better than others … a few are outstanding. Almost all of them are display faces — but that shouldn't surprise anyone, as fonts appropriate for setting body copy are require a great deal of time and talent — and so are rarely available free.

One complaint: the link for ST ANDREWS QUEEN is broken (link to a JPG and not the FONT file).

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:43:22 +0000

Would any of you 'professionals' care to actually comment on WHY these should not be used? Or maybe you could provide links to better resources since you are so enlightened?