Typography can make or break a good design. In a world with a lot of bad fonts, thankfully there are a ton more good ones, but where do you find them?
And quick disclaimer, in my humble opinion some of the best fonts are paid for, but I understand that when it comes to many churches there are limitation and budgets that we need to work within so luckily there are a ton of great affordable and free font resources.
Here are some of my favorite font resources for church creatives:
I’m always surprised that more people aren’t aware of this feature, but one of the best bonuses to having an Adobe Subscription is your access to Adobe Fonts. While it doesn’t have the most diverse selection of fonts; it usually has a few solid staple fonts. The downside is that they are only usable through your Adobe Platforms and on websites. Check out typewolf.com article on the 40 Best Adobe Fonts for some inspiration.
If you don’t know where to start; start here. While you probably won’t find anything trendy you’ll find a plethora of foundational fonts, pairings and resources that will help you on your path to becoming a font nerd. You’ll be able to download most of the fonts quickly and install on your computer for use with OFL (Open Font License).
Free Design Resources offers high quality design resources for free. In addition to some awesome fonts; you’ll find a ton of other design assets, graphics and templates for free. We love that they are constantly updating their font sections and that you can search by license type; personal, commercial or both.
Creative Market is like a gateway drug to buying fonts. This a great place to start leveling up your designs and getting some quality fonts at affordable prices. Fonts are searchable by category and style so it’s simple to find exactly what you’re looking for. They always have a huge selection so you won’t have any problem getting what you need.
I recently discovered this site from a friend (Shoutout to David Wilkins) and it has quickly become one of my favorites. They have a curated selection of some of the trendiest fonts being used in design right now and usually have some incredible sales going on where you can pick up fonts for much cheaper than normal. (Pay attention to the licenses you’re purchasing.) As well as fonts they also have some unreal design assets for graphics, photos, videos and more. If you have a Font Budget then this is the place to splurge. I do it all the time.
PangramPangram has created an incredible tool for designers of any level: the PPF Font Starter Pack. While it’s for personal & testing use only, this font pack includes 27 fonts with 144 weights and glyphs + bonus poster mockup templates and is pretty awesome for only $27.
I hope this resources helps you on your next design.
What’s your favorite font resource? Let me know in the comments.
And I want to leave you with a challenge you as a church creative: create room in your budget for good design and good fonts. It’s usually worth it.
(Plus you’re supporting someone’s livelihood!)
If you’re looking for more training and insight on how to create intentional marketing strategies and solutions for your church, make sure you follow along on Instagram!
Best,
Jakob Haymond