A key to a strong brand design is utilizing a font that is relevant to your industry while also giving your brand some personality. So, that means avoid using the default fonts in either Word or other Design programs – don’t settle for those fonts. Be brave enough to try something new!

And with that, this week’s Design Basics is all about free fonts. They are a great way to elevate your brand while staying within the budget.

But, just because it’s free doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with these fonts. They often come with limited license which means that you can only use them for personal projects. AKA they are still the author’s property.

If you want to use a font for your logo, blog or anywhere that you will make money, then you need to purchase a commercial license. Now, the author may have a strict or loose definition of what is consider “personal” and “commercial” . You can always confirm how to use the font by looking at the license often provided when you download the font. This is important because the font designer CAN come after you with a fine – it happens a lot more than you think it does!

With Be Bold Design Studio clients, I always purchase a font on behalf of the client so that they have the license and can use it for any future projects to stay consistent with their brand.

There are several places to get free fonts, but these are my favorites:

Google Fonts – This is where I get a majority of my fonts. It holds over 800 font families and loads up fast for websites while also still looking clean, readable and modern. All these fonts are open-source which means you can use them however you like.

Adobe Typekit (If you have a Creative Cloud subscription) – These are very high-quality fonts and can be used for your logo, website and printed materials if you have the Creative Cloud subscription.

Dafont.com – Most of the fonts here are or personal use, but there are some that are open to commercial. I like how this site has everything set by categories and comes with some fun types of fonts that can be used for more different projects.