There are countless typefaces out there – far too many for most of us to ever use in a lifetime. However, all graphic designers and type heads know – the one with the most when they die wins! So we’ve done a trawl of the best free fonts released in 2014 and selected a few that have caught our eye. We’ve tried to select typefaces to cover the gamut of available types – serif, sans serif, display, script and handwritten. Enjoy!
In no particular order:
1. Nexa Rust
Nexa Rust – from Fontfabric Type Foundary. Download
An odd one to start with, this ‘multifaceted font system’ consists of Sans, Slab, Script, Handmade and Extras versions. The commercial Nexa and Nexa Slab families have 83 versions available! The Rust version all have a warm, rough appearance and hark back to the days of printing presses and wood/metal type.
2. Bebas
Fontfabric Type Foundary | Download
A sans-serif based on the Bebas Neue font by Ryoichi Tsunekawa. Clean lines, technically straightforward and versatile but with elegant shapes, Bebas is growing in popularity on the web and in print.
3. Epique
This victorian inspired ornamental typeface came to our attention whilst researching for Winding Snake’s ‘Bird In A Cage‘ film on Lady Rhondda of the Suffragette Movement. We chose not to use it then, and haven’t found a reason to since, but its distinctive wrought iron shapes caught our eye and we’re hoping to find a use for this one day.
4. Aqua Grotesque
Designer: Laura Pol | Download
Inspired by 1940’s typefaces, designer Laura Pol has created an elegant and beautiful sans serif design. The font has a full set of upper and lowercase letters and numbers. The lower case glyphs especially have a futura-esque design, but with some striking differences, and we love the cap Q.
5. Axis
Designer: Jean Wokclechow | Download
A sans-serif font inspired by the geometry of the urban environment. Similar to the massively popular (and not-free) Gotham font by Hoefler foundary.
6. Bosun
Designer: Kid Grandios | Download
A modern sans-serif typeface, Bosun was created by Kid Grandios. The font contains 258 + glyphs in 5 weights from thin through to black.
6. Glamour
Designer: Hendrick Rolandez | Download
With a nod to the fashionistas favourite Bodoni font, Glamour is an italian style serif with added chic and modern serifs. (not sure about the ‘s’ though!).
7. Chase
Designer: Anthony James | Download
A slender, sleek and chic new sans serif from Anthony James. Great for display text with curves in unexpected places, and slightly reminiscent of some of Neville Brody’s 80s fonts.
8. Sunn
Designer: Gatis Vilaks and Krisjanis Mezuli | Download
There are loads of new handwritten fonts out there of similar styles, but most are a bit too messy for our liking. Sunn retains the casual handwritten feel, but built upon a strong foundation. It reminded me of the hand lettering of Pablo Ferro which is never a bad thing.
9. Aleo
Designer: Alessio Laiso | Download
A slab serif font which was designed as a companion font to Lato by Lukasz Dziedzic. It has semi-rounded sleek details giving it a strong personality and high readability. The font comes in three weights, with italics for each.
10. Wolf In The City
Designer: Maelle.K. | Download
We’ll leave you with a retro script font by Maelle. K. There are loads of new retro scripts out there, feeding our love of all things classic and vintage, but this one has a flair that most lack. Looks great in big headlines!
The Axis and Bosun font type look very good. Such font types when used with logos can make a huge appeal for the intended audiences. Thanks for posting this article, Rhys 🙂
Cheers! We’re glad you like them. We’ve found plenty of use for Bosun, and my personal favourite of this list, Nexa.