[NOTE: The most up-to-date version of this list is always on the ‘Typography’ page.]
The end of the year is a good time for me to update my list of favourite typefaces.
Since my last update in December 2024, I have:
bought a bunch of new typefaces (yay sales!), and
used a bunch of typefaces in various creative projects.
As a reminder, the typefaces below are grouped by their level of formality (‘How I think about typefaces’) and are sorted in decreasing order of versatility (ie how easy they are to use in different types of projects).
Serif typefaces
Casual: Literata (free); Merriweather (free); Bitter (free); Bookerly (free); Vollkorn (free)
Chill (formal): Novela (pay what you want); Sentient (free); Sentinel
Neutral (formal): Source Serif 4 (free); Charis (free); Mercury; Malabar; Sabon Next (included with Microsoft Office); TT Jenevers; Crimson (free)
Stylish (formal): Calluna; Goodchild (and Nicholas); Audela; Blacker; Writer; Quador (and Quador Display); Editorial New
Elegant: Stempel Garamond; EB Garamond
Sans serif typefaces
Friendly: FiraGO (free) or Fira Sans (free); Gill Sans; SideNote; Nudica (pay what you want)
Casual: Work Sans (free); Inclusive Sans (free); Ideal Sans; Woodford Bourne
Chill (formal): Public Sans (free); Source Sans 3 (free); Trade Gothic Next (included with Microsoft Office); Nebula Sans (free); Fact; Mozer; Bebas Neue
Neutral (formal): Neue Montreal; Brother 1816; Roboto (free); Inter (free); Chivo; Rig Sans; Verdana (included with Microsoft Windows, macOS)
Stylish (formal): Whitney; Calluna Sans; Officer Sans (basic set is free); General Sans (free); Cooper Hewitt (free); DIN Next; Jost* (free); Klima (free, but non-commercial use only); At Hauss; At Textual; URW Dock; URW DIN
Elegant: Hint; Figtree (free); Avenir Next (included with Microsoft Office)
Slab serif typefaces
Casual: Merriweather (free); Literata (free); Bookerly (free); Bitter (free)
Chill (formal): Zilla Slab (free); Charis (free)
Neutral (formal): Roboto Slab (free); Faustina (free)
Stylish (formal): Drafting* Mono (free); Klinic Slab (pay what you want); Manuale (free)
Elegant: Sentinel
Monospace typefaces
Friendly: Nudica Mono (pay what you want)
Casual: Fira Mono (free)
Chill (formal): JetBrains Mono (free)
Neutral (formal): Source Code Pro (free); Hack (free); Inconsolata (free)
Stylish (formal): Neue Montreal Mono; Drafting* Mono (free); Cascadia Code (free)
Elegant: Berkeley Mono; Clack (free, but non-commercial use only)
Typeface wish list (realistic)
Friendly: (none right now)
Casual: IvyStyle Typewriter
Chill (formal): Myriad; IvyStyle Sans; IvyGothic
Neutral (formal): Untitled Sans; Untitled Serif; Tiempos Text; Equity Text
Stylish (formal): Chaparral; IvyJournal; Tofino; Mackinac
Elegant: Bodoni Egyptian; IvyOra
What are your favourite or go-to typefaces? I’d love to know.