Best fonts for every job
No font is best at everything: a resume wants plain, large letters, a poster heavy ones, a logo one unlike any other. For each of these 8 jobs we wrote a rule on our measurements and picked the free fonts that pass it, most used first, with the number that put each one there.
The rules run from strict to open: of our 2,035 fonts, 49 pass for presentations and 388 for posters, and each page shows the most used of them.
8 jobs · 123 free fonts · picked by rule, never by hand
01 / Jobs
Pick the job
Each page shows its rule, its picks with their numbers and the questions people ask.
- 20 fonts · e.g. Google SansResumePlain, large letters with a bold and an italic, all in Google Docs.
- 24 fonts · e.g. K2DLogosThe most distinctive fifth of each kind, so a mark looks like no one else’s.
- 21 fonts · e.g. TangerineWeddingFormal scripts for the names and hairline serifs for the details.
- 18 fonts · e.g. InterWebsitesVariable text faces with italics and Latin Extended, and pairs drawn as one family.
- 16 fonts · e.g. Open SansPresentationsBig, wide, even letters with a bold for titles, all in Google Slides.
- 24 fonts · e.g. Archivo BlackPostersThe darkest fifth of every font we measured, heavy enough to read from afar.
- 21 fonts · e.g. LoraBooksSerifs with the printed page’s contrast and an italic, and optical sizes for covers.
- 15 fonts · e.g. Barlow CondensedYouTube thumbnailsNarrow and heavy: big words that still fit a small picture.
02 / Rules
The rules
Every job’s rule as its page states it, and how many of all our fonts pass it.
Resume
A plain serif or sans serif with an x-height of 50% of the em or more, contrast of 2.2 : 1 or less, a width from 44% to 58% of the em, 4 weights or more with italics, and in Google Docs.
76 pass · 20 shown
Logos
In each kind, the fifth whose closest match on FontKind scores lowest, with no family or copy of their own.
244 pass · 24 shown
Wedding
The scripts and serifs our lab files as fancy, its style for weddings, by the look of their letters.
57 pass · 21 shown
Websites
A plain text face with a weight axis, italics and Latin Extended letters, an x-height of 50% of the em or more and contrast of 2.2 : 1 or less.
76 pass · 18 shown
Presentations
A plain sans serif or serif with an x-height of 53% of the em or more, a width of 50% or more, contrast of 1.5 : 1 or less, a bold or heavier, and in Google Slides.
49 pass · 16 shown
Posters
The darkest fifth of every font we measured: ink fills 54.1% of their letters’ box or more at the regular weight.
388 pass · 24 shown
Books
Serifs: for the pages, contrast from 2.2 : 1 to under 4 : 1 with an italic and a second weight; for the cover, an optical size axis.
54 pass · 21 shown
YouTube thumbnails
The narrowest third of all fonts, 46.3% of the em a letter or less, with an 800 weight or heavier, or ink in the darkest fifth already.
158 pass · 15 shown
04 / Questions
Best fonts, answered
- What is the best font?
- There is no single best font: it depends on the job. Inter, Open Sans and Merriweather are picks for 3 of these 8 jobs each, more than any other font. For the rest, each job’s page has its own rule and picks.
- Are these fonts free for commercial use?
- Yes. All 123 fonts picked across these 8 pages are free, and their licences allow commercial use: 117 come under the SIL Open Font License and 6 under the Apache License. Each font’s page says what its licence allows, from logos to embedding.
- How are the fonts picked?
- Each job has a rule on what we measure from the font files, such as x-height, width, ink and stroke contrast, on the styles our lab tells by eye, or on the apps a font is in. Of the fonts that pass, the most used on Google Fonts come first, one of each family. How we measure explains each measure.
- Where are the best fonts for tattoos?
- On their own page: tattoo fonts are a style our lab tells by the look of the letters, blackletter and bold scripts, each with what its licence allows.
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