Finding the right font can make or break your design. For example, a playful, energetic font can add personality to your brand, but could also run the risk of coming across as unprofessional. An uppercase, loud typeface used in an ad can attract attention, but could also come across like you’re shouting.
You could play it safe and use the standard Arial or Helvetica fonts. Or, you could use a handwriting font, a typeface that looks like it’s been written by hand. Handwritten fonts are nothing new, but they’ve gained popularity over the years. From logos to social media graphics to posters, they can bring your designs to life in a fun, unique way.
Here are 20 of the best free handwriting fonts for designers.
1. Debby
With its irregular, bouncy characters and rough shapes, this hand-drawn brush font is designed to feel personal. It’s perfect for wedding invitations, quote posters, logos, and greeting cards.
2. Shopping Script
Created by Ronald House, the Shopping Script font features cursive handwriting. And, because the style is casual and slightly messy, it’s best used as an accent font to highlight a few words.
3. No Time
In the words of the creator, Paula Painmar, “this font was created by the handwriting of a stressed designer.” It’s expressive, bold, and different.
4. Fofer
Sometimes handwritten fonts can look a little too irregular (after all, that’s the beauty of writing by hand, right?). The Fofer font, however, is clear and easy to read while still evoking personality.
5. SoulMarker
This handwriting font is available in two styles: bold, for a chunky, marker-inspired font and light, for a more subtle, natural style.
Related: Finding the best free fonts for numbers
6. The Woodlands
This free brush script by Jeremy Vessey has a modern calligraphy aesthetic that is often used in wedding invitations, ads, and social media images. It can add a hint of elegance and whimsy to your design.
7. Rainy Day
Looking for a fun, informal font? The Rainy Day hand-painted brush font doesn’t take itself too seriously, embracing its friendly and unassuming style.
8. Habel
This display font was created “with an imperfect flow that will give your text a unique and natural look.” It’s readable and unique at the same time.
9. Tragic Marker
Reminiscent of writing with a Sharpie, the Tragic Marker handwriting font has thick, clean lines that make it perfect for calling attention to important content.
10. Beer Money
Beer Money is a hand-drawn doodle font. It has a messy, rushed handwriting style, and even allows you to cross out or entirely scribble out letters.
Related: How to pair fonts
11. Pops
Designer Sune Matras challenged herself to create a font based on one of her father’s handwriting styles: “a very personal and specific one, normally used for short messages and headlines.”
12. Skinny
This font is pencil-thin and displays each letter very close to one another. It also has irregular shapes, like a slightly crooked “O,” which adds to the effect.
13. Olivia
This calligraphy typeface is sophisticated and graceful, adding an ornate touch to branding, logos, and greeting cards.
14. Naira
Naira is a smooth, minimalist font with a subtle brush stroke effect. As an added bonus, the free font also comes with a watercolor pattern pack with 40 patterns to mix and match with the typeface.
15. Mazak
This chunky font highlights the marker strokes to give it a cool, rugged look. It comes in capital letters, making it a good option for large designs, like posters.
16. Luna
Created by Amanda Leeson, this fresh, clean handwriting font has a big contrast between letters and lines, making it very legible.
17. Ruffle Beauty
Ruffle Beauty is a cheerful, playful font by Anis Iday. It adds unique elements to the letters, like irregular lines and swoops.
18. Swistblnk Monthoers
This vintage-inspired handwriting font makes you think of a letterpress, with its lines and stamp-like appearance. It comes in a clean and texture versions, and works the best for titles and logos.
19. Plume
The Plume font features hand-brushed lettering with crisp detail. Its loud style works well for posters and advertisements.
20. Neon Absolute
Neo Absolute is a contemporary pair of script and sans fonts, inspired by the 1980s and neon lights. Together, the fonts offer harmony and balance for a diversity of projects, like logos, branding, and social media posts.
Did we miss your favorite free handwriting font? Let us know on Twitter: @InVisionApp
Emily has written for some of the top tech companies, covering everything from creative copywriting to UX design. When she's not writing, she's traveling the world (next stop: Japan!), brewing kombucha, and biking through the Pacific Northwest.
