If you need a handwriting font for your project, look no further. When we talk about handwriting fonts, we're not just referring to one style of typography; they can come in a variety of executions. They're in the same area as cursive fonts, but with fewer constraints and often based on freeform illustrations.
Recently, this style of typography has been making more appearances than ever, with both print and digital platforms favouring it over more traditional offerings. Here, we've curated some of the best free fonts in a handwritten style for you to download and enjoy.
Many of these free fonts are indeed created from handwriting with a pen and paper – the main image above shows the Claire Hand font being made.
01. Kristi
Designed by Birgit Pulk, is an elegant and quirky free handwriting font with flowing ligatures that remind us of fountain pen writing. The capital letter glyphs would work particularly well in headers.
02. Over the Rainbow
"This font always makes me smile," says the designer of this sweetly named font, Kimberly Geswein. "Something about the style of the handwriting just makes me feel happy. It is slightly connected but not a true script by any means and will lend an upbeat feel to any project you use it on."
03. Stay Writer
Charming handwriting font Stay Writer was created by graphic designer and illustrator Syed Faraz Ahmed. "A hand-drawn display font, every single letter has been carefully crafted to make your text looks beautiful," Ahmed comments on Behance.
04. SoulMarker
Handwriting font SoulMarker was created by graphic designer and illustrator Faraz Ahmad. Available in two styles, light and bold, SoulMarker is great for a variety of print and digital projects.
05. Claire Hand
The team at Australian-based design agency Team Scope are behind handwriting font Claire Hand. Available over on Behance, the team describes the design as: 'fun, bold and friendly, and its handwritten style represents our commitment to creative spontaneity (you know how the best ideas get scribbled down on a napkin?). Because we're serious design tragics, we even created each letter in two different weights so it's even more individual'.
06. Cavorting
"This is a one-day font," says Cavorting typeface creator Missy Meyer. "I created the letterforms and did all the spacing and kerning in one day." The, in Meyer's own words, 'goofy' handwritten typeface is free for both personal and commercial use.
07. Mightype
Free for both personal and commercial use, Mightype was created by the team at AF Studio. A handlettered script font, Mightype is great for packaging designs, branding and much more.
08. Futuracha
A group of curious designers explorers make up høly and are the team behind beautiful handwritten font Futuracha. The holy Behance page states: "The name is the combination of words futura and cucaracha (cockroach in Spanish). "The design is based on the basis of the pf futura book. The letters edges radically extend in a forceful way trying to remind the art deco's style."
09. Nawabiat
Nawabiat is a free handwriting font, created by graphic designer and illustrator Syed Faraz Ahmad. Full of personality and charm, Nawabiat is great for posters, logos and much more.
10. Reis
This handwritten design Reis was created by Marcelo Reis Melo. Great for posters, logos and much more, Reis is available free for personal and commercial use, with donations to the author, as always, appreciated.
11. Bellaboo
In need of an authentic handwritten font for your latest project? Bellaboo by Marcelo Reis Melo may be just what you're looking for. A bold design, Bellaboo is great for creating eye-catching headlines, posters and more.
12. Ludicrous
Another free handwriting font from Missy Meyer, Ludicrous is great for giving your projects an authentic handmade feel. Free for both personal and commercial use, with donations to the author, as always, gratefully received.
13. Fofer
Today's typeface of choice is handwritten design Fofer, created by Mousse Creative founder and creative director Angie Von Slaughter (nee Raess). "Sometimes the best projects are the ones created from a problem," Von Slaughter comments on Behance. "We needed a specific font and couldn't find it. What better way to solve a problem than to use our own handwriting?" Fofer is available to download over on Behance, all she asks for in return is a simple tweet.
14. Skinny
This handwriting font is, by far, the most popular of the type designs offered online by the artist known as notfon1234. The last update to the design saw a clean up to the spacing and characters, and the font is now completely free for commercial use.
15. Gunny Rewritten
Based on his older font Gunny Handwriting, type designer Vit Condak released this new free handwriting font Gunny Rewritten. Unhappy with his original version, Condak completety remade the design and now offers it as a free download for all to enjoy.
16. Halo Handletter
This elegant hand writing font was developed by graphic designer Mario Arturo. One of over 20 fonts created by Arturo, who specialises in fancy and script designs, Halo Handletter is perfect example of the latter. Free for non-commercial use only.
17. Yore
Created by Vietnamese designer Poem haiku, the Yore script is a fun take on the more traditional script offerings. Pulling in his influences from illustration, Yore will be perfect for content experimentation and might even work well on a branding project or two.
18. Whatever it takes
The 'Whatever it takes' free handwriting font harks back to those school boards and chalk typography. It's free for personal and non-profit use. The designer does however, ask for a $5 donation for any commercial use, which we think is still a bargain. There's a bold version, too.
19. Before Breakfast
Designer Simon Stratford discover iPad app iFontMaker and shortly after challenged to create a font with it in under 10 minutes. The result? This hand drawn typeface Before Breakfast. It may not be one of the most considered entries in our free fonts list, but, as Stratford comments: "It's a fun, handwritten typeface that probably breaks every rule in typography."
20. L'Engineer
One of our favourite free handwriting fonts, this design by Ferdie Balderas comes in regular and italic as well as capital and lower-case letters. He's even made it supportive of a number of different languages including French, Spanish and Polish.
21. Calligraffiti
Spanning both the genres of handwriting fonts and calligraphy fonts, Calligraffiti is an elegant and simple free single-weight font with 228 glyphs, designed by Open Window.
22. Pops
New York based designer Sune Matras tasked himself to create a font based on one of his father's handwriting styles – a very personal and specific one – normally used for short messages and headlines. We're pleased as punch to include this gorgeous design in our list of free handwriting fonts.
23. Sketch Block
This hand-sketched headline font was designed by artist Lukas Bischoff. He comments: "Created solely by me from sketch by hand and then digitized, Sketch Block makes a perfect font to create the hand-made character look, or to supplement illustrations with typography." Free for personal use only, it's one of the nicest free handwriting fonts we've seen in a long time.
24. GoodDog
A contemporary and decorative font, GoodDog was created by Fonthead Design. The curly typeface is a popular choice, having been download almost a million times since its release. This free handwriting font comes complete with a full set of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and characters.
Next page: more wonderful free handwriting fonts
