I see a ton of free font lists out there on Pinterest, but to be honest, as a designer there’s really only one kind of free font that I use regularly: Google Web Fonts. Here’s why: you know that whole rule about only using 2 to 3 fonts in your blog design? Well, I’m usually kind of a stickler about that. And in order to pull that off successfully, it’s imperative to take advantage of web fonts so that I can have more than just the regular system fonts available for things like post titles and sidebar headings (although I use those plenty too!)
The cool thing about Google Web Fonts is that you can use them for the web AND you can download them to your computer- for free! – and use them on print items, so everything matches. Isn’t that awesome? All you have to do is make a collection of fonts, download the collection, and install them on your computer.
One of the great things about Google Web Fonts is that there are tons of choices. Right now there are 554 font families to choose from. While it can be fun to browse them, it can also be overwhelming. That’s why I put together a list of 12 tried and true Google Web Fonts- the ones that I use the most.
Amatic SC | Josefin Slab | Old Standard TT | Open Sans Condensed | Oswald | Quicksand | Sofia | Cookie | Rouge Script | Arvo | Droid Sans | Droid Serif
If those links don’t get you to a page where you can figure out how to use or download them, just go to Google Web Fonts, search for the desired font, and follow the instructions above to download. That’s it!
What are your favorite Google Web Fonts? And can you recognize which ones I use on here?
{I came across these posts featuring some other great options- there are so many out there!)
And yeah, every excerpt on here is from a Disney movie. That’s how I roll.
Update: don’t miss part 2!
Oh I love this! Thanks for posting these! Obviously I am no designer, but I still consider myself to be a bit of a font snob :)
No problem! I could spend all day browsing fonts :)
Great picks! I hadn’t seen Amatic before. Thanks for sharing my link! (And I LOVE that you used Disney quotes!)
Nice- Amatic is my favorite handwriting font! And I’m glad :)
this is great – thanks for the round up!
No problem, glad you liked it! :)
I love how you wrote out these Disney quotes :) Haha! They just made my morning! Is there a way to install fonts in Blogger to change the post text? I obviously don’t know what I’m talking about even enough to ask the right question ;) I hope that made a little bit of sense! xoxo, eliza
Yay, I’m glad! And absolutely! I just Googled “how to configure google web fonts on blogger” and a ton of tutorials popped up, including this one. But before you do that, make sure that the one you want isn’t already available in the customize area- because Blogger is run by Google, they’ve already uploaded a lot of the web fonts already.
I’ve never tried this mainly because I like to use the fonts in Photoshop when making graphics. I didn’t know you could download Google fonts to your computer- I thought it was just for the web. I feel stupid haha but thanks for enlightening me!
Yeah, you definitely can- that’s how I made the graphic above :) Don’t worry, it took me a while to realize that you could download them too!
I love this post and the graphic is a perfect visual!
I use Google web fonts, but I usually only stick with one or 2. It’s definitely overwhelming! I never know which ones are decent or not. Thanks for sharing! I’ll be downloading these later!
I paint some sayings on canvas and I needed more fonts to choose from. Thank you for this tip!
it took me a minute to notice the Disney connection…the first few were so short I kind of just thought they were font titles. by the time I hit the end, the little flag went up in my mind that something was going on. like, hold on, this is a lot of words…oh, it’s a quote…wait a sec, I recognize this!
anyway, thanks for making me think this morning. :)
I definitely picked up on the Disney. Love it!
i LOVE this post! i am such a font nerd and i loveeee finding new fonts to use!
UGH thank you. I get so overwhelmed when I go to Google Web fonts! lifesaver.
I need some new fonts so I will def. be moseying on over there.
This is a great collection! You even made the fonts stand out better with their color!
Oswald + Arvo = ♥
Great list, Katelyn! I love all of these too. One of my new favorite sans-serif fonts to use for paragraphs from GWF is Muli.
Thanks Kendra! That looks like a good one- I’ll have to try it sometime! :)
I headed over to take a peek, and yep, you definitely chose the best fonts. Thanks so much!
Thanks Kim- glad we’re on the same page :)
I’ve never heard of Google Web Fonts before reading this (I’m so glad I stumbled upon this post!!)
Thanks for sharing this, the fonts are lovely (and the quotes too)!
It’s awesome, isn’t it?! I love how there are so many fonts all in one place! And thanks- always happy to find ways to include Disney movies in my blog posts :)
Wow, gorgeous fonts! Thank you for sharing. I just pinned it. :-)
Very useful! thanks :)
These fonts are awesome. I liked Oswald and Droid Sans. Thanks for the share.
Just wanted to say… LOVE the use of Disney quotes for examples! Love all these fonts too… not a regular blogger yet but I’m working on this, so I’ll keep this in mind for sure! Thanks!
I had 10 of these on my top 10. Love Google Fonts and how easy they are and I adore the Disney here. I think I will do this when I do my font posts and definitely when I re-do my Disney font posts! Thanks!
Thank you so much for this! The titles of my sidebar look much better now :)
wow
awesome collection
Ty
Yes, its great. And to download a Google Font use this online-tool: http://www.g-fonts.com. Its fast and free!