The Artistic Outlaw

Something I really dig about being a designer is fonts. I love finding cool, new, fresh and interesting fonts. Some I can use and some I’ll just stare at and horde.

Upon further introspection my uncontrolled, rabid collecting of fonts may have something to do with my inability to use more than a handful of them in a majority of my projects, but the safety of knowing I have them on hand if the world ever ends and a viable way to use specific fonts becomes readily available.

I found a few fonts this week that I thought I’d share, some might be useful, others may not be. One thing is for sure, they’re all mad cool.

1.) [ank]* found at dafont (freeware)

Ank is a sketchy style font with a handwritten vibe. I really dig this font. It has a very clean layout, is legible, squared off but still dirty, a little grungy. A very cool font, and something I can already see being used in an upcoming motif-lab project. I don’t think this font would work with drop-shadows or gradients applied, but as a straight color on contrasting color it’s very tight.

2.) Ashby found at dafont (freeware)

Ashby has a nice clean appearance with a subtle lean, there are some variants on this font that don’t have the same lean which I feel takes away from the overall charm of Ashby. The flow created by the subtle lean and the thick characters is very smooth. I really love how some of the letters cut off abruptly at the baseline giving the font a smooth bottom that works well in a squared off medium such as web-design.

3.) Infrared found at dafont (freeware)

An all caps Serif font, Infrared has a unique but familiar look. The lines are smooth and the characters each have a subtle elegance that draws me in. Definitely a top one-hundred font. My only compliant about Infrared would be the “W” character, it has a flared left side which can distract the eye.

4.) Kings Cross found at dafont (freeware)

Blackletter with a twist. I love the modern flair on this font, taking an old english blackletter base and giving it a squared off modern feel is absolutely genius. I appreciate the “paint drip” extensions on some of the characters giving it even more character. I don’t have a lot of projects that call for blackletter fonts, but Kings Cross makes me want to find one, and fast.

5.) Market Deco found at dafont (freeware)

Such an elegant font, Market Deco is quite beautiful. It has a subtle art deco feel to a otherwise bland San-Serif, all caps font. I would love to use this font as headlines on a upcoming design, but it’s not practical. I might do it anyway. I really just like the thought of reading headlines in Market Deco.

6.) Styllo found at dafont (freeware)

When I first saw this font I was head over heels, the possibilities came rushing to me from every direction. It has an amazing flow for a font that has no specific direction. I love the shape and cut of each character, and the way they fit together is really nice. Styllo has an abundance of style and form.

7.) The Quiet Scream found at dafont (freeware)

Seeing this font in this format with The Artistic Outlaw name, makes me want to redesign this site to use that font. Overall it’s a rough font, with very little in the way of being squared or clean, but something about it makes me scream—quietly to myself. The only drawback is that the “I” character is a lightening bolt and that could get repetitious with the wrong words, and it gives a personality to the words that maybe doesn’t jive with the person writing them. Aside from that it’s got the look baby!

8.) Unicorn NF found at dafont (freeware)

Neither mythical or sparkling, lacking a horn and hooves, this font isn’t short on magic. The fat characters and the beautiful flow from one character to the next gives Unicorn and amazing feel. I could follow it’s curves for hours. I want to climb on this font and request a ride into the magical skies above Narnia.

9.) Hand found at dafont (freeware)

Hand looks really cool if you can get the letters kearned right so that they line up together in a single handwriting flow. I wasn’t able to accomplish that with the demo image, but I still think it makes a great cursive writing font, with a natural, but clean look. My fear is that you’d need to place each letter by hand to get the proper flow.

10.) Trigun found at dafont (freeware)

I have no idea what made Trigun appeal to me, it could be it’s bullet riddled appearance, or it’s all caps, squared off look. But whatever it is, I surely dig this fat boy font. The word spacing is a little wide for my tastes but that is easily repaired. Overall a solid font with a ton of potential.

That’s all folks

I hope you enjoyed my font choices, and I hope someone gets some use out of one of these gems. Thanks for reading!