7 ms·

Ask HN: Show me some most beautiful fonts

Serif, Sans Serif or Mono , Show me some most beautiful fonts that are unique. Open Source or Free fonts are appreciated.

cpach 5y ago
https://beautifulwebtype.com/ https://beautifulwebtype.com/
- cpach 5y ago
  I’ll take the liberty to expand on my previous answer: I’m a sucker for classic typefaces. E.g. Garamond, Goudy Old Style, New Century Schoolbook. My favourite sans-serif is Helvetica. Miller by Carter et al is a nice serif that’s a little more recent. Publico looks good for headings. Two nice open source typefaces are Noto Serif and PT Serif.
recov 5y ago
There are some listed here - https://computecuter.com/ https://computecuter.com/
- cpach 5y ago
  What a lovely site :)
nextos 5y ago
Gentium is an open and free font with amazing quality and character coverage: https://software.sil.org/gentium/ https://software.sil.org/gentium/ Deja Vu is also open, and pretty nice for screen usage. As for non-free fonts, I love Gill Sans.
Tomte 5y ago
My all-time favorite is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bembo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bembo Look at that gorgeous capital R!
todd8 5y ago
Perhaps it's only because of Knuth's books, but I've always liked the fonts in the Computer Modern series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Modern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Modern Note that the plain serif font in Computer Modern is a beautiful font for high resolution screens or printing, but has thin serifs not as suitable for low resolution at small font sizes.
busyant 5y ago
This one is quite well-known already, but I think Univers is beautiful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers Apparently, Frutiger said that "Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket." I think that's appropriate. I'm also fond of FF Scala and FF Scala Sans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala_Sans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala_Sans Sadly, these are not open source. But they all have a relatively large number of glyphs. If you want something open-source and with a ̶H̶U̶U̶U̶G̶E̶ largish number of glyphs, here is Junicode: https://github.com/psb1558/Junicode-New https://github.com/psb1558/Junicode-New
37ef_ced3 5y ago
Since 2017 I have used the Go (Golang) Monospace TrueType fonts: https://blog.golang.org/go-fonts https://blog.golang.org/go-fonts They are clear, unambiguous, and pleasing to the eye!
- cpach 5y ago
  Nice. Reminds me of fonts that used to be available in the X Window System.
stephenpassero 5y ago
I personally really like Bespoke Slab https://www.fontshare.com/fonts/bespoke-slab https://www.fontshare.com/fonts/bespoke-slab
SirensOfTitan 5y ago
Of the three, my favorites: * Serif: Bitter (https://www.huertatipografica.com/en/fonts/bitter-ht https://www.huertatipografica.com/en/fonts/bitter-ht) or maybe Vollkorn (http://vollkorn-typeface.com http://vollkorn-typeface.com) * Mono: Iosevka * Sans-serif: maybe Fira Sans Condensed, previously perhaps DTL Prokyon. I haven't seen any sans-serif fonts I've really loved in recent memory. I feel like most sans-serifs just influence from Helvetica and are really boring, lack character or creativity. I'd love to see if anyone here has any examples of novel or interesting sans serifs. (I also know that good typography doesn't distract from the content, but even under that ideal I still find most modern sans serifs boring).
- powerapple 5y ago
  Love Iosevka. I switched from Source Code Pro to Iosevka, I used in vim and vscode.
zingplex 5y ago
Not open source or free but I find PragmataPro [0] to be absolutely gorgeous. Iosevka comes close but I don't think it'll ever be able to bridge the gap for me. [0] https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/ https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/
- twobitshifter 5y ago
  I also recommend iosevka as a great free font for development work with many available variations. https://typeof.net/Iosevka/ https://typeof.net/Iosevka/
- SirensOfTitan 5y ago
  What makes you like Pragmata Pro better? Do you think it's almost $250 dollars better than Iosevka? Great fonts bring me a lot of joy, but Pragmata Pro always felt fairly ridiculously priced to me. I know the author put a lot of time into it, but 99% of the font's features are irrelevant to me (I'll never use Hebrew, for instance, or even the non-mono version of the font).
  - zingplex 5y ago
    Essential PragmataPro has a reduced character set for €19. I do think it's $250 dollars better than Iosevka. What convinced me is manual hinting.
- ragnarkon 5y ago
  Wow that font is excellent. Honestly I've never thought to buy a font unless I was using it for web or print... but I may have to buy that just for myself.
khaledh 5y ago
JetBrains Mono: https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono
lencastre 5y ago
Cambria.
CiceroCiceronis 5y ago
For sans fonts I have always enjoyed Avenir.
mgradowski 5y ago
Source Serif Pro is my Google Docs workhorse .
schappim 5y ago
Louie Mantia, Jr. has some amazing fonts[1]. [1] http://louie.world/fonts/ http://louie.world/fonts/
kmckiern 5y ago
SF Mono!
arjunbajaj 5y ago
The Inter font: https://rsms.me/inter/ https://rsms.me/inter/
gloriousternary 5y ago
Not an expert or anything but I'm partial to Cormorant
8jef 5y ago
One of my favourite, Zemestro http://www.identifont.com/similar?6WX http://www.identifont.com/similar?6WX I like Lemon/Milk too https://www.dafont.com/lemon-milk.font https://www.dafont.com/lemon-milk.font And I'm an absolute fan of Futura https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface) The mix of Lemon Milk and Futura is awesome
- shaftway 5y ago
  I agree with Futura. I used Futura PT on my last set of business / calling cards and combined with the printing effects used the result is incredibly striking.
Egoist 5y ago
Dank Mono: https://gumroad.com/l/dank-mono https://gumroad.com/l/dank-mono
techdragon 5y ago
The Fira family - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fira_(typeface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fira_(typeface) - https://github.com/mozilla/Fira https://github.com/mozilla/Fira To a lesser extent IBM Plex - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Plex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Plex And a genuine classic in the the Eurostile family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostile
4f77616973 5y ago
I’m a huge fan of Monaco and install it on all my Linux machines. https://github.com/todylu/monaco.ttf https://github.com/todylu/monaco.ttf
domdib 5y ago
Most definitely not free but gorgeous: Athelas https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/athelas https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/athelas Scala and Scala Sans already mentioned upthread Quadraat Sans: https://www.typeby.com/fonts/quadraat-sans https://www.typeby.com/fonts/quadraat-sans
theSealedTanker 5y ago
Lisa, MonoLisa
guillaume8375 5y ago
One of my favorite serif font is Lyon Text: https://commercialtype.com/catalog/lyon_text https://commercialtype.com/catalog/lyon_text
gaws 5y ago
Terminus Nothing comes close.
bjourne 5y ago
Any recommendations on bitmap fonts? I'm stuck with a crappy 1600x900 screen and the only fonts that doesn't look like garbage are fixed-width fonts like Terminus and Peep.
- fbcpck 5y ago
  I’ve been using tewi for almost a decade now: https://github.com/lucy/tewi-font https://github.com/lucy/tewi-font
- Nadya 5y ago
  I'm a huge fan of Cozette [0] which is based on Dina which is based on Proggy - which both are good alternatives. I particularly like Cozette's goal of being a Bitmap Alternative to Nerd Fonts [1] as it lets me use it in a lot of places where icon glyphs are desired. [0] https://github.com/slavfox/Cozette https://github.com/slavfox/Cozette [1] https://www.nerdfonts.com/ https://www.nerdfonts.com/
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
ragnarkon 5y ago
The Source family by Adobe is my favorite. It's one of the seemingly few open source Adobe fonts available: https://github.com/adobe-fonts https://github.com/adobe-fonts Source Code Pro (mono) in particular is my day-to-day workhorse, but I also use Source Sans. Not a huge fan of Serif fonts truthfully. Iosevka family comes in a close second.
glogla 5y ago
For serif, I want fonts to be fancy and elegant and I'm in love with Charter/Charis in that regard, and I also really like Computer Modern fonts - but that might be just nostalgia. For sans-serif, I want fonts to be playful and cute and fun - and Fira Sans is exactly that. For monospace fonts, I just use Iosevka and Source Code Pro, because they are pretty in my eyes and most of all get the job done.

Serif, Sans Serif or Mono , Show me some most beautiful fonts that are unique. Open Source or Free fonts are appreciated.

cpach 5y ago

https://beautifulwebtype.com/ https://beautifulwebtype.com/

cpach 5y ago
I’ll take the liberty to expand on my previous answer: I’m a sucker for classic typefaces. E.g. Garamond, Goudy Old Style, New Century Schoolbook. My favourite sans-serif is Helvetica. Miller by Carter et al is a nice serif that’s a little more recent. Publico looks good for headings. Two nice open source typefaces are Noto Serif and PT Serif.

recov 5y ago

There are some listed here - https://computecuter.com/ https://computecuter.com/

cpach 5y ago
What a lovely site :)

nextos 5y ago

Gentium is an open and free font with amazing quality and character coverage: https://software.sil.org/gentium/ https://software.sil.org/gentium/ Deja Vu is also open, and pretty nice for screen usage. As for non-free fonts, I love Gill Sans.

Tomte 5y ago

My all-time favorite is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bembo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bembo Look at that gorgeous capital R!

todd8 5y ago

Perhaps it's only because of Knuth's books, but I've always liked the fonts in the Computer Modern series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Modern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Modern Note that the plain serif font in Computer Modern is a beautiful font for high resolution screens or printing, but has thin serifs not as suitable for low resolution at small font sizes.

busyant 5y ago

This one is quite well-known already, but I think Univers is beautiful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers Apparently, Frutiger said that "Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket." I think that's appropriate. I'm also fond of FF Scala and FF Scala Sans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala_Sans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Scala_Sans Sadly, these are not open source. But they all have a relatively large number of glyphs. If you want something open-source and with a ̶H̶U̶U̶U̶G̶E̶ largish number of glyphs, here is Junicode: https://github.com/psb1558/Junicode-New https://github.com/psb1558/Junicode-New

37ef_ced3 5y ago

Since 2017 I have used the Go (Golang) Monospace TrueType fonts: https://blog.golang.org/go-fonts https://blog.golang.org/go-fonts They are clear, unambiguous, and pleasing to the eye!

cpach 5y ago
Nice. Reminds me of fonts that used to be available in the X Window System.

stephenpassero 5y ago

I personally really like Bespoke Slab https://www.fontshare.com/fonts/bespoke-slab https://www.fontshare.com/fonts/bespoke-slab

SirensOfTitan 5y ago

Of the three, my favorites: * Serif: Bitter (https://www.huertatipografica.com/en/fonts/bitter-ht https://www.huertatipografica.com/en/fonts/bitter-ht) or maybe Vollkorn (http://vollkorn-typeface.com http://vollkorn-typeface.com) * Mono: Iosevka * Sans-serif: maybe Fira Sans Condensed, previously perhaps DTL Prokyon. I haven't seen any sans-serif fonts I've really loved in recent memory. I feel like most sans-serifs just influence from Helvetica and are really boring, lack character or creativity. I'd love to see if anyone here has any examples of novel or interesting sans serifs. (I also know that good typography doesn't distract from the content, but even under that ideal I still find most modern sans serifs boring).

powerapple 5y ago
Love Iosevka. I switched from Source Code Pro to Iosevka, I used in vim and vscode.

zingplex 5y ago

Not open source or free but I find PragmataPro [0] to be absolutely gorgeous. Iosevka comes close but I don't think it'll ever be able to bridge the gap for me. [0] https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/ https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/

twobitshifter 5y ago
I also recommend iosevka as a great free font for development work with many available variations. https://typeof.net/Iosevka/ https://typeof.net/Iosevka/
SirensOfTitan 5y ago
What makes you like Pragmata Pro better? Do you think it's almost $250 dollars better than Iosevka? Great fonts bring me a lot of joy, but Pragmata Pro always felt fairly ridiculously priced to me. I know the author put a lot of time into it, but 99% of the font's features are irrelevant to me (I'll never use Hebrew, for instance, or even the non-mono version of the font).
- zingplex 5y ago
  Essential PragmataPro has a reduced character set for €19. I do think it's $250 dollars better than Iosevka. What convinced me is manual hinting.
ragnarkon 5y ago
Wow that font is excellent. Honestly I've never thought to buy a font unless I was using it for web or print... but I may have to buy that just for myself.

khaledh 5y ago

JetBrains Mono: https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono

lencastre 5y ago

Cambria.

CiceroCiceronis 5y ago

For sans fonts I have always enjoyed Avenir.

mgradowski 5y ago

Source Serif Pro is my Google Docs workhorse .

schappim 5y ago

Louie Mantia, Jr. has some amazing fonts[1]. [1] http://louie.world/fonts/ http://louie.world/fonts/

kmckiern 5y ago

SF Mono!

arjunbajaj 5y ago

The Inter font: https://rsms.me/inter/ https://rsms.me/inter/

gloriousternary 5y ago

Not an expert or anything but I'm partial to Cormorant

8jef 5y ago

One of my favourite, Zemestro http://www.identifont.com/similar?6WX http://www.identifont.com/similar?6WX I like Lemon/Milk too https://www.dafont.com/lemon-milk.font https://www.dafont.com/lemon-milk.font And I'm an absolute fan of Futura https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface) The mix of Lemon Milk and Futura is awesome

shaftway 5y ago
I agree with Futura. I used Futura PT on my last set of business / calling cards and combined with the printing effects used the result is incredibly striking.

Egoist 5y ago

Dank Mono: https://gumroad.com/l/dank-mono https://gumroad.com/l/dank-mono

techdragon 5y ago

The Fira family - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fira_(typeface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fira_(typeface) - https://github.com/mozilla/Fira https://github.com/mozilla/Fira To a lesser extent IBM Plex - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Plex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Plex And a genuine classic in the the Eurostile family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostile

4f77616973 5y ago

I’m a huge fan of Monaco and install it on all my Linux machines. https://github.com/todylu/monaco.ttf https://github.com/todylu/monaco.ttf

domdib 5y ago

Most definitely not free but gorgeous: Athelas https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/athelas https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/athelas Scala and Scala Sans already mentioned upthread Quadraat Sans: https://www.typeby.com/fonts/quadraat-sans https://www.typeby.com/fonts/quadraat-sans

theSealedTanker 5y ago

Lisa, MonoLisa

guillaume8375 5y ago

One of my favorite serif font is Lyon Text: https://commercialtype.com/catalog/lyon_text https://commercialtype.com/catalog/lyon_text

gaws 5y ago

Terminus Nothing comes close.

bjourne 5y ago

Any recommendations on bitmap fonts? I'm stuck with a crappy 1600x900 screen and the only fonts that doesn't look like garbage are fixed-width fonts like Terminus and Peep.

fbcpck 5y ago
I’ve been using tewi for almost a decade now: https://github.com/lucy/tewi-font https://github.com/lucy/tewi-font
Nadya 5y ago
I'm a huge fan of Cozette [0] which is based on Dina which is based on Proggy - which both are good alternatives. I particularly like Cozette's goal of being a Bitmap Alternative to Nerd Fonts [1] as it lets me use it in a lot of places where icon glyphs are desired. [0] https://github.com/slavfox/Cozette https://github.com/slavfox/Cozette [1] https://www.nerdfonts.com/ https://www.nerdfonts.com/
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

ragnarkon 5y ago

The Source family by Adobe is my favorite. It's one of the seemingly few open source Adobe fonts available: https://github.com/adobe-fonts https://github.com/adobe-fonts Source Code Pro (mono) in particular is my day-to-day workhorse, but I also use Source Sans. Not a huge fan of Serif fonts truthfully. Iosevka family comes in a close second.

glogla 5y ago

For serif, I want fonts to be fancy and elegant and I'm in love with Charter/Charis in that regard, and I also really like Computer Modern fonts - but that might be just nostalgia. For sans-serif, I want fonts to be playful and cute and fun - and Fira Sans is exactly that. For monospace fonts, I just use Iosevka and Source Code Pro, because they are pretty in my eyes and most of all get the job done.