A few simple decisions concerning your WordPress site’s typography can affect your design in a big way. Just change all of your headlines to comic sans if you need to see proof! Or, if you’d like to take things in the opposite direction–which I highly recommend–you could browse the fonts below and choose a few to update your WordPress site’s look and feel in 2016.
A Few Quick Tips on Font Pairing
When looking to update the typography of your website, it’s a good idea to consider how different fonts work together.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Keep it simple–don’t use too many fonts all at once.
- Keep it readable.
- Think in opposites–pair a serif with a sans serif or bold with thin.
- Or, keep it in the family–use different weights and styles of fonts in the same family.
- Try to match the mood of your content.
- Experiment and keep what works.
- (For Google Fonts you can also use their free Pairings tool.
The 41 Best Free Web Fonts for 2016
I’ve chosen the fonts below based on my personal taste and put them in no particular order. There are a massive amount of free fonts out there so don’t let me dictate which ones are the best for you. The links above should provide a great place to branch out into more options if my list below does not satisfy your free web font needs.
1. Open Sans
Designed as a good neutral type face Open Sans is very friendly and readable. Good for titles, headlines, or body text.
2. Playfair Display
Playfair is influenced by the transition of late 18th century writing/printing technology; when quills were replaced by pointed steel pens. It’s also influenced by typefacer John Baskerville and William Martin’s typeface for the “Boydell Shakspeare”. It’s great for titles and headlines.
3. Josefin Slab
Josenfin Slab takes its inspiration from 1930’s trends in geometric typefaces. It’s a good all around font for titles, headlines, and body text.
4. Arvo
Arvo is another geometric typeface. It’s intended to be a “mixed” type good for multiple purposes. It can be used for titles, headlines, and body text.
5. Lato
Lato was specifically designed for corporate use. It has a professional look that lends itself well to use in various sizes.
6. Vollkorn
Vollkorn is a font designed with its German heritage in mind. It is a simple yet quite utilitarian font that works well for many things. Can be used for titles, headlines, and body text equally well.
7. Abril Fatface
Abril Fatface is meant to be a revamp of classic Didone styles. In particular 19th century British and French advertising posters. This font is probably best for titles and headlines.
8. Ubuntu
Ubuntu is meant to be a general purpose font. Good for titles, headlines, and body text alike.
9. PT Sans
PT Sans is part of a project called “Public Types of Russian Federation” meant to make displaying text in multiple languages uniform. This font is good for multiple purposes.
10. Old Standard TT
Old Standard TT is a serif typeface meant to be reminiscent of body text in old books. It is well suited for article writing.
11. Droid Sans
Droid Sans is a friendly, open, and multi-purpose font meant to be readable across various web devices, on the web page, and in web menus.
12. Anivers
Anivers is a flexible font that is best suited for titles, names, headlines, and logos.
13. FFF TUSJ
This font is a handwritten version of Georgia. It works best as a title or logo in very large letters.
14. Roboto
Roboto is mean to be a marriage between geometric shapes and friendly curves. It creates a natural reading rhythm and works well as title, headline, or body type.
15. Pacifico
Pacifico is a script font best suited to titles and logos.
16. Amatic
Amatic is a handdrawn font best used for titles and logos.
17. Seaside Resort
Seaside Resort is a classy throwback font best used for titles and logos on retro themed projects.
18. Fertigo Pro
Fertigo Pro is a classical sans serif font that is probably best used for decorative purposes.
19. Aller
Aller is a clean sans serif font that’s readable in almost any size, but perhaps still best suited for titles and headings. Though it will work just fine as a body text too if you like it.
20. Audimat
Audimat has a sort of techy look to it that feels more contemporary than many of the other fonts on this list. If the project calls for it then it can work well for both headings and body text.
21. Delicious
Delicious is a beautiful and simple font that looks good as a display font or body text.
22. Fontin
Fontin is designed to be used at small sizes, making it a great body text font.
23. Code
Code is a bold font that works best as a display, title, or ad font.
24. Source Sans Pro
Source Sans Pro was designed primarily with user interfaces in mind. This will make a great menu font but can also be used for other things such as body text.
25. Cabin
Cabin is a san serif font well suited to headings and body text.
26. League Spartan
League Spartan is a single weight sans serif font that works for titles, headings, and even body text.
27. Junction
Junction is a sans serif font that works great for titles, headings, and logos. It has a decent reading experience too if you want it to be a body font.
28. Ostrich Sans
Ostrich Sans is a modern sans serif font that’s great for titles, logos, and headlines.
29. League Gothic
League Gothic is a new take on a classic typeface: Alternate Gothic #1; which was created in 1903. This font is probably best used for titles, subtitles, and headings.
30. Blackout
Blackout is a contemporary font inspired by filling in san serif newspaper headlines. This font is best for titles, headlines, and logos.
31. Knewave
Knewave is a bold contemporary font that drips with style. It’s best for logos, headlines, and titles.
32. Fanwood
Fanwood is meant to increase readability. It’s probably best used as a body text but can also work for titles and headlines.
33. Linden Hill
Linden Hill is a beautiful font that works for titles, headlines, and body text.
34. League Script Number One
League Script Number One is a lovely script type that is probably best used within logos or ads.
35. Raleway
Raleway is an elegant and thin san serif font that is probably best used for titles, subtitles, and headlines.
36. Prociono
Prociono is a very readable font capable of serving multiple purposes. It can be a title, headline, or body text.
37. Orbitron
Orbitron is a geometric san serif font best used for display purposes. That means titles, subtitles, and headlines.
38. Goudy Bookletter 1911
Goudy Bookletter 1911 is another great multipurpose font that works equally well for titles, headlines, and body text.
39. Sorts Mill Goudy
Similarly to the Goudy text above, Sorts Mill Goudy is another very readable multipurpose font. It works equally well for
40. Chunk
Chunk is an ultra-bold slab serif font that recalls old western posters. It’s best used for display purposes as a title, subtitle, or logo.
41. Sniglet
Sniglet is a rounded sans serif font that is best used for titles, logos, and headlines.
In Conclusion
As you can see, there are a ton of great free web fonts available for use. Most of the work is in finding them!
If this list above was not enough for you, I would recommend checking out Google Fonts and Font Squirrel for more.
There are other resources out there but these two seem to be the largest and most referenced. If you have another that you prefer, please share it with the community in the comments below.
Would love to here from you...