12 fun fonts to liven up your design projects

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There is an almost endless supply of fonts whirling around the web. No matter what you're after, whether it's handwriting fonts or calligraphy fonts, you can bet it's out there somewhere. But what if you're looking for something a bit more... fun?

That's right, fun fonts are the order of the day. We've scoured the web for 10 of the most fun fonts to liven up your projects and put a smile on your readers' faces. There are plenty of free fonts here as well as premium ones. Explore the list below and don't worry – Comic Sans didn't make the cut.

01. Escafina

This fun font was inspired by mid-century advertising

Format: OTF

Escafina is an upright script font that reinvents the lively 1960s-70s serif swash cap aesthetic for the digital age. It also draws inspiration from vintage signage and mid-century advertising. This fun font was created by type designer and lettering artist Riley Cran, who's also the man behind Lost Type. 

02. Buffon

Buffon is a reverse-contrast font with a modern twist

Format: OTF

The playful Buffon is a reverse-contrast typeface designed by The Australian Graphic Supply Co. It comes with four weights, a generous character set, and ligatures and stylistic alternatives. It's available to purchase through Lost Type, which comments that it "shrugs off the tired Spaghetti Western stereotype so often associated with reverse-contrast – but could make a very nice Wanted poster, if the need arose."

03. Rocher

Yabba dabba doo, is this fun font for you?

Format: OTF

Rocher is a rock-solid fun font family that has been made to feel like stone. If you take a closer look though, you'll see that there's nothing obviously stoney about the design. That's because the creators used rounded edges and the right amount of roughness to make sturdy letterforms that feel like stone, but don't resort to cliches like cracks and rubble. Buy it for £43.99.

04. Masqualero

Masqualero comes with six weights and italics

Format: OTF

Taking its inspiration from the life and work of Miles Davis, Masqualero is at the classy end of the fun font spectrum. Designed by Monotype, this dual-natured serifed typeface packs the flair of Davis' electric funk and rock sounds. It can be yours to own and use for £169.

05. Marshmallow

This fun font looks good enough to eat

Format: OTF

With its fat shape, the super high-contrast script typeface Marshmallow looks just like the squidgy, tasty treat it's named after. Marshmallow might not be suitable for every occasion, but with 820 characters and a range of stylistic alternatives, it's certainly carved out a sybaritic niche. You can download it for £37.99.

06. Konga Rock

Let's all do the Konga (Rock)

Format: OTF

If you're familiar with the delightfully bubbly Konga Pro font that was released in 2012, you'll love the more rough and ready version: Konga Rock. Dotted with little stylish imperfections, Konga Rock has a screenprinted feel that is sure to give your projects a handmade feel. Grab the complete family for £64.10.

07. Argö

No, not the Ben Affleck film

Format: OTP

Just like Masqualero, the Argö typeface is a fun font that veers towards the sophisticated. Initially designed as an Art Deco display font, Argö is a serif typeface whose horizontal lines have been replaced with Medieval-style ascenders to create greater flow and versatility. It can be yours for just $30.

08. Quarz 974

Quarz 974 is a chiselled font perfect for logos and posters

Format: TT

The geometric Quarz 974 takes its inspiration from simple lines and triangles. This has resulted in a jagged, spiky font that has a lot of fun translating different word forms into its signature style. It's only composed of capitals and numbers, but this makes it the perfect eye-catching choice for posters and logos. Download it for £29.99.

09. Rosecube

There's more to Rosecube than meets the eye

Format: TTF

Looking like a font from a Wild West wanted poster, Rosecube is a deceptively odd seriffed font. Its chunky capitals look like refined enough, but when placed side by side the letters have a sort of higgledy piggledy scruffiness about them. Rosecube has been a stalwart fun font since 2005, and you can download it for free.

10. Duke

We love the shadows on this font

Format: OTF

When it came to designing Duke, creator James T Edmondson was inspired by the signage for the Cup & Saucer luncheonette in New York. Available as a pay-what-you-want font for personal use (or from $30 for a commercial license) Duke includes three layers: fill, shadow, and fill plus shadow. You can even try out Duke on the Lost Type site to see how you like it.

11. Ribbon

Ribbon started out as a numeral set

Format: OTF

The road to release has been a long one for the Ribbon font. It started life as a purely numerical set, before creator Dan Gneiding expanded it into a complete display face that you can download for personal use at a price that suits you. Commercial Licenses start at $40.

12. Kitten

This is the purr-fect font for cat lovers

Format: OTF

Rounding off our list of the best fun fonts is a special feline themed set. Say hello to Kitten, a multi-weight script family with a range of variants, alternates and ligatures. With its curvy, bouncy shape and variety of weights, this sassy font can be tailored to fit logo designs and longer text blocks. Available in 40 languages, Kitten is available to download from €58.

This list is only the tip of the fun font iceberg. We're bound to have missed your favourite, so why not recommend your fun font of choice in the comments below?

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