The 10 Best Free Fonts for Architects
From modernist sans serifs to contemporary serif typefaces, make sure your type looks as elegant as your plans with these exceptionally stylish free fonts for architecture portfolios, architect branding and architectural presentations.
Did we mention these stylish and minimal architecture fonts are all totally free for commercial use? Go forth and find the perfect font for your architecture portfolio.
The new Architecture Template Kit includes a complete range of Adobe InDesign templates for architects looking to present and brand their work beautifully and professionally. Discover the kit here.
1. Karla
Designed by Jonathan Pinhorn, Karla is a grotesque sans serif in the tradition of Helvetica and Futura. Distinctly modernist in style, Karla is a versatile sans serif with a subtly retro flavour. Corbusier would approve. Available in four weights, you can download the print typeface from FontSquirrel.
You can also find Karla as a web font on Google Fonts, meaning you can streamline your type choice across both print and online architecture portfolios.
2. Reforma
Created by Pampatype foundry, Reforma is a bespoke typeface originally designed for the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina. A humanist sans serif, Reforma combines the simple appeal of sans serifs with a little more warmth and character. At once both classical and contemporary, this is a great font choice for architects looking for more personality in their portfolio type.
You can download the complete suite of 18 weights (and yes, for free) from Pampatype’s website here.
3. Aileron
Aileron is a neo-grotesque typeface with a clean, futuristic personality. Designed by Japanese foundry Dot Colon, the Aileron font family consists of a whopping 16 weights, making it a highly versatile and free font alternative to traditional neo-grotesques such as Univers or Helvetica.
A perfect pairing with post-modernist or futuristic architecture portfolios, Aileron is understated, elegant and minimal.
4. Gilroy
Looking for an architectural sans serif with a little more character? Gilroy is a geometric typeface with a modernist style. While it wouldn’t look out of place on mid-century signage, Gilroy is determinedly contemporary and looks fantastic set as headlines or pull-quotes. This stylish typeface, created by Radomir Tinkov, is available in 20 weights, two of which are free to download from FontSpring.
5. D-DIN
D-DIN imitates the style of architect font favorite DIN. Taking its name from the Deutsches Institut fur Normung (German Institute for Standardization), DIN was widely used for traffic and administration signage from the 1930s onwards. The typeface was designed for technical purposes, which gives it its simplified, ultra-legible style.
Completely unadorned and minimalistic, D-DIN is a faithful tribute to the 1930s original typeface, and looks just as effective on the captions of architecture portfolios as it does for architectural brand identities.
6. Bellefair
Architects are often averse to serif typefaces, but the right serif font can bring understated elegance and a high-end feel to presentation boards, architecture portfolios and practice websites. Bellefair is a clean, sculpted serif font which strikes a balance between traditional and contemporary. Use for impactful headings or elegant captions.
You can download Bellefair Regular, designed by Nick Shinn, for free from FontSquirrel.
7. Work Sans
A trusty sans serif font based on early grotesque sans serifs, Work Sans has wider letterforms than Futura or Univers, making it feel solid, stable and ultra-legible. Available as a free font family of 21 weights, Work Sans has been optimised for screen displays (with larger diacritic marks, for example, to boost readability at small-scale), but can also be used for print portfolios and presentations with equal ease.
Designed by Wei Huang, you can download the complete Work Sans font family for free here.
8. Proza Libre
With a similarly sculptural style to Reforma, Proza Libre is another fantastic alternative for architects looking for something a little different to the usual Helvetica and Futura tributes. An elegant humanist sans serif, Proza Libre would make a great partner for eco architecture or organic building styles.
Created by Jasper de Waard, Proza Libre is influenced by Old Style Renaissance typefaces, but with the serifs removed, created a cleaner, more fluid appearance. The font is available to download for free in 12 weights from FontSquirrel.
9. Jost*
With a striking similarity to Futura, Jost* was designed by Owen Earl of font foundry indestructible type. Combining its early modernist influences with more rounded letterforms gives Jost* its signature bouncy and effortlessly stylish personality.
If you love the look of Futura and Univers, but are seeking a more extrovert interpretation, Jost* will bring both personality and a minimalist aesthetic to the table. Available as both a web font and print typeface, Jost* can be downloaded from the indestructible type website here.
10. Spartan MB
A geometric sans serif font with a rounded, open character, Spartan MB is inspired by the American Type Founders Company (ATF) classic typeface, Spartan. Aesthetically simple with subtle curves, Spartan MB blends mid-century styling with contemporary geometric touches.
An open source, free font designed by Matt Bailey and Mirko Velimirovic, Spartan MB is available in 7 weights from Bailey’s portfolio website here.
Present and Brand Beautifully with the Architecture Template Kit for Adobe InDesign
InDesignSkills’ new Architecture Template Kit contains a complete range of InDesign templates for architects, practices and architecture students.
Included in the Architecture Template Kit are 4 presentation boards, full portfolio with 40 pro-designed pages, introductory portfolio template, 5 business card templates and 4 letterhead options for Adobe InDesign, sized to a wide range of US, European, UK and Australian standard sizes.
Find Your Perfect Font Match
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