Unleash Your Design Spirit with Free Sketch Fonts

We originally shared this post in 2013, when a reader of InDesign Magazine emailed us to say how much she liked the font on the cover—FFF Tusj—and wanted to know where she could get it.

FFF Tusj is an example of a sketch font—a typeface that is designed to look like it was hand-drawn. The best sketch fonts aren’t emulating handwriting, exactly—the glyphs convey typographic structure but with a looseness and verve that can add texture, warmth, and a little looseness to a design. And fun! Let’s not forget fun.

You wouldn’t want to design a legal contract or a funeral home logo with fonts like these, nor would you want to use them for long blocks of text. But you might like them for a fun band logo, chapter heads for an appropriate book, or signage for a hip restaurant.

In fact, some of the fonts you’ll see here are based on classics of typography. Tusj is described as a “handwritten version of Georgia.” Sketchy Times? You guessed it—Times New Roman. Sketchy Block? Looks like there’s Rockwell Extrabold, or a similar slab serif typeface, under the hood there.

This collection of fonts are—when last we checked in 2021—free for your use unless otherwise noted; some fonts are by designers who seek a donation for their work, while others require a license if you want to use them commercially. While you’re downloading, poke around and look at some of the other work that these designers have made for you and for all of us.