Sometimes when you go searching for the perfect font for a design, you have a particular look or style in mind. But other times, you just want something simple, clean, and modern.
If that’s the case, then you might be leaning toward a minimalist design style.
As a design concept, minimalism is driven by the idea that less is more. Design elements are pared down to only the essential, and what’s left is presented in the simplest way possible, without extra embellishments.
Minimalism got its start as a design movement in the early 20th century and had a surge of popularity in the 1960s. Along the way, its influence found its way into many design fields, from architecture and furniture to moviemaking and print design.
Now, minimalism has made a comeback (or another upswing in popularity), and you may notice that many of the designs you see or interact with on a daily basis have been influenced by minimalism — just think of Apple’s products and packaging and Google’s new branding.
If you need a font that will work well in a minimalist design, there are several qualities that you can look for:
- clean lines and crisp edges;
- geometric shapes: this will mostly come into play in how the letters are formed;
- an open or airy appearance: created by white space within or between letters;
- design details that have significance or purpose;
- good legibility: this usually means larger letters overall, moderately tall lowercase letters, and easily identifiable letter shapes; and,
- visual impact: this could be in the design of a typeface (i.e. it’s bold or all uppercase) or in how you as a designer apply the font (at a large size or in a prominent position, etc.).
For your convenience, we’ve compiled a collection of typefaces that feature these types of characteristics and more. All are free to use and ready for you to download now!
01. Museo Sans by Exljbris Font Foundry
Description: sturdy, geometric, highly legible sans-serif typeface suited for both display and text use; includes regular weight plus matching italic style
Download at: Fontspring
02. Museo Slab by Exljbris Font Foundry
Description: friendly slab serif with open letterforms designed to be paired with Museo Sans; includes regular weight plus matching italic style
Download at: Fontspring
03. BW Quinta Pro Light by Branding With Type
Description: contemporary humanist sans design that’s airy and easy to read
Download at: Fontspring
04. Simplifica by KAIWA
Description: simple and clear, slightly condensed sans-serif typeface with a thin, uniform line width and details that enhance legibility
Download at: Behance
05. Gidole by Andreas Larsen
Description: contemporary, geometric typeface released in 2015; more weights forthcoming here
Download at: Font Squirrel
06. Blogger Sans by Sergiy Tkachenko
Description: created for website headlines with a smooth, clear design; includes four weights and matching italics
Download at: Fontfabric
07. Gogoia by Alan de Sousa & Fontfabric
Description: tall display typeface in all uppercase letters inspired by Brazilian culture; includes an extra, more decorative version
Download at: Fontfabric
08. Perfograma by Asen Petrov
Description: inspired by early computing machines with a simplistic, dot-based design
Download at: Fontfabric
09. Panton by Fontfabric
Description: modern, geometric sans serif with good legibility for both print and web; includes light and black weights with matching italics
Download at: Fontfabric
10. Uni Sans by Svet Simov, Ani Petrova & Vasil Stanev
Description: clean, all-caps sans-serif typeface; includes thin and heavy weights with matching italics
Download at: Fontfabric
11. Prime by Max Pirsky
Description: sans-serif typeface with a “techy” feel and geometric formation that maintains readability at various sizes; includes regular and light weights
Download at: Fontfabric
12. Hero by Fontfabric
Description: multipurpose sans-serif typeface designed with wide, clear letter shapes; includes light and normal weights
Download at: Fontfabric
13. Corbert by Jonathan Hill
Description: clear, legible sans-serif typeface with geometric shapes influenced by the Bauhaus design movement; includes regular and italic weights plus a condensed version
Download at: The Northern Block – Regular, Italic, Condensed Regular & Italic
14. Lulo Clean Outline Bold by Yellow Design Studio
Description: generously spaced, outline-style typeface with clean, blocky letters in all caps
Download at: MyFonts
15. Dense Regular by Charles Daoud
Description: compact, geometric sans-serif; includes upper and lowercase letters
Download at: CharlesDaoud.com
16. Novecento Sans Wide by Synthview Type Design
Description: all-caps display typeface with a balanced, geometric design influenced by European typography from the 19th and 20th centuries; includes six weights, no italics
Download at: Fontspring
17. Capsuula by Henrich Fichna
Description: rounded sans-serif with unique letter shapes and an open look
Download at: Font Squirrel
18. Quicksand by Andrew Paglinawan
Description: sans-serif featuring simple, geometric space and wide spacing; includes three weights with matching italics, plus a dashed display style
Download at: Font Squirrel
19. Geometria Light by Brownfox
Description: neutral but modern sans-serif typeface with thin, geometric letters
Download at: Fontspring
20. Raleway by The League of Movable Type
Description: versatile sans-serif type family useful for both display type and text; includes nine weights with matching italics
Download at: Font Squirrel
21. Kelson by Armasen Typefaces
Description: slightly condensed sans-serif with a friendly appearance; includes six weights, no italics
Download at: MyFonts
22. Infinity by Tarin Yuangtrakul
Description: casual typeface composed of simple lines and curves
Download at: Behance
23. NOOA by Antoine Pilette
Description: all-caps display typeface with a contemporary, demi-serif design and sharp details; currently only available in vector format
Download at: Behance
24. Kirvy by Youssef Habchi
Description: simplified sans serif with atypical letter shapes; includes four weights, no italics
Download at: Behance
25. QG by Anthony James
Description: experimental typeface in all uppercase letters featuring fluid shapes and extra white space
Download at: Behance
26. Fox & Cat by Jo Aguilar
Description: linear, single-weight design with a casual, slightly imperfect look that resembles handwritten printing
Download at: Behance
27. Break by Rajesh Rajput
Description: modern display typeface with unconnected letters; includes both upper and lowercase alphabets in five weights
Download at: Behance
28. Lovelo by Renzier Design
Description: sharp, geometric display typeface in all capital letters; includes a bold weight plus two line versions
Download at: Fontfabric
29. Arca Majora by Alfredo Marco Pradil
Description: uppercase-only, high-impact sans serif in a single, heavy weight
Download at: Behance
30. Kolikö by Alex Frukta & Vladimir Tomin
Description: clean and geometric yet unexpected letter structure; includes three weights, no italics
Download at: Behance
31. Modeka by Gatis Vilaks
Description: light, angular design that combines sharp and round shapes
Download at: Freshhh
32. Rodina Regular by Christian Pannicke
Description: spacious, rounded sans serif with extra characters
Download at: Fontsup
33. Komoda by Asia Ang
Description: all-caps display typeface with a compact, condensed structure
Download at: FontM
34. Jaden by Aritra Das
Description: geometric, sans-serif display typeface with stylized letters; uppercase only
Download at: Behance
35. Arkhip by Klimov Design
Description: unique display typeface with contrasting curved and linear elements influenced by Russian typographic traditions
Download at: Arkhip Font
36. Bavro by Marcelo Reis Melo
Description: clean, smooth sans-serif design in all caps
Download at: Free Goodies for Designers
37. Kanji by Pedro Azedo
Description: linear display typeface inspired by Chinese and Japanese characters
Download at: Behance
38. Axis by Jean Wojciechowski
Description: geometric sans-serif design inspired by urban architecture; includes upper and lowercase letters
Download at: Behance
39. Panama Light by Adrien Coquet
Description: sans-serif display typeface with a quirky, slightly retro style
Download at: Behance
40. Asap by Omnibus-Type
Description: simple, rounded sans-serif design with a friendly, casual style; includes three weights plus matching italics
Download at: Behance
41. Archivo Black by Omnibus-Type
Description: bold but clear sans serif that falls into the grotesque type category (generally straight and uniform in structure, not inspired by calligraphy)
Download at: Behance
42. Quark by Typomancer
Description: modern sans serif with unexpected letter variations; includes light and bold weights
Download at: Behance
43. Ahamono by Alfredo Marco Pradil
Description: uncomplicated sans serif with a monospaced structure (same amount of space between every letter)
Download at: Behance
44. Shket by Juan Francisco Garrido
Description: modern, condensed sans serif designed for display use at large sizes
Download at: FontM
45. Macondo Grotesk by Giuseppe Fierro
Description: stylized, retro sans-serif typeface; uppercase only
Download at: Behance
46. Rambla Alt by TipoType
Description: slightly condensed, proportional sans serif designed for good readability, specifically for setting medium-length text
Download at: TipoType
47. Económica by TipoType
Description: somewhat angular sans-serif design developed to help save space and maintain legibility in complex typesetting situations
Download at: TipoType
48. Vegur by TipoType
Description: sans-serif typeface with versatile, neutral style; includes three weights, no italics
Download at: TipoType
49. VDS by Artmaker
Description: rounded, modern style formed by simple lines and curves; includes four weights plus matching italics
Download at: FontM
50. Qontra by Tomaz Hrastar
Description: condensed sans serif designed for everyday use; includes upper and lowercase letters
Download at: Behance
51. Hapna Mono by The Northern Block
Description: contemporary, monospaced serif typeface with an open, geometric structure
Download at: The Northern Block
52. Planer Regular by The Northern Block
Description: modern sans serif that combines rounded and angular qualities and is designed for good readability even at small sizes
Download at: The Northern Block
53. Tondu Beta by The Northern Block
Description: chunky sans serif for display use
Download at: The Northern Block
54. Kel by Keine Martins
Description: clean, uppercase sans serif with unusual edge styling
Download at: Behance
55. Tale by Renz Jezrel Abong
Description: sturdy, all-caps design in regular, bold, and italic
Download at: Behance
56. Synthesia by Cahya Sofyan
Description: stylistic, rounded sans serif designed with unique letterforms
Download at: Behance
57. Loew Heavy by The Northern Block
Description: simple, geometric sans serif with a bold, industrial style
Download at: The Northern Block
58. Znikomit by Grzegorz Luk
Description: thin, stylish serif typeface with an open structure
Download at: Dafont
59. AW Conqueror Sans Light by Jean François Porchez
Description: versatile sans serif influenced by European typography styles during the early- to mid-20th century
Download at: Typofonderie
60. Gasalt by Remi Lagast
Description: display typeface with a wide, geometric structure and quirky letter shapes inspired by the simplistic typography featured in retro video games
Download at: Behance
Time to Download!
We hope that you’ve found some fresh new fonts to add to your collection here. To the best of our knowledge, all of them are free and available for commercial use. But please make sure to double check any documentation or license attached to a font before using it in a design, just to make sure you’re good to go from a legal/copyright standpoint. Otherwise, enjoy your new fonts!
Other Resources
Interested in learning more about minimalism in design? Head on over to one of our other Design School articles, Minimalist Design: 25 Beautiful Examples and Practical Tips, for some inspiration on how to apply fonts and other elements in a minimalist design project.
Choosing a limited color palette is an important step in creating a minimalist look in your designs. For some ideas, check out our articles on designing in black and white and monochrome:
- Designing With Black and White: 50 Striking Examples For Your Inspiration
- How To Design With Monochromatic Colors [With Expert Tips From A Designer]
*also includes 25 sample color schemes that you’re free to use!
Need even more fonts? We recently published a collection of 100 free fonts of all types (including sans serifs, serifs, scripts, and display typefaces) and styles (from modern to vintage to elegant and more). Even better, most were released this year, so you’re sure to find something new for your next design project. And if you’re designing in Canva for Work, you now have the ability to upload your own fonts — so try out one of these or any other font you fancy.
Are there any great, free fonts we missed that would work well in a minimalist design? Share in the comments below — and, as always, happy designing!
