Hipster is a super weird and kind of silly term. People use it in different ways for different things, but in general, you can count on it referring to something that is somewhat folksy, simple, and hearkening to a simpler time that may or may not have ever existed in the first place. Oh, and beards. Always beards. Glorious, glorious beards.
So what makes a font a hipster font?
By reminding you of yesteryear, of times past, of working with your hands, and of living the Americana dream. And again, beards. It should definitely remind you of beards.
Fonts Hipstery Enough for the Hipster Club
Whether you want your site to have folksy charm or just have a bit of character that Google Fonts can’t quite give you, there are plenty of hand-made, retro, and down-right vintage fonts that will make your readers know that you are one cool-before-it-was-cool cat.
Free Hipster Fonts
Primitiva Slab
Our list is starting out well, with this font ticking most of the hipster checkmarks: hand-drawn, looks good on textured background, and hearkening backward in the name itself. Good stuff.
Steelworks
If you’re the kind of hipster who wants to keep it gritty, this font is right up your alley. Blue-collar and loving it, Steelworks comes with vectors and italics and the look of carefully careless brushstrokes. Plus the logo has a lightning bolt, and that’s just cool.
Aventura
Nothing says hipster like the great outdoors, I guess. Hipsters love adventure. This font embody that love of everything natural, wooded, and axe-like. I mean, there’s an axe in the logo. That’s pretty adventurous.
Sunday
You know what they say about Sunday? It’s a fun day! Hah! Font puns rock. Just like this font. It’s casual, but also has a touch of formality. Perfect for that idea blog you’ve got, or even an ecommerce site where you sell hand-stitched notebooks and screen-printed tees.
Che’s Bone
You gotta appreciate a font made for the designer’s dog. Nothing I write about this font will be better than the designer herself: “My dog loves bones. I experimented with this font for Che and other dog lovers. It has round edges and condensed skinny forms. The corner of each letter has a bone shape which is Che’s favorite part.”
CutePunk
We are used to punk, emo punk, cyberpunk, steampunk, but cutepunk? Fits right in, actually. Going against the establishment is what punk is all about, and this hipster typeface does just that. Not harsh, not too trendy, and not overly whimsical, go with this one and tell those stark sans fonts you’re not gonna take it anymore!
Ribbon
Quite the opposite of our last entry, we’ve got a typeface that’s pretty aptly named for exactly what it is. It looks like a ribbon. Whimsical and stylish, you can’t help but think about your childhood and the packaging of your favorite toys when you see it. At least I can’t.
Metropolis
Nothing says hipster like taking it back to one of the very first full-length science-fiction films. If you want people to know that you appreciate the glory days, let them see your anachronistic homage the future and the past. And robots. Everyone loves robots.
Sullivan
Straight out of the good old days themselves, Sullivan looks like the Americana dream. Crips and clean, the typeface will make your visitors feel comfortable and welcome. So come right in, pay what you want, and enjoy a soda-pop or root beer float.
Florence
Okay, so I’ll be honest: I included this font because it made me giggle. It’s the name of my town, which has a surprisingly high hipster population that rotates between local coffee shops, co-working spaces, and farmers markets. I wish I were kidding. Outside of my personal inside jokes, Florence is a downright pretty font that will add a vintage, classy feel to any site you slap it on. Especially if you run a coffee shop, co-working space, or farmers market.
Quarz 974 Light
I just love the name of this font. As much as hipsters love triangles. I didn’t know that was a thing until recently, but the more I’ve read, a lot of the hipsteriest hipster design combines stark geometric patterns with natural landscapes and photos. Not surprisingly, it’s absolutely gorgeous and has become one of my favorite styles personally. And this font is free and perfect to make that odd juxtaposition you may not have thought of before now. You’re welcome.
Regina Black
Again, I’m just gonna let the font’s website speak for itself: “Regina Black has heavy letterforms that are influenced in equal parts by the elegant design from the early 1900’s and the chunky, friendly typefaces popularized in the 1970’s. Friendly, meet funky.”
Budmo
Budmo! Say it aloud. Budmo! It’s as fun to say as it is to look at. Reminiscent of carnivals and fairs and brightly lit marquees, if you want to draw attention to your site’s logo or headers, you will adore using this typeface. Plus, when a client asks you, “do you have any suggestions for a font that will get my audience’s attention?” You will get to shout “Budmo!” and get paid for it. That’s pretty awesome.
Antique Book Cover
Rarely is a typeface so wonderfully titled. You can’t look at this font and not see exactly why the designer named it Antique Book Cover. You just can’t. Perfect for author sites, children’s site, promotion of your antique store, or drawing folks to your garage or estate sale. When people see this used, they’ll recollect dusty sunlight dappling through yellowed glass and immediately feel an emotional connection to you and your brand.
Refresh
I hesitated to include this because it is a limited edition font, but it incredibly pretty and well crafted. Handwriting typefaces are among the most popular hipster fonts, and Refresh is an example of why. Classy and stylish and just breezy enough to be fun, but still professional enough that you won’t be seen as not-serious-enough. Grab it while you can.
Distillery
Do you know what hipsters also love? Drinking and making their own alcohol. If they’re not micro brewing, they’re coming up with some super-trendy drinks to serve with artisanal ingredients. And those are downright tasty, too. So when you need to promote something that yumtastic, this font will look absolutely stunning with your hand-crafted menu.
Pacific Northwest
How has it taken this long to mention the Pacific Northwest? It’s like everything we’ve been talking about rolled into one, and this font encapsulates that feeling into some mega-dandy eye-candy. You’ll be channeling your inner Portland in no time. Just don’t forget your flannel.
Microbrew
Take everything I said about Distillery above, apply it to this font, and mark this one off your donezo list because your menu-font search is donezo.
New York
Much like the Pacific Northwest, New York is also a haven of hipster culture. Especially Brooklyn. I have to include this in paid on a technicality. It’s a buck. So do yourself a favor and go ahead and grab it. You know, before it becomes cool to do so.
Hipster Script Pro
It’s called Hipster Script Pro. How much more perfect can you get? Scripty and custom, your site will ooze personality when you scale your header tags up and down with this one. Not too fancy, but not too low-key, either, this typeface will definitely make your home on the internet memorable.
And a Special Bonus!
It’s not quite a font, but no hipster design would be complete without some good, old-fashioned icons that tell the world about your love of beards, bowties, and bicycles. Best of all, there’s both a free and a paid version, so no one is left out of the hipstery goodness. Enjoy!
Plugins to Use These Hipster Fonts
Adding custom fonts to your website (hipster fonts included) is really easy. Our favorite way to do this is by using the plugin called Any Font. We also have tutorials and resources available for Google Fonts and TypeKit, so no matter where you download a font, you can be sure that no visitor will miss your totally low-key coolness.
Thanks for the Fonts. Some are good.
Great list, thanks for sharing!
Awesome collection. This goes to my bookmarks for future use 🙂 Just need to check the licenses first.
Any post about fonts should show pictures of what the fonts looks like. 🙂
Each of the pictures has the font integrated into the design, which is why I chose those specifically–to see them incorporated rather than in isolation.
Great compilation, thanks.
Do you know if any of these are available with central European fonts (íőű)? If not, is there a way to edit them so they could be used for Hungarian texts. Thanks
I honestly have no idea on that. IIRC, there were some that did offer additional language characters, but it’d have to be on a font-by-font basis to check. Sorry!
Hipster? Vintage? Retro? Call them what you wish, there are some seriously gorgeous fonts on this list. We will definitely discuss this fonts with our developer. Please keep us informed if you add any more to your list. I am wondering why no one is here with their thoughts.
Again a Great blog post from Elegant Themes
Thanks! I totally agree. It was fun putting this one together and seeing these.
Thank you for the font collection. Are they available for commercial use? If so, for how long? I see many font/graphic bundle websites are changing their Terms of Service, and their fonts will no longer be available for commercial use. I do not want to start using a font that I will have to replace shortly. Please advise.
I think a lot of them were dependent on the particular font and the font authors. I did my best to grab most that were available for commercial use, but I’d suggest checking on individual font pages for specific licensing.