Looking for free font combinations? That’s probably because you realize that nothing will ruin your design faster than the wrong fonts.
That amazing headline you came up with, the words you worked hard to write, the sidebar copy or call out text you want to emphasize … they’ll all be ignored when you use the wrong fonts to communicate them.
Even worse: the wrong font styles might communicate the exact opposite of what you intend, sending a confusing mixed message to your reader.
Fonts give meaning to your words
When you choose fonts carefully, they magnify the meaning behind the words you write. Choose fonts that express your brand personality, and your marketing will make a lasting impact.
These free font combinations work, and they’re yours for the taking
This site exists because I want to help you show your business in the best light.
I have worked with fonts professionally for more than 30 years. How about you take advantage of my experience and borrow these great-looking (and free) font combinations for your next project?
Bonus: I’m sharing the font names and links to where you can find them right in this post.
Gandhi Sans and Alegreya
Two highly readable, open typefaces come together for crisp, clear communication.
Merriweather and Merriweather Sans
You’ve got to love it when a typeface designer creates both a serif and a sans-serif version of the same font. It’s a guaranteed perfect match.
Dynalight and Gentium
A headline typeface with a big personality combined with a classic, easy-on-the-eyes text typeface.
Podkova and Source Sans Pro
At first glance, these two may not look like they’d be a good match. But on closer inspection, the letter forms blend nicely. It’s a unique combination that works.
Antonio and Lora
Opposites attract in this match made in heaven: a sans-serif condensed typeface holds its own with an open, readable serif typeface.
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14 thoughts on “Font Styles that Work: 5 Favorite Free Font Combinations”
I love your font combination posts. My background is in book publishing, and identifying fonts used to be one of my favorite pastimes to keep my skills up to date. Once I moved into web development, where font options were immediately reduced to five, I stopped paying much attention to individual letter forms. I’ve never lost my appreciation for beautiful fonts, though. I’m delighted that websites can now include font choices that help reflect and carry the message of the content.
On personal taste alone, which is poor criterion for selecting fonts, my favorite combinations in this post are the first–Gandhi Sans and Alegreya–and the last–Antonio and Lora. I’m intrigued by the fourth combination–Podkova and Source Sans Pro. I’m definitely going to keep that one in mind for a project that’s beginning to take shape in my brain.
For the website I’m currently developing, I’m using Open Sans Condensed and Noto Serif, a combination that resembles your Antonio and Lora combination.
Thanks, Linda. I love-love-love fonts, and could create combinations all day long …
I’m delighted with our available choices for web fonts now. Such a relief from all those years of Time Roman and Verdana!
I remember how excited I was when Georgia and Trebuchet were added to the mix of web font options! Times New Roman is still a viable font option for both print and web, but I think we’ve all become just plain sick-to-death of it.
Please, keep those font combinations coming. I could spend all day studying them to figure out what makes them work.
These are such beautiful combinations. I think I like the Podkova combo and the Merriweather combo best.
Quick question though…If I send someone a Word document using fonts they don’t have on their computer, what happens? Does Word just replace them with something else?
Thanks for the great design tips!
Hi Sharyn,
Glad you like them!
You’re correct: for a Word doc, the recipient will need to have the font installed in order to see it. If you save the doc as a PDF, though, your fonts will be preserved and the recipient won’t need to have them installed.
Love the combinations, Pamela – especially Merriweather and Gandhi Sans. I have to try those fonts. I just wish I could use them for eBooks. PDF doesn’t store fonts, right? They only support the default fonts.
I have in-built Google integration with many of my themes, so some of these fonts are already available to me. Thanks for the link to Fontsquirrel. I see a lot of familiar fonts there (like Quicksand from Picmonkey).
I should try designing fonts on my own (I remembering bookmarking an awesome designing site; seems like I deleted it).
Anyways, thank you for the resources, Pamela. Appreciate the share!
Hi Jeevan,
You shouldn’t have any trouble using these fonts in ebooks: one of the beauties of PDFs is the reader doesn’t need to have the fonts you used on their system in order to enjoy them.
Perfect timing – I’m just writing my first ebook and I think Merriweather Sans will be great! Thanks for sharing all of these fonts, Pamela!
Glad you like Gentium, Leigh. It’s a full family of fonts, so there are lots of styles to choose from.
Thanks for your comment!
Thanks added to those written. I, too, find fonts a thing of beauty (or the opposite, used poorly). A central question that bubbles up for me when ever I think of getting a new one for my website though:
If I publish my WP site with a font that’s “unusual” or not in common use, how do browsers portray that for my many readers, Pamela? I’d not like to leave that to chance.
I’m really enticed by what you’ve published here, though! May be time for a change!
Hi Will,
Custom fonts can now be “served up” by Google, Typekit, or any other company you may work with for this purpose. This post shares more details: https://www.pamelawilson.com/typeface-combinations-that-work-on-the-web/
Because your readers don’t have to have the fonts installed on their computer, you can pick any custom font you’d like from these services. If (for some reason) the font doesn’t display, a “fall back” font is displayed that comes as close as possible to your custom font.
A lot of website owners are using fonts served up by Google for free, which is why I chose some of their fonts for these combinations.
Thanks, Pamela, for the wonderful font combos. You are so great this this. You said you could pick font combos all day. When I go into the font gallery — I get font overload and have a hard time picking — and usually can’t pick any with confidence. Can you give me some ideas to get unstuck from font paralysis?
Hi Lee,
One thing you could try is to do some thinking BEFORE you hunt for fonts. What style are you looking for? What will work best for the particular job or client you’re working on?
If you can eliminate some of the options, it should be less overwhelming once you start looking.
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