When you’re designing within a genre, you need the right fonts at hand. Otherwise, you risk setting the wrong tone and/or leaving your audience confused. The fantasy genre in particular is one full of tropes and types and although these can seem limiting, sometimes it’s when you’re working within limits that the most creative ideas are born. While your creation might sit alongside and face comparison to Game of Thrones, Magic: The Gathering or The Legend of Zelda, originality is the aim so it’s important to have typefaces in your arsenal that evoke the right atmosphere while giving you scope to create something fresh.
To compile our list of 12 fantasy fonts, we’ve spoken to experienced designers in gaming and publishing. It’s a list we hope will give you new ideas, and there is certainly a great deal more to fantasy fonts than blackletter variants. A few of these sets are available as free fonts, and some are also within Adobe fonts so it’s worth checking.
The best fantasy fonts for your project
01. Magic Ivy
This beautiful, mystical font evokes the idea of enchanted roots and vines that reach, grab, climb and entangle, ultimately blotting out the sun and suffocating their victim. Or perhaps they calmly wend their way across the pages of a children’s book, or tome of druidic lore. At $18/£14.99, Magic Ivy is bound to grow on you.
02. Arnold Böcklin
Art Nouveau stylings are trending at the moment in design for luxury goods, and similarly when it comes to nymphs, sprites and fairies an Art Nouveau font can be an ideal match. Arnold Böcklin was a late Romantic painter and this type family in his honour costs $35/£35 for two styles.
03. Darklands
Blackletter isn’t the preserve of motorcycle gangs and neo-Nazi tattoos. Darklands is a blackletter-inspired typeface that feels crafted and sophisticated – an ideal font for tales of immortal vampires and werewolf terror. The terminals on the lowercase 'L' and 'T' are exquisite. Published by Envato, Darklands is part of a subscription, starting at €14.50 per month.
04. AvQest
With a cross in the 'O', AvQest by GemFonts has a crusader vibe to it, however its geometric nature, quirky slab serifs and unexpected angles also hint towards alchemical symbols and nomenclature. It makes an impression like chisel in stone and is free for commercial use.
05. Ametis
There isn’t much to Ametis other than a lithe and very elegant set of capital letters, although with all the accents it numbers 752 glyphs. With its modern feel but classic foundations, Ametis makes for beautiful cover typography or chapter openers which look strikingly different in the fantasy category. It costs $20/£15.97.
06. Enchanted Land DS
If Darklands doesn’t tick your gothic boxes, perhaps Enchanted Land will fit the bill. It too steps away from the tropes of the blackletter category with swooshes and flourishes reminiscent of a prince’s standard fluttering in the wind. It costs a king’s ransom, though, at $125/£99.87 for commercial use.
07. Seven Swordsmen
Come forth ye blades, ye musketeers, a quest awaits thee. Seven Swordsmen only has a basic character set however it goes over the top on adventure and heroism. This is a typeface bringing fun to fantasy and don’t those horizontal strokes look lethal? Starts at $40 per license.
08. Vectis
Eye catching for its Monumental style, the Vectis family was inspired by Roman inscriptions but doesn’t feel ancient. It includes four capital and three miniscule fonts in bold and regular. Play around with the tracking and its ligatures for some pretty classy fantasy display options. Great value at $62.95/£50.29 for the set.
09. Libra
Libra is a simple and perfectly balanced font drawn by Roger White in the 1990s, typifying italic calligraphy. It’s now in the public domain and is ideal for projects such as creating a map similar to the one Bilbo Baggins drew for Frodo following his unexpected journey.
10. Blumen
Begin your manuscript with a capital from Blumen Initials, then continue in Blumen Regular and you’ll come up something bloomin’ marvellous. It’s the perfect formula for spell books and quasi-religious texts reminiscent of old Saxon scripture. Tighten the tracking a little to heighten the medieval effect. Just $21/£19.96 for the family.
11. Vinque
Vinque was inspired by lettering created by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement at the end of the 19th century, who themselves were influenced by European folklore and mythology. With 14 fonts for $29.95, it’s flexible and very legible compared to typical gothic typefaces.
12. First Order
When you’re creating headers or titles and you need something that hints at Elvish riddles and runes, perhaps First Order will solve the conundrum. Like Libra, this is a font that steers towards Tolkien – even more so, in fact – and it’s free although Iconian Fonts asks for a $20 donation.
For more great fonts, see our graffiti fonts, script fonts and handwriting fonts roundups.
