FREE Script Fonts and Script Font Pairing Tips

Looking for FREE script fonts? Scroll down to see some choices and access the download links.

Pairing script fonts with complimentary typefaces can be tricky. First, you have to find a beautiful, legible script font. That’s a tall order, because some have letters that don’t match up properly with each other, have uneven spacing in between letters or have characters that are downright unreadable.

If you haven’t been looking for these issues when you choose fonts, you would be wise to put them on your radar–especially before choosing a script typeface for something important, like a logo. We had multiple problems with the Chadwick and White logo. Look at what I encountered with just the first word when I looked at it in raw form in the chosen font, Buffet Script Regular:

And that’s just one word! To address those issues, and other more subtle ones that I won’t get into here, I ended up using bits and pieces of the font to recreate some of the letters, and the spaces between letters. Most people aren’t this fanatical, nor are they willing to spend hours wrestling a typeface into submission. That’s why you need to choose your font carefully, based on your particular usage. Every word obviously creates a different combination of letters, so you want to make sure your particular text will read properly, flow visually and look beautiful overall.

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Putting it all together

Once you have your script, many times you’ll need to pair it with a font that will enhance it, but not fight for attention. This too can be tricky. There can be many options, but I’ve shown six that I think are attractive pairs. Your mileage may vary, of course. It would be difficult to explain why I chose these pairings. It’s a matter of my personal taste, in addition to let’s-not-say-how-many decades of working with fonts.

The secondary fonts shown are probably on your computer. If not, they (or very similar variations) would be easy to locate with a web search.

Download Glider Girls

This is free for personal or nonprofit use; or for commercial use, if you provide a link back to the designer. There is also a commercial license available if you don’t want to provide the link.