9 Lesser-known Google Fonts You Really Need in Your Arsenal

If you've been designing or blogging for a while now, you're probably familiar with Google Fonts, Google's fantastic open-source library of typefaces, which made available around 600 fonts for free that we can use without any of the trouble of worrying whether our font is "web-safe" or not. No self-hosting required, no confusing licensing issues, just some code pasted in your site's <head>, simple as that.

(If you'd like to learn about exactly how to implement a Google web font in your site, check out their guide here. There are a couple of steps involved, but it's super simple.)

Unfortunately, many people criticise the quality of many of the fonts available, as well as being sick of seeing the same few fonts now used over and over again. Well, I for one believe that as a free library, it's still an amazing resource for designers at any level. Besides, as we know, it's not your tools, but how you use them.

So with that in mind, I thought it was about time to give you all a refresher in some of the best that Google Fonts has to offer. Some of these you may be familiar with, others are hidden gems that you may have skimmed over, or maybe that you weren't aware were even available! You're welcome. By the way, if you need more detailed instructions on how to use Google Font s we will be posting a follow up article that will take you through some beginner and advanced methods. But for now, enjoy and soak it up.

(I've also linked to each font to make it easy for you to pop it in your website. Thank me later.)

1. Arvo

2. Bevan

3. Hammersmith One

4. Sanchez

5. Raleway

6. Roboto Slab

7. Righteous

8. Josefin Slab

9. Lato

(I know, this isn't a "lesser-known" font... but I'm a big fan of Lato in online spaces, and I still think it holds up, so I'm sticking with it.)

Google Fonts Artwork by Matter Solutions is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. It's free to share anywhere for non-commercial use, with attribution back to us 🙂

So many Google Fonts, not enough time!

Want to know more about Google Fonts? Check out some websites with beautiful use of Google Fonts that we all take for granted. Or, if you're in the midst of trying things out yourself, download the Google Font Previewer for Chrome which enables you to quickly apply a font to see how it looks.

What are you favourite Google Fonts?

Tag: fonts