These 21 Free Masculine Fonts are a bit of a gentlemanly take on our usual font round ups. There's a bit of vintage flair to so many of them, too. Each of these hand-picked freebies is a great option for crafting, vinyl, and more. Download your favorite masculine fonts below.
While I tend to focus on more swirly and girly fonts around here, there is certainly a spot for some masculine fonts, as well. Whether it's a tall, blocky font, or maybe a quick signature-style, the overall vibe of these fonts is definitely on the manly side. And, they're a lot of fun to play around with, too (especially for invitations and such). I've included some of my favorite tips for pairing a number of these fonts together for an even more eye-pleasing result.
21 Masculine Fonts
I thought it would be fun to do companion font groups. This Masculine Fonts Post also has a Feminine Fonts Post that you may also enjoy. These free masculine took me a bit to compile, but I'm really happy with all of the ones that made the cut. I made sure all are safe to use on all of your personal items. I also was pretty picky with what I felt defined a "Masculine Font": I wanted each font to feel sophisticated, yet a bit fun, too. And a few have that tailored suit feel that I was really excited about. Again, all of these are for personal use. If you want to use them in a commercial manner, most of the font designers have provided options for licensing on their download page.
I've also started making font pairing tips a regular part of my round ups. It's fun to see how some of these fonts really look in action.
Below are a wide variety of masculine fonts. Some are great for sign-making, some fabulous for making your own prints to frame and display. They'd ALL look fantastic on simple invitations (think birthday parties, etc). You can also just print them out and use them for home labeling (it's nice to make labeling a bit fun, isn't it?). The possibilities are endless with these freebies.
Installing Your Masculine Fonts
As I always start with: I'm a life-long Mac user and it's truly all I know. But, there is a great font installation guide for PC users here on Wikihow that can definitely help you in that department.
To install these free fonts on your Mac (since this is what I know, I do a tutorial on that the best), you can follow along with my steps below:
Installing Fonts on a Mac:
- After you have download your new masculine font, locate it in your download folder (or wherever you've downloaded your font).
- Open the folder of the font (there may not be an actual folder with every font, it may just be the actual file, in which case, you won't have to open a folder).
- Double click the .ttf or .otf file (I prefer to use .otf. or Open Type Format files when they're available. They can be resized or manipulated without compromising quality. But, they're not always available.).
- After you've double clicked the .ttf or .otf file, a dialog box should automatically pop up.
- Click that 'Install Font' button (as pictured above) and your installation will automatically begin (it only takes just a few seconds for the entire install).
- Check your Font Book (this can be found in your applications folder) to make sure the font is there and you can start using it immediately.
Free Masculine and Manly Fonts
Below, you'll just click on the image or name under each font name to be taken to its download site. Be sure to check each designer's Terms of Use, as most of these fonts are for personal use only (but many have commercial licensing available).
I just love the look of this classic signature style font. Autography is such a great "straight up and down" script that definitely seems like the autograph of a movie star.
The capital letters of Bricktown add an extra dose of fun to this font. It's such a sophisticated print with lots of great details.
This Les Sensations de Cerise font is definitely more intense than others, but that makes it a bit more interesting, too. I like how some of the lowercase letters are actually just smaller versions of capitalized letters...this very much reminds me of my dad's handwriting.
If you're looking for a thicker font with a slightly playful attitude, this Milton Keynes font is the winner. I really like the capital K in this one.
Caslon is just a classic font that you truly can't go wrong with. It's a subtle serif with a bit more panache than your typical Times New Roman.
Oh my! This East Liberty Signature font is such a fun and sophisticated. There are so many of the characters that truly stand out as works of art (that capital E!).
I really like how the center point or midline in the La Chambre font changes with each character (but is never in the actual center). It's such a beautiful, exaggerated serif font that is perfect for a manly font list.
While Photograph Signature is the thickest of our signature fonts in this list, it's still quite classy and sophisticated. The oversized capital letters are my favorite.
The Riverflows font is another one that is interesting to play around with. To get a slight glyph on certain letters (like the R and the L), simply capitalize them. Even though it's an all-caps font, it still has that fun feature to distinguish some letters more than others.
I think my best description for Strong Hand Caps is manly, yet a bit playful. While it's a messier font than most, that aspect is kind of fun and unexpected.
What a gorgeous and graceful font! The Artisan is masculine, yet still feels kind of neutral, too. And I love all of the letter overlaps and characters that dip and rise. Such a beauty!
This is definitely not the first time I've included the Varsity font in a round up, but it's that classic letterman jacket number that nobody can resist. It has two variations, too: the lowercase doesn't have the outline.
The Stronger font certainly lives up to its name with big, bold, brush strokes. This all-caps font is more on the decorative side and probably best not used in large sections of text.
This font, The Soul of Vodka, is a super versatile one. It looks awesome both in all-caps and mixed caps. It's a very distinguished font, too!
While it's not named to be a "signature font", Right Strongline certainly has all of the characteristics of one. I love how this font is both casual and sophisticated at the same time.
The designer of the Old Style font is very generous and provides lots of versions of this font...one is in all caps. This is such a vintage classic that is easy to pair with so many other fonts.
If you need a good, solid script font, Generation is a fantastic choice. This nice, strong font is perfect for so many uses and would be easy to weed when used with vinyl.
This Catchy Things font is a bit of a quirky font with interesting spacing that gives it a very organic feel. It's a good all-caps font with lots of uses.
The Band of Reality Font is another great all-caps font that is super user friendly. I also really enjoy a nice skinny font...especially a serif one, which can be rare.
I think the Daniel font is the handwriting of a lot of gentlemen out there (my husband included). It's a super casual font that works in a variety of settings.
I feel like Butler is another classic that we can't live without. It's got great lines and is, in my opinion, the perfect serif font.
Masculine Font Pairing Ideas
While all of the above free manly fonts look quite handsome on their own, most are even better paired up with a friend. Below, I've included some masculine font pairing ideas for you to put into practice with your own creations. I have links for you below the list, as well (which includes fonts from this list of Masculine Fonts). The best piece of advice I often give when pairing fonts: have a good time with it! But, there are a few rules of thumb for font pairing and usage to make things look extra special and fabulous:
- Try to avoid pairing two glyph-filled fonts together (these are the swirls at the end of some characters in certain fonts). The swirlier fonts can be quite ornate in nature and would compete with one another. It is also be a little tough on the eyes.
- Pair a thicker, heavier weighted-font with a skinny font (it's a surefire winner, every time!).
- Pair a script font with a print font (combine this with the thicker/skinny idea and you've got a really great thing going on).
- I also like to do all caps with one font and pair it with a script font in all lowercase, but that's just my own preference. There are several all caps fonts in this collection where this trick would be perfect to use.
- When I do the above pairing, I often do the script font on "top", allowing it to sit on the all-caps font. The all-caps font acts as the perfect "base". You can see how I did that in the first font combination illustrated below.
- While this doesn't have anything to do with font pairing, I feel like it is Font Etiquette 101. Never use ALL-CAPS with a cursive or swirly font. It's just really unfortunate to look at and makes my eyes hurt (both literally and figuratively, friends).
Interesting Font Combinations to Try:
hold the cream: Photograph Signature
COFFEE SHOPPE: Bricktown
WALTER: The Soul of Vodka
is Turning Fifty!: Generation
hudson's: Milton Keynes
HABERDASHERY: Strong Hand Caps
EVENING POETRY: La Chambre
with the gentlemen's league of rhyme: Generation
More Free Fonts
- And don't forget the companion set of fonts to today's Masculine Fonts: these 21 Free Feminine Fonts.
- My free Typewriter Font Downloads are really vintage-y and unique. They're also versatile for a variety of uses, too.
- And these Free Farmhouse Font Downloads are a reader-favorite around here. They are lovely on signs and framed printables to add to your decor.
- Since I love KG fonts, be sure to check out this entire round up of Kimberly Geswein fonts over at Yellow Bliss Road.
- And, if you're in the market for great fonts to use with a Cricut or Silhouette machine, see this list over at Naptime Alternative.
Thank you, Kristi!! I love these fonts, and all the ones you have shared before.
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