The 10 Most Popular Google Fonts of 2018

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Google Fonts is an open source collection of nearly 900 font families that are used by graphic designers, web designers and content specialists for both digital and print design projects. Google Fonts have been downloaded over 19 Billion times by users. All the fonts are available for download from the Google Fonts GitHub repository or you can download the font library into your server. While companies like Adobe and others have followed suit and built their own font directories, Google Fonts remains the top choice for personal and professional use due to its breadth of quality open source font options.

As content controls your messaging and the purpose for your advertisement, blog post, logo or general brand communications, it’s important to pick the right font. Without a personal representation or auditory source for context surrounding a message, font style can help establish tone and create an immersive experience for visitors. This helps to create a connection and establish brand identity.

There is no detail too small to overlook. Selecting the default font in any scenario is a surefire way to blend in with the rest of the buzz on the internet. If you want to stand out and truly represent your brand properly, you need to carefully select a font that meets the need of the moment. Whether that moment is a sales page or a header picture, a font can make or break the user perception and engagement with your content.

There are a number of font varieties within Google Fonts, therefore, finding the right font for your website or graphic designs can be tedious. Establishing a few go-to fonts can make decision making more efficient for marketing and creative teams. For your convenience, we’ve put together a short list of 10 of the most popular Google Fonts for graphic designers, web designers and marketing professionals.

10 Best Google Fonts for Designers This Year

#1 Open Sans

It’s one sans serif typeface font mainly optimized for web, print media and for mobile to make characters appear bold and legible. Open Sans is more of a professional and clean looking font. There are 10 different styles of Open Sans font – from light to bold.

#2 Roboto

Roboto is also a sans-serif font which is has been popularized as the standard font for the Android operating system. Similar to Open Sans, Roboto font has 12 different styles – the standard Roboto family of fonts can also be used along with Roboto Slab and Roboto Condensed family. Roboto font is used across 20+ million web pages online today.

#3 Lato

In Polish, Lato means “Summer”. Lato font was developed by a Polish designer. When he started his work, it was initially designed as a set of corporate fonts for a client. Later, the designer gave the font a different style and made the font publicly available. The font contains a combination of strong characters and semi-rounded details around the edges of the letters. Lato font is used by 9+ million web pages on the internet.

#4 Raleway

Raleway is a font specially intended for large size text and headings. Raleway has 9 different font types varying based on the weight. The Raleway font is used across more than 8 million websites as of today. The download offers both TrueType and OpenType formats.

#5 Montserrat

The Montserrat font was designed by Julieta Ulanovsky from Buenos Aires after finding inspiration from the old posters and signs in the Montserrat neighborhood. Montserrat has a classic urban style and well designed for making body text and headline content. Montserrat has 18 different font types and the font has two sister families called Alternates and Subrayada. Montserrat is also used in about 9 million websites as of today.

#6 PT Sans

PT, the short form of ParaType, started in 1998 as a project for the “Public Types in Russian Federation.” In addition to PT Sans, there is also the PT Serif font. Most of the PT Sans font usage comes from Russia.

#7 Source Sans Pro

The Sans Pro is amongst the most commonly used fonts for application user interfaces. Using this font makes the text highly readable in the user interface. A sans-serif typeface font, the font has 12 different style variations. This font is the first ever developed open source typeface font by Adobe. More than 4 million websites feature the Source Sans Pro font.

#8 Oswald

The main intention of the Oswald font is its ability to be used across web browsers of all devices such as desktops, laptops and mobile devices. The Oswald font is known to have replaced the historic Alternate Gothic’ sans serif font. Over five and a half million websites on the internet make use of the Oswald font today.

#9 Lora

Lora is one of the best suited fonts that will work perfectly on multiple screens as well as in print mediums. Lora font has 4 different styles and the font is best suited for the body text content in web pages. The curvy nature of the font with the serif makes this font look different and elegant when compared to other fonts. Over 1.5 million websites use the Lora font to showcase their content.

#10 Work Sans

Work Sans is a font best suited for websites and web page content (on-screen content). This font comes with 9 different styles. The best recommended size range is between the 14-48px for the Regular and others in the middle of the family. The boldest fonts can be best suited for print as well as web.

These are just a few from the vast list of the fonts that are available under the Google Fonts brand. Each font has its signature look and can apply to different purposes according to each brand’s specific needs. As with all graphic design projects, it comes down to what suits a brand’s identity and the purpose for each particular marketing campaign, social post, online page, etc.

Find the fonts that work for your purpose and explore the ways in which that font can help tell your story.