Let’s set the scene. You have your custom t-shirt idea. You have your words, colors, design—all the things. Now it’s time to choose the best t-shirt fonts. But what do you want your shirt font to say about the wearer? Who’s your target audience?
When picking fonts for t-shirts, it’s important to consider who will be wearing your design. You don’t want the cool Gen Z dance team you’re working with saying their competition t-shirts are cheugy. And you definitely want your customers to wear your shirt proudly long after the event instead of immediately demoting it to their pajama drawer. So how do you choose the best font for t-shirts, and specifically for your t-shirts?
We put the personality in your t-shirts with our print and embroidery services. Get startedwith us after you choose your favorite fonts for shirts! Upload your design to see how it all looks together or let us know how we can help you with a seamless order process. But first, let’s tackle this font question.
Basic Font Breakdown
Quick crash course, coming at ya. There are a few different font styles you can choose from when putting the final touches on your design.
Serif fonts are defined by their serifs, which are the extra bits at the ends of the letter’s strokes.
Sans serif fonts are fonts, well, without those serifs.
Script fonts emulate a fluid stroke or handwriting.
And finally, decorative fonts have extreme features to them and are typically used for ornamental purposes rather than main text in a design.
It's no secret that personality tests are all the rage these days, and we think that fonts (and the ones we are drawn to over others) may actually reveal core truths about our personalities, values, and interests.
So, with that, we're here to give you a little insight into what your customer’s favorite kind of t-shirt fonts might say about them.
If They Like Serif Fonts…
They enjoy the classics!
Times New Roman? A jam. Garamond? Even better.
They love to relax with a hot cup of tea and a good book. They read the morning paper—even if it’s on their phone. They have a competitive collection of cardigans only rivaled by Taylor Swift.
They expect their fashion sense to exude the same level of poise and posture to which they aspire. If they’re wearing a t-shirt, it’s classy. High-end. Posh. There’s probably a joke about Shakespeare involved.
Nothing says “take me seriously” like a serif font. If you want your t-shirts to attract folks who listen to classical music with the windows open on cool mornings, you can’t go wrong with serifs.
Check out some of these serif fonts for t-shirts:
Special Elite
Ultra
Abril
Yeseva One
Libre Baskerville
If They Like Sans Serif Fonts…
They’re chill. Chillaxed. Cool as a winter Florida evening when the sun goes down at 5 p.m.
Arial? Sounds good. Helvetica? Helveti-yes.
They love three-day weekends. They kick off their shoes the first chance they get. They keep their freezer stocked with their favorite frozen treat so they’re always ready to wind down at the end of the day.
They live in t-shirts. Bonus if their t-shirt is super soft and double bonus if it’s oversized. In fact, triple bonus if it says something along the lines of “One More Episode” or features their favorite podcast. They also wore biker shorts with big t-shirts before it was a trend.
Use a sans serif font to give your t-shirt a relaxed vibe. These fonts are typically easy to read, which makes it easier for you to get your message across. And that’s the perfect way to get the attention of folks who like to take it easy.
Explore these sans serif fonts for t-shirts:
Oswald
Montserrat
Archivo Narrow
Anton
Zenzero Sans
If They Like Script Fonts…
They’re a little bit extra. But in a good way!
Permanent Marker? A favorite. Pacifico? Kicking it up a notch.
They love throw pillows. They wait to say “when” to stop the cheese a few seconds longer than everyone else at Olive Garden. Chances are, they also curate their Instagram feed to fit a certain color theme or style or pattern.
They’re a master of the French tuck and any outfit isn’t complete until they throw a blazer over their t-shirt. They understand that casual wear is just a suggestion, so they style their t-shirts to stand out above the rest. Contrary to popular belief, wearing t-shirts isn’t beneath them. They just demand a certain amount of elegance to their t-shirt style! Script fonts look especially good on a t-shirt when the design utilizes custom embroidery—it's perfect for bringing a bit of elegance to your final product.
Script fonts deliver that elegance. Out of all the kinds of shirt fonts you could choose from, the right script font for you can make or break your shirt design. Take your t-shirt from cheugy to trendy by picking one of these suggestions.
Best script fonts for t-shirts:
Sacramento
Caveat Brush
Homemade Apple
Lobster
Amithen Brush
If They Like Decorative Fonts…
They’re fun. It’s an indisputable fact. They’re the fun friend.
Love Ya Like A Sister? Love to see it. Wire One? Rad.
They love games—board games, computer games, puzzle games, phone games. They show up with a smoothie in hand, almost always. They have a massive supply of stickers they’ve been building up since grade school, and people love getting birthday cards from them to see which ones they’ve included.
T-shirts are a fashion staple in their wardrobe. They’ll wear t-shirts with anything, to anything, and for everything. They wear their t-shirts with ripped jeans, basketball shorts, roller blades, or over a swimsuit—whatever it is, they’re having fun!
Decorative fonts make the best fonts for t-shirts because they’re as fun as the folks who will want to wear them! Add a bit of pep in the font choice to make the t-shirt pop. Get ready to hear, “Where’d you get that?”
Take note of these decorative fonts for t-shirts:
Amatic SC
Barrio
Leah Gaviota
Architects Daughter
Glamy
We've got a great visual guide (and some free downloads) to some awesome fonts in our blog post 20 Free Font Downloads — and How to Use Them in Your Next T-Shirt Design!
More of a visual learner? We've also got a great video guide to designing with fonts in mind.
Talk to Us
Don’t let shirt fonts be the toughest decision you will make today. Make the choice an easy one and use these guidelines to get you started!
If you have any questions about a specific font and how it will look on one of our t-shirts, please drop us a line! We’d be happy to talk fonts with you any time.
P.S. Whatever you do, stay away from Comic Sans. Please.
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