40 fonts that will be popular with designers in 2023

Once you’ve been a designer long enough, it’s common to find yourself sticking to the same, tried-and-tested typefaces year in, year out. But while that may make it easy to keep churning out good, solid, dependable designs, it does run the risk of becoming… well, a little boring.

So it’s always good to look for new fonts that can help you mix things up, experiment, and hopefully come up with visuals that will entice and excite you.

To help you stay abreast, each year, we put a lot of effort into researching the fonts that are currently in use throughout the design world and whittle down the most important, useful and intriguing ones for you to consider. (Check out last year’s roundup here). While our list can never be fully comprehensive, we hope it gives you a flavour of how 2022 has shaped next year’s big expected hitters and what fonts will likely be big in 2023.

Of course, just because a particular font is “trending” doesn’t mean you should use it. But you should at least keep your mind open to the possibility. In the words of Sarah Hyndman, author of the bestselling book Why Fonts Matter: “What I’d say about type trends is for designers not to get too hung up on them and to focus on what’s appropriate for the audience. However, I’ve always found trends fascinating because they reflect the cultural attitudes of the moment.”

With that in mind, below, you’ll find 40 fantastic fonts for 2023. First, though, let’s set some context as our experts point to some key font trends that have characterised 2022 so far, and we can expect to see more of over the coming 12 months.

Six big font trends for 2023

1. Accessibility for all

Accessibility is vital when it comes to type. After all, if members of your audience literally can’t read the text you have typeset, you have failed them 100 per cent. So it’s good news that discussion around neurodiversity and inclusivity has been one of the big typography trends of 2022, says Kirsty Minns, executive creative director at Mother Design.

That said, she still feels things need to be pushed further. “Brands can do so much more than producing larger type sizes and opening up kerning,” says Kirsty. “You can still be imaginative, colourful and functional at the same time. With 17% of the global population diagnosed as neurodiverse, they make up a huge portion of audiences who need catering to. Accessibility and inclusivity will hopefully be essential to type conversations next year.”

As a shining example, she points to Wolff Olins’ rebrand for Understood, a non-profit organisation for those who learn or think differently. “This included a collaboration with Displaay Type Foundry and focused on understanding the needs of those with dyslexia and ADHD,” says Kirsty. “It was brilliantly considered, tackling legibility head-on without compromising on brand distinctiveness. Making certain characters more distinguishable for readers and improving readability is a simple but well-considered approach, and one that more brands should replicate in 2023.”