5 Pinoy Culture-Inspired Fonts to Download Now
By Tim Alcantara
May 11, 2022
Choosing a typeface can make or break any campaign. The right font can communicate as much as any visual about a brand with its target audience. With thousands of fonts scattered online, there is a website that has a collection of fonts inspired by Filipino culture, like our native baybayin language or our jeepney street signs.
Founded by designer Jo Malinis, Type63 is a website that features over 70 free and paid type designs and fonts that can help level up your typography game. Here are some of the distinct Pinoy-designed typefaces on the website.
Bawal Sans is the DNA of the do-it-yourself signs we see everywhere: a no-nonsense font that is as loud and clear a statement as the message itself is. It is a good font of choice if you want to tell your audience to get a job done now, fast, period. The font is inspired from the sprawl of signages in Cubao, Quezon City sans the niceties of the Metro Manila urban jungle.
Another street-inspired font is Cubao Free V2. It is a display typeface dedicated to the Filipino Sign makers, Jeepney drivers, and the daily commuters of Metro Manila and anywhere in the Philippines. It is inspired by the signboards hanging on jeepneys, SUVs, Buses and other transport vehicles within and outside the Metro.
Feeling nostalgic? Liham might just be the right font for you. Liham is a serif display typeface that replicates the clean yet handmade style that's commonly found in older Philippine stamps, paying homage to the often unseen service that postage stamps have done, and continue to do for our national identity.
Indigenous people can also find their voice through typeface in Lumad Free. Inspired by the native people of Bukidnon, the typeface showcases the incredible beadwork and craftsmanship of Filipinos through its letters.
LL Karatula is a font inspired by the hand-painted outdoor signages in the Philippines. A more common sight in the 90's and the early 2000's, it is a typeface derived from signages of local groceries and rice vendors where dealers use permanent markers. The same writing style is also observed on tricycle stations, barangay outposts and markets even up to this day.
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Visit Type 63’s website to access more fonts. You can also read another story that features Type 63 on “Developing National Characters.”
