Dec 2015
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Dec 2015
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phen
Dec '15

I've been trying to find a good font to use for my comics for years and I've yet to come across one I like enough! I hand write everything, it's so time consuming. Sometimes it looks really nice (especially for yelling/anger/alarm, the organic energy you can get by freehanding the words is great!), other times, it can be a strain on the reader.

I recently made a font using myscriptfont4 and, while it's certainly not something to bank on, it could help you figure out the best geometric complement to your linestyle. Here's a little demo of what I made in the programme using my tablet and photoshop:

capturetext.PNG853x177 78.5 KB

Still needs tweaking but it's really fun to play with!

Aetherwing
Dec '15

I actually use one font for everything which is a font I created myself. The majority my onomatopoeia is hand drawn, but I usually keep it pretty simple looking.

nobody
Dec '15
1

So far I've used only one font in my comic (which is a series of one-pagers), but I'm working on longer stories too, and I try to stick with only one font there as well, and use bold/italics for variation.

I paid for a font on Blambot3 called Billy the Flying Robot. The pay fonts are very cheap there, and I wanted a font that had a very hand drawn, whimsical feeling to it, with the extra characters and features that come with the pay fonts (for instance the ability to write the Norwegian letters æ, ø, å, plus more).

joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
Dec '15

Demon House and Heavy Horns uses Humana Sans ITC light, and I use medium for any yelling, emphasized, or bold parts.
Erie Waters uses Tekton Pro bold condensed for the main text, bold oblique for the ghosts' dialogue.

Mharz
Dec '15

Here's the font I use (although I'm not really sure if it would fit well with your comic art)

Normal chat: digital strip 2.0 italic
Yelling: digital strip 2.0 bold
Extra emphasis: geek a byte 2.0 (though I'm thinking of changing this)

eschaefges
Dec '15
phen

There goes the rest of my night...

somvi
Dec '15
Mharz

I like Digital strip but sometimes it spaces things out too much so I use Backissues for slightly more compressed text.

AnnaLandin
Dec '15
somvi

@somvi You're welcome. : ) Klepon Scone is actually pretty close to what my handwriting looks like when I make a serious effort - but for me to get my handwriting that neat consistently, I have to slow down to a crawl. Most of the time, my handwriting is so bad even I have trouble reading it, so my options are either "lettering takes three weeks and looks awkward and crooked" or "I think those are letters, but I'm not sure". And as I haven't bothered making my own font, Klepon Scone is a nice solution.

jacintawibowo
Dec '15

Tales from the Well2 is weird in terms of lettering and fonts because we're intentionally experimenting with the fonts we use to portray different voices.
-For Prince Deryn/ the caption boxes we use "Unmasked"
-For screaming, yelling, monsters, sound effects, excited children, everything else: my handwriting XD
-I'm experimenting with later pages to use a font of my handwriting for caption boxes. The effect isn't the same as writing it myself, but it works for a slight whimsical effect =)

SethJH
Dec '15

I use a font called Komika7. It's 100% free, and was developed "with the intention of giving indie comic writers access to a font that isn't Tekton or Sans without having to pay for a pro font". I also use my own handwritten lettering for the non-dialogue text around the page for effect.

fonts.jpg1024x355 152 KB

I also recently got a font called "TallMarker" as part of some huge typography kit sale. The sale's over now and I'm not sure where or how much the font is normally. TallMarker closely resembles the handwritten text I was doing initially. My only complaint about the font is that there's no '' or ' characters for some odd reason and it's frustrating. I have to use a different font to get ''

In terms of background text (like on walls, signs, etc...) it's usually what looks best for the application, although a common choice for me (as it is a sci-fi theme) is called Outlier (another free font it seems. Some people call it the "Star Wars" font when they see it in my work, but it's not the star wars font).

carodoodles
Dec '15

I'm a big believer of using hand-lettering. It gives your comics an unique and more warmth/personalized feeling.

The problem: My handwriting is terrible lmao. So I tried using a free website that allows you to create your own font based on your handwriting. Then trace over it. But the kerning isn't really great. See below for an example of earlier pages in my comics The Satrians.

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 3.15.30 AM.png1638x776 1.37 MB

So I decided to use Please write me a song1 from dafont then trace over it. I'm liking it so much better.

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 3.13.44 AM.png1656x786 1.23 MB

Just head up, with some fonts from DaFont, you might have to manually fix the spaces between lines, sometimes fix the kerning. Manually doing it every time you make a dialogue can be a pain in ass. So instead, what I do is save the action under 'Action' in photoshop. And I just type out dialogues in regular default fonts in PS- doesn't matter which one. Then I highlight it, then play the 'replace font' action that I've created. And ta-dah, you're all set!

AnnaLandin
Dec '15

This is definitely true of Klepon Scone - the linespacing is very generous, and sometimes the kerning as well. I've gotten so used to fixing it that I don't even think about it any more - and it's actually a pretty nice reminder to myself. When the speechbubbles start getting so full that I have to adjust the linespacing for stuff to fit, I'm probably using too many words. XD

mariusthered
Dec '15

wow thanks for all the responses so far peeps.
I will take a look at some of your fonts. later I will post the ten fonts I use the most.

shaylafarley5
Dec '15

I just use times new roman, when I first started my comic I tried different fonts and I didn't like them. But when it comes to yelling, whispering and sound effects I make my own, just warp it here and there. Use a little skew and perspective and add shadows or highlights and it good.

1 month later
Shanny8
Jan '16

I use fancy fonts in a minute. I'm really particular about the style of fonts I want to use, so yeah- I went out and bought some.

zoonland
Jan '16

For my comic Zoonland3, I use Anime Ace 2.0 BB4. Sometimes in bold, sometime italicising it. I prefer to make my characters play the different emotions through their facial expressions.
I think it's a very complete font, the best I've found in years.