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Great graphic design is powered by great font selection. But picking great fonts is a challenge for most people. Luckily, Canva has made adding great fonts to your designs much easier. In this tutorial, our team of design experts will cover the best blackletter fonts in Canva.
What are Blackletter Fonts?
Blackletter fonts were widely used in Western Europe from the 12th to the 17th centuries. Despite their decreased popularity in recent centuries, they remain a popular choice for things like newspaper nameplates, diplomas, and certificates due to their formal and historical connotations. Blackletter fonts, also known as Gothic script, have several key characteristics:
- Heavy Strokes: Blackletter fonts have a strong, bold style with heavy strokes. This characteristic is part of why they’re called “blackletter” – the heavy strokes make the letters appear dark or black on the page.
- Angular Shapes: Blackletter fonts are characterized by angular and straight lines. They often have a diamond shape at the ends of the vertical and horizontal strokes.
- Limited Kerning: Blackletter fonts typically have limited kerning, meaning the letters are closely spaced. This can make the font appear dense or compact.
- Elaborate Capitals: Blackletter fonts usually feature elaborate capital letters with intricate details and embellishments.
- Long, Tall, Narrow Lowercase Letters: Lowercase letters in blackletter fonts are often tall and narrow with vertical emphasis.
- Broken Strokes: Another distinctive characteristic of blackletter typefaces is the broken appearance of their strokes, which are not smoothly connected, giving the typeface a fractured or fragmented look.
- Calligraphic Origin: Blackletter fonts are derived from early forms of calligraphy, so they retain some of the variation in line width characteristic of being drawn with a quill or brush.
Best Canva Blackletter Fonts
1. Ravenholm Inline
Ravenholm Inline is a modern gothic display font designed by Andriy Dykun and published by NREY. It features an inline style with a bold and distinctive look that is both elegant and powerful. The font is perfect for use in branding, headlines, posters, and other design projects where a modern and sophisticated look is desired.
2. Blak
Blak is a classic serif font designed by Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini and Andrea Tartarelli. It features a bold and elegant style with sharp serifs and a modern twist, making it perfect for use in branding, logos, and other design projects where a classic and timeless font is desired. The font family includes multiple styles and weights, making it versatile and easy to use in a variety of design applications.
3. Engraver’s Old English
Engraver’s Old English is a classic blackletter font with a traditional look and feel. It features a bold and ornate style, with intricate details and flourishes that give it a unique and elegant appearance. The font is perfect for use in branding, packaging, logos, and other design projects where a classic and timeless font is needed.
4. Wednesday
Wednesday is a unique and quirky display font that features a handwritten style with a playful and friendly vibe. It is designed with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, and each character has a slightly different style, making it look like a handwritten note. The font is perfect for use in branding, packaging, social media graphics, and other design projects where a fun and playful font is needed.
5. Germania One
Germania One is a blackletter font designed by John Vargas Beltrán. It is a modern take on the classic blackletter style, featuring a bold and distinctive look that is both elegant and powerful. The font includes one style, and it is available for both web and print use. Germania One is ideal for use in branding, headlines, posters, and other design projects where a classic and sophisticated look is desired.
6. Celandine
Celandine is a blackletter font that is designed in a modern style, minimalist and elegant, but still retains its classic look. It comes in two styles: regular and outline, making it easy to apply and combine with other fonts. The font is designed to be versatile and can be used for a variety of design purposes, including logos, headlines, and posters. It was inspired by various feeds on Instagram, books, and some classic designs. The font is available for purchase or download from various sources.
7. Obra Letra
Obra Letra is a vintage display typeface that pays homage to vintage Filipino literature types. It is designed with deep respect for the heritage and personality of Filipino literature. The font is available for free download from the Ayala Museum and J. Walter Thompson. It includes letters, numbers, multilanguage support, and dozens of alternate letters. It is best used when you want to imply authority, heritage, and personality in your designs.
8. Isabella
Isabella is a handwritten calligraphy font designed by Seniors Studio. It features a stylish and elegant design that combines historic copperplate styles with contemporary typefaces with a dancing baseline. Isabella is perfect for use in branding, logos, wedding invitations, and other design projects where a classic and sophisticated look is desired.
9. The Mariam
The Mariam is a blackletter font designed by Rvq Type Foundry. It features a gothic style with a distinct and imposing look that makes each of your creations look outstanding. The font includes uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and multilingual support. The Mariam is perfect for use in branding, logos, headlines, posters, and other design projects where a classic and sophisticated look is desired.
10. Rakkas
Rakkas is a single-weight display typeface that supports both the Arabic and Latin scripts. The font was designed by Zeynep Akay and published by Google Fonts. The Latin script is based on a blackletter style, but borrows heavily from the Arabic design, with heavy calligraphic strokes. The two scripts share a united style, with neither pretending to be the other, and each interesting in its own right. Rakkas is perfect for use in branding, logos, headlines, posters, and other design projects where a unique and eye-catching font is desired.
Conclusion
I hope you found this guide covering the best blackletter fonts in Canva, useful! Be sure to check out our blog for more article covering the essential tips, tricks, and advice for Canva! Also, if you haven’t already tried CanvaPro, you can try it for free for 30 days!