Five Free Fonts Welcome You to Summer Camp

11.08.2012

Once you're done with your s'mores, crack open , a font from Astigmatic One Eye Typographic Institute and designer Brian Bonislawsky. Available in both TrueType and PostScript versions (don't install both, or the font won't work), Buzz Saw has the right amount of spookiness to pique the interest of veteran ghost-story tellers, yet it retains just enough childlike naïveté to keep younger camp members comfy.

Buzz Saw includes two different related typefaces, both in all capitals: a blocky woodcut, and a version with the same glyphs that have had small chunks chipped away. Although Buzz Saw was designed as a display face, both versions would do fine as a subhead and are legible down to 14-point. The lowercase mirrors the uppercase letters, but Bonislawsky has included a full set of punctuation. Just don't hold a flashlight under Buzz Saw's chin. Buzz Saw is free for both personal and commercial use, although Bonislawsky requests samples or links if you use this font commercially.

Whether you need to make a cannonball splash or ride off into the sunset as the camp hero, could be just what you're looking for. A TrueType font (with OpenType layout) from designer Kimberly Geswein, this one is just, well, fabulous. Geswein has designed every glyph meticulously, adding intricate detail: Flowers, butterflies, and a cute little ladybug hide within this typeface, which comprises hand-drawn dots, swirls, and confidently shaded lines.

Janda Fabulous includes both lowercase and uppercase (and every one is unique), plus numbers and all the keyboard punctuation marks. The only glyph that's altered from its keyboard symbol is the broken bar (above the Enter key), which Geswein has transformed into a waterlily-like dingbat. Although this display font is easily legible at 24-point, you don't get the full effect of the glorious detail until you've made Janda Fabulous larger than 60-point. The font is free for personal use; commercial use has a $5 fee.