Boutique open source fonts for programmers

Produced | OSC Open Source Community (ID: oschina2013)

In the open source world where hundreds of flowers bloom, open source fonts belong to a relatively small branch. However, the more niche the field is, the more amazing works will be born. This article will introduce you to the works of open source fonts that are either quite distinctive, or beautifully made, or unique, or have a profound historical background.

1. JetBrains Mono

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/VhvOE3m
Developer: JetBrains

JetBrains Mono is a programming font created by JetBrains for developers – even known as “the most beautiful programming font”.

The font takes into account the eye strain that can result from looking at code for extended periods of time, as well as factors associated with it, such as the size and shape of letters, the amount of space between glyphs, natural isometric balance, unnecessary detail, and difficult Distinguished symbols or letters (l and I) and ligatures, etc.

JetBrains Mono provides a total of 8 font thicknesses of Thin, ExtraLight, Light, Regular, Medium, SemiBold, Bold and ExtraBold, including English numeric characters and Western fonts, and supports 147 languages, but does not include Chinese, which will be displayed by default in Chinese It is the default Chinese font of the system.

JetBrains Mono adopts the open source font license SIL Open Font License, which is free and commercially available.

JetBrains Mono font display effect

2. Cascadia Code

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/Nz0xUyw
Developer: Microsoft

Cascadia Code is a monospaced programming font created by Microsoft. The font style of this font is special. In addition to optimizing the readability of the code and making alphanumerics and symbols easier to recognize, the biggest feature is that it supports programming ligatures (Programming Ligatures), that is, when typing, you can combine characters by combining characters. to create a new glyph.

Cascadia Code font display effect

Cascadia Code adopts the open source font license SIL Open Font License, which is free and commercially available.

3. Source Code Pro

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/s61WBG4
Developer: Adobe

Source Code Pro is a monospaced programming font created by Adobe. It is very suitable for programming scenarios. It supports operating systems such as Linux, macOS and Windows. It provides 7 font weights including ExtraLight, Light, Regular, Medium, Semibold, Bold and Black.

Source Code Pro uses the open source font license SIL Open Font License, which is free and commercially available.

Source Code Pro font display effect

4. Fira Code

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/I1BDur6

Fira Code is a programming font specially created for programmers. In addition to basic properties such as monospace, it also adds programming ligatures.

As a programming font, Fira Code has excellent support for ASCII/box drawing, powerline and other forms of console UI:

Fira Code is the first programming font to provide dedicated glyphs for rendering progress bars:

Fira Code adopts the open source font license SIL Open Font License, which is free and commercially available.

Although this article is an inventory of open source fonts for programmers, it will not be limited to the use of “programming”. The fonts to be introduced below are either very creative, well-made, or full of traditional cultural characteristics.

5. Qiji font

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/kMFH2AV

QIJI Font is a typeface extracted from Ming Dynasty woodblock printing books (Ling Min Block Edition), also known as “Lingdong Qiji Font”.

Qiji style has strong calligraphy features, more rhythmic than the conventional Ming Dynasty style, and is full of humanistic flavor. It is very suitable for scenes that need to show a sense of humanity, hand-made, and ancient. This font is based on Siyuan Song Dynasty and has excellent support for Chinese characters.

Qiji body display effect

6. LXGW WenKai

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/tAlQUBe

Xiahu Wenkai is an open-source Chinese font, the name is taken from Wang Bo’s “Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng” – ” Luoxia and Lonely fly together, and the autumn waters are the same color as the sky”.

Xia Wu Wen Kai is derived from the open source font Klee One, which is a Japanese textbook font created by the famous Japanese font manufacturer FONTWORKS, which has the characteristics of imitating Song Dynasty and Kai type. Based on Klee One, Xia Wu Wen Kai has completed the simplified and traditional Chinese characters.

Xia Wu Wen Kai display effect

7. Tribulus terrestris

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1

Tribulus terrestris is an open source Chinese art font with sharp shape. Based on the Japanese font Reggae One produced by Fontworks, it expands, adjusts the font, and adds OpenType features to meet the needs of simplified Chinese.

Tribulus terrestris display effect

8. McDonald’s fries font

Official website: https://ift.tt/60JtK9e

As the name suggests, this is a font inspired by McDonald’s fries, with fries and ketchup as building elements, which is very creative and distinctive.

McDonald’s fries font display effect

Compatibility

• Supported software and operating systems: Illustrator CC 2018 and above / Photoshop CC 2017 and above / InDesign CC 2019 and above / QuarkXPress 2018 Pages (macOS) / Keynote (macOS) / Sketch (macOS) / Paint.NET (Windows)

• Supported browsers: Chrome / Safari / Firefox (26+) / Microsoft Edge (38+, Win 10)

At present, this font is open for free download, and you can use it freely, including commercial use, just mark #McDonald’s french fries body.

Finally, when it comes to open source fonts, there are two heavyweight works that cannot be avoided – “Siyuan Hei” and “Siyuan Song”. It is because of their pearls that more excellent derivative fonts have been born.

9. Siyuan Black Body

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/m5goZsL
Developer: Google & Adobe

Source Han Sans (also known as Source Han Sans or Noto Sans CJK) is an open source font jointly created by Google and Adobe. It adopts the open source font license SIL Open Font License , which is free and commercially available. The word “Siyuan” comes from the idiom “drinking water to think of the source”.

Siyuan Black Body supports Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English; it provides 7 font weights of ExtraLight, Light, Normal, Regular, Medium, Bold and Heavy, which can meet the needs of text display in different scenarios. Suitable for designers, developers, and ordinary users.

Siyuan black body display effect

10. Siyuan Song Dynasty

License: SIL Open Font License 1.1
Official website: https://ift.tt/Dh8PaXw
Developer: Google & Adobe

After “Source Han Serif”, Adobe and Google teamed up again to create “Source Han Serif” (called Source Han Serif or Noto Serif CJK). Siyuan Song Dynasty also adopts the open source font license SIL Open Font License, which is free and commercially available.

Siyuan Song style also includes simplified and traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean four types of Chinese characters and seven weights of ExtraLight, Light, Regular, Medium, SemiBold, Bold and Black. A total of 458,745 glyphs are included, which can meet different design needs.

Siyuan Song Dynasty display effect

Easter eggs

Text to Handwriting – Generate handwritten text

This is an open source tool that can generate handwritten text. It only supports English by default, but you can add Chinese fonts and specify a background image. In addition, you can customize properties such as font size, ink color, page size, font spacing, paper background, and more.

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