Need a Free Font

September 2, 2004 1:55 AM

I'm looking for fonts (particularly free, natch) that epitomise "traditional jazz" for a not-for-profit jazz club site that my mother volunteered me to make. Any ideas, O brainy ones?

I can find free fonts, obviously; but as I'm aesthetically challenged, I'd be grateful for specific recommendations.

posted by Pericles to grab bag (9 comments total)

Not sure what you're looking for specifically, but fontdiner.com from the site of the same name might work well. See also its sparkly counterpart.

Along those same lines is "Big Flirt" (second from the top) from the always great dinc fonts.
posted by boomchicka at 5:59 AM on September 2, 2004

Dustbowl Clementine, perhaps?
posted by brownpau at 6:56 AM on September 2, 2004

Hmm. On second thought -- does the club have a stylistic focus? New Orleans? Swing/Big Band? Bebop? Each of those styles would warrant a different site aesthetic.

Brownpau's font would be perfect for a 20s/30s Prohibiiton Era feel - think Charleston and speakeasys.
posted by boomchicka at 7:00 AM on September 2, 2004

Maybe Betty Noir?
posted by blueshammer at 7:15 AM on September 2, 2004

I'm no jazz afficianado - but New Orleans, Dixieland, Mississippi appear in some of the names of the bands they book . So Trad, I guess ...
posted by Pericles at 8:08 AM on September 2, 2004

Made with Puritan swash bold from this site where a German designer is giving away his whole body of work.
posted by planetkyoto at 8:46 AM on September 2, 2004

Nick's Fonts has a ton of fonts that might fit the bill. Plus just a bunch of beautiful fonts.
posted by addyct at 8:51 AM on September 2, 2004

Most freeware fonts are terrible... You really have to dig around deep to find the good ones.

For me, nothing says jazz like the Blue Note album covers. (There are several pages of album covers on that site.) Note that many of the typefaces are simple typefaces presented boldly (all-caps, usually), paired with monochromatic photographs and simple washes of color. All of these things would work very well on the web, if done right.

But using freeware "jazz-style" fonts is just going to look corny. I would stick to classic fonts like Futura, Alternate Gothic, Bodoni, Century Schoolbook, and the various gothic condensed fonts for a period design.

(BTW, this version of Futura claims to be freeware.)
posted by waxpancake at 10:02 AM on September 2, 2004

Futura Condensed is a good, all-around 20's-style font.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:15 AM on September 2, 2004