Fonts with the X-factor

May 10, 2013 7:49 AM

Typographers, designers, and font geeks: I'm looking for fonts with a distinctive and stylish letter "X". Other criteria: sans serif, not too ornate, and preferably free to download. The X is going to form part of a word, so as well as being distinctive it should also fit nicely with the other characters. Thanks in advance (:
posted by iivix to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

One good way to do this is with MyFonts' Advanced Search. This search limits you to free fonts that are tagged "sans." You can then specify the Sample Text as something like "Xx" so you can see just those characters, but it's not part of the URL so you have to do it by hand.
posted by bcwinters at 7:54 AM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have a feeling this is going to be a logo or other single-use type treatment. It would probably be easier to just find a regular sans serif you like and customize the X.

You can also peruse the google web fonts depository. All of the fonts are free, and can be categorized by type/thickness, etc.
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:38 AM on May 10, 2013

Amplitude has a distinctive X.
posted by amb at 11:06 AM on May 10, 2013

I really endorse customizing a existing letter for your own purposes -- it's what all the great logo designers do anyway, because when you're using a standard typeface, it's intended for what you might call generic properties -- but when you choose a specific subset of those letters to be your logo, they'd better be kerned, curved, and what have you so they look good at all sizes, in all colors, in all lighting conditions ... you get the idea. Terrific example is the FedEx logo with the negative-space arrow (you know about that, right? well you do now).

That said, if you want a "distinctive" specific letter you'll probably want a typeface where that letter has an alternate.
posted by dhartung at 5:36 AM on May 11, 2013