Looking for some edgy and modern fonts to use for your business or online content? Take a look at our selection and see if you can find something you like.
When we think about urban fonts, the first thing that comes to mind is grunge retro design. However, an urban aesthetic can mean a lot of different things, and naturally this goes for your choice of typography.
On this list, we’ve included both free fonts and ones for which you will have to purchase the commercial license.
Brush fonts
Let’s start with typography that’s often associated with graffiti, and therefore has a strong urban aesthetic. These typefaces come in cursive and print scripts.
1. Attack Graffiti (free)
This great free font mimics the feel and style of graffiti and is perfect for any urban-inspired design, from posters to display signage. It comes in TTF format only.
2. Youth Touch ($49)
We mentioned this font in our article on Yearbook fonts, thanks to its hip youthful energy. It’s a script font with high legibility, so you can even use it for smaller blocks of text. The commercial use license isn’t cheap, but it can be a good investment, thanks to the font’s versatility. It’s free for personal use though, so you can download a demo version before you commit to a purchase.
3. Black Theory (from $17)
This grungy, rough font is perfect for edgy and modern businesses. The coarse strokes and ligatures give this font a dramatic feel, so it might even make a great logo font for modern urban wear brands.
4. Boomboyah ($10)
This brush font could easily double as a Halloween typeface, thanks to it’s gritty, textured quality. It comes in lower and uppercase, supports several languages with the Latin alphabet, and even includes a few quirky dingbats, so at just $10 it’s a really good investment.
5. Brave Heart (from $14)
This display font comes in uppercase only. Thanks to the textured lettering, it’s certainly an eye-catching font, so you should probably use it sparingly. It comes in OTF and TTF format.
Modern sans serif fonts
Sans serif typography is often seen in crisp, professional design. However, this is a huge font family, which includes some amazing and highly creative examples that fit edgy, urban design.
6. Dock 51 (free for personal use)
I don’t know about you, but this font really reminds me of the movie Fight Club, which is a very fitting source of inspiration for urban designs. It’s a bold font with great texture so even if you have no proficiency in design software like Photoshop, you will be able to use this font to create some dramatic and stunning designs. You need to contact the graphic designer to obtain a full commercial license.
7. Trashhand (free)
If you opt for a very bold font to use as a display or logo font, you might need something a little more toned down to use for your tagline. Trashhand is a great handwritten font with a casual feel. It includes upper and lowercase glyphs. The font is a free download available at Font Squirrel.
8. Gover (free)
How about something that’s futuristic and retro at the same time? Well, this great font is just that, and it’s suitable for a variety of uses. It comes in uppercase and stencil style in lowercase, including numbers and punctuation symbols.
9. Penultimate (free)
If you want an edgy and unique font, look no further than this impressive linear font. It’s got a little bit of an Art Deco feel, however it’s a very modern updated version, suitable for all sorts of urban businesses: from hip coffee shops to edgy boutiques!
10. Silba ($15)
Thanks to the slightly curved edges, the narrow lettering on this font can also be stretched out vertically, so it’s a great font to have to use on all sorts of design templates: from social media posts to flyer design. It’s a crisp, geometric font that would probably be great for tech logos and in any type of SaaS design.
Artistic serif fonts
As we said in the beginning, not everything urban is necessarily grunge or dingy. Urban spaces are also characterized by high fashion and culture, and some of these gorgeous serif fonts can be a great way to achieve a more high-end urban look. While italic and cursive fonts might offer a more organic and nature-inspired feel, these print serifs are great for modern urban designs!
11. Gallery Typeface (from $14)
This typeface has an Art Nouveau feel to it, but with a modern twist. It definitely looks like it belongs in an edgy, urban gallery, so if you want to promote an event this might be the perfect font for you. It would also look great on modern and classy beauty packaging. It comes in several file formats: CSS, OTF, WOFF, HTML and TTF.
12. Ethery (from $14)
A similar font, but with a more romantic feel is Ethery. It includes upper and lowercase letters, as well as discretionary ligatures, and comes in several file formats. This stunning font also supports Cyrillic lettering, so if this is something you need, definitely consider a purchase.
13. Urban Power ($12)
Of course, not all urban fonts in the serif family need to be dainty and romantic. This is a great and versatile font that can look both elegant and bold.
14. Bigilla (free)
If you want a font that exudes high fashion, Bigilla is a great font to consider. It comes in two different weights, regular and bold, with many ligatures and alternatives. It goes without saying that this font would make a perfect choice for fashion magazine branding and boutique logo design.
- Pearlone (from $15)
This stencil serif is a perfect display font, for both print and web use. It comes in two styles, regular and bold, with glyphs supporting several languages. The dot in some of the glyphs is inspired by pearls, so you can see how this elegant font would add a touch of class and luxury to your designs.
Quirky and creative fonts
The last section on this list is dedicated to some unique fonts that will help your rebranding or marketing visuals stand out. Since these types of fonts have such distinct looks, it’s not a bad idea to download the editable SVG or EPS formats where you can, and edit them in a way that will suit your brand identity best.
16. Kabond (free)
It might come as a surprise that this gorgeous font with a dramatic contrast in line weight is free, but it’s true! The downside is that the glyphs you get with this one are pretty limited: just the English alphabet and numbers.
17. Matisse (from $60)
Before you look at the price of this premium font, take time to consider how truly unique and stunning it is. Inspired by the French painter Henry Mattise, his cutouts and unique color palette, this is a font that commands attention. For that reason, it would make a wonderful logo font in which case, the commercial use license purchase is definitely worth the money.
18. Snot (free)
Not the most appealing name, but when it comes to uniqueness, this font is hard to beat. It’s fluid, dynamic, gritty and still equally fun and playful. I can see it on signage for an edgy bar or nightclub.
19. SK Paragrapher ($15)
It reminds me a little bit of Pacman lettering, but this great modern font is definitely fit for the new age. This awesome font is on sale at My Fonts and you can get the entire font family consisting of 4 different styles for just $15!
