How to Quickly Create Your Own Font
Creating a typeface is usually considered a long and complicated process. Yet the idea of making your own font is incredibly appealing to many people. Imagine using a font you designed yourself on your phone, computer, or in graphic design projects. That is undeniably cool. And professional fonts are often expensive. On marketplaces such as Creative Market, a single font license can easily cost more than $20.
But what if creating a font could be simple and fun?
In fact, making a font can be almost as easy as doodling. You do not need to sit in front of a computer. You do not need to carefully draw vector outlines point by point. You do not need to manually calculate character widths. With the right tool, you can even export a sample font for free and test how it looks on your devices. If you like the result, you can unlock the full TTF export for a very small price. Even commercial use can cost less than a typical single-use font license. So let us see whether it is really as easy as it sounds.
Step 1: Install the App
First, open your phone and search for Quick Font Creator in the Google Play Store (the Apple App Store also has it). From the name alone you can guess how easy it is to use.
The app icon contains three characters:
- A Latin capital A
- The traditional Chinese character 語 (meaning “language”)
- The simplified Chinese character 字 (meaning “character” or “letter”)
The app supports many languages. Simply set the character set to Unicode, and you can write characters from any language in the world.
For convenience, the app also includes many commonly used character sets, such as:
- French
- Spanish
- Japanese
- Thai
- Greek
In fact, all of these are part of Unicode.
Step 2: Follow the Built-in Guide
After installing the app, open it. The app includes a built-in guide that walks you through the entire process.
By following the highlighted instructions, you can complete the full workflow:
- Create a new font
- Write characters
- Move to the next character
- Compile the font
- Preview the font
- Export the font
Just follow the on-screen prompts and you will finish your first font in no time.
Step 3: Make Your Font Look Good
If you want your font to look good, two things matter most:
1. Baseline
The baseline is crucial. If all characters align to the same baseline, even slightly tilted or stylized letters will still form neat and readable paragraphs.
The baseline is the horizontal blue-green line in the writing area. You will notice that the reference characters in the background all sit exactly on this line.
When writing your characters, try to make the bottom of the letter touch the line without going below it.
Of course, some letters naturally extend below the baseline, such as f or g. In those cases, simply imitate the reference character and you will be fine.
2. Character Width
The second important factor is character width.
The easiest option is to use automatic mode. In this mode, the app automatically uses the width of the reference font.
For example:
- The letter i should be narrower than m
That is what makes text look balanced and natural. When writing, simply fill roughly the same width as the reference character.
If you understand typography and want to experiment with more creative styles, you can switch to manual mode. Using the slider, you can set a different width for each character.
At that point, you are no longer just a beginner - you are becoming a real font designer.
Show Your Creation
When you finally show your beautiful font to your family or friends, they might look at you with surprise and say:
You are a genius!
Inside the app, you can even use your font to:
- Write letters
- Create fun meme-style images
Creating a font is no longer a complicated professional task. It can simply be a fun and creative way to express yourself.