The best fonts for adding creative number characters to your design projects.
(Image credit: Adam Fathony)
Numbers are an essential aspect of a font’s core character set, but often they are overlooked when typographic decisions are being made. There are a surprising amount of things to consider, such as whether the characters are capital-height or have ascenders and descenders, and how similar the zero is to a capital O. Also remember that the number 1 can end up looking lonely without some tracking if you are using a monospace font.
To assemble this list of the best number fonts we’ve talked to designers in branding and packaging, editorial, publishing and online design. Some of them are free fonts, and some are included among the Adobe fonts within Creative Cloud. Also see our feature on the best typewriter fonts for some unusual number designs.
The best number fonts
01. Bee
When you’re squeezing a mandatory number onto a label, it’s the bee’s knees. (Image credit: Monotype)
Designed by URW Type Foundry in Hamburg, Bee comes in four simple weights numbered one to four. Its two lightest weights are very tall and very condensed, which makes them ideal for including important numbers on labels and packaging where you are pressed for space. However, because it is so tightly packed, it’s not as useful for presenting lots of large numbers as they become difficult to read. It’s $63 for all four styles.
02. Gorga Grotesque
Gorga is a Humanist typeface with numerals that are both clear and characterful. (Image credit: Adam Fathony)
Similar to modernist sans serif typefaces such as Helvetica and Frutiger, Gorga Groteque is more rounded and generously proportioned, but above all else it’s a clean and clear typeface with numerals that are ideal for signage and infographics. The curve of the 2 swoops low and the 9 closes quite high – little details that give Gorga personality and a positive vibe. Gorga costs $23 for all six fonts in the family.
03. Chisel
Here are type designer Drew Melton’s original sketches for Chisel. (Image credit: Drew Melton)
Chisel is a number font, literally. It has no alphabet, but does have a powerful set of numerals that look like they’ve been chiselled in rock or perhaps embossed on an impressive hardback novel. This is one for creative projects that only require numbers because other than a dollar sign and a full-stop to go with its numbers, Chisel offers no other characters. It comes in three styles – Chisel, Fill and Shadow – at $15 for the set.
04. Borna
With some of Borna’s characters, the outer curves narrow the strokes unexpectedly for an interesting effect. (Image credit: Atipo Foundry)
Borna was included in our list of best header fonts and we’re doubling down on its quality by including it here as well. Its numbers look fantastic at large sizes, demonstrating the not-quite-joined-up feeling that makes this font interesting, as seen in the 9, 5 and the 1 in the image included here. At smaller sizes these nuances are subtler, but still there. It’s definitely worth fiddling the numbers with Borna and, in fact, it has a pay-what-you-want license with a suggested starting price of €20 for a desktop license.
05. MRK Maston Pro
We love the slight inward curvature of the vertical and horizontal outlines, which makes Maston appear sturdy and robust. (Image credit: Marka Design Studio)
MRK Maston Pro has been designed for a vintage look and feel, but betrays its modernity when it comes to its number set with a stroke through the zero. This doesn’t detract, however, from a font which widens ever so slightly at its terminals for the hint of a serif. Its numerals have both softness and structure, making it ideal for signs and packaging aimed at consumers. Best of all, Maston free to use.
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06. URW Antiqua
Expressive and balanced, this URW Antiqua’s Medium Narrow weight. (Image credit: Monotype)
A second URW font makes our list in the form of Antiqua, a slab serif that offers plenty of flexibility in its numerals across its 20 styles. The Pro versions have capital-height numbers, while the Standard versions have numbers with ascenders and descenders, enabling you to hone the expression towards a more traditional look if you want to. It’s great for door numbers, labels, packaging and even body copy, and we particularly like its Pro Bold Italic iteration.
07. Clockmaker
At this weight, Clockmaker looks both dainty and deadly. (Image credit: Sudtipos)
Where Maston plays subtle with its serifs, Clockmaker’s are as lethal as a flamenco dancer in stilettoes. Although it’s not a high-contrast font, its stroke thickness varies, giving its rounder numerals added character. Strong and structured, Clockmaker Thin gives its serifs an even more vicious bite. Another masterpiece from Sudtipos in Argentina, it’s $49 for eight styles.
08. VTC Numerals
Numerals comes in Regular (shown), Black and Outline versions. (Image credit: Vintage Type Company)
With its heavy horizontal hatching, Numerals maxes out on a vintage look and feel, which is no surprise as VTC stand for Vintage Type Company. Big, bold, heavy and unique, it comes with currency characters as well. Admittedly, you won’t find a lot of uses for it, but when you do apply Numerals it’s bound to etch its impact. This is a free font for all uses except broadcasting.
Art Deco typefaces are popular at the moment, particularly in design for luxury markets, so we spent a significant amount of time searching for an Art Deco font with a strong set of numeric characters. It’s surprising how many came up short, and we settled on Noirside for its slender elegance. The 5 looks like a bit of a grifter, the 8 and 9 look great together, the zero looks a little aloof and the rest do the business. The alphabet is capitals-only and it’ll set you back $14.
Although a clichéd symbol of 1970s graphic design, Cooper Black was the inspiration behind Mamba, a beautiful little typeface with numbers that are as delightful as its alphabetic characters. It feels cheekier and chubbier than Cooper Black, but more refined in its terminals and contrast. We’re dying for a project to come along that lets us Mamba. It's $25 for the Regular and Oblique styles.
11. Argon
Argon is a skilfully crafted and original take on inline typography. (Image credit: Tom Anders Watkins)
For a mid-century retro vibe, the display font Argon is a gas. With outlines and inlines that break here and there, each numeral is suggestive of a labyrinth which gives Argon its sense of adventure. Its maker, Tom Anders Watkins of Peregrin Studio, sees it as a modern, sporty font with impact – an update on the groovy inline typography of the 1960s and 70s. It includes a full set of capitals, numerals and punctuation for $8.
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Garrick Webster is a freelance copywriter and branding specialist. He’s worked with major renewable energy companies such as Ecotricity and the Green Britain Group, and has helped develop award-winning branding and packaging for several distilleries in the UK, the US and Australia. He’s a former editor of Computer Arts magazine and has been writing about design, creativity and technology since 1995.
