Fonts are like shoes, you can never have too many.

 

So you’re weaving your way through the world wide web and you stumble upon a font you just absolutely have to have. You ask yourself, “do I really NEED another font?”.

Yes. Yes you do.

What’s a gal to do?

You see, you love it, you HAVE to have it but what the the h*ll is it?

Here are a few ways to find out:

1. Just Ask

Well thanks Captain Obvious. Sorry, but the easiest and quickest way to find answers, like most things in life, is just to go right to the source. If you saw the font on a website or on a layout, send a quick email to the site/page owner. I’ve received a number of ‘what’s that font?’ emails in my day and y’know – it’s strangely flattering. Kind of like when someone asks you where you got your shoes or that fantastic purse. Of course sometimes, there is no one to ask, so if you find yourself sourceless please proceed to option #2.

2. WhatTheFont

Have you tried this yet? Just find an image of the font that you want to ID and upload it to their servers and the system will show you multiple font results. I tried this a few times and I give it 1 thumb up. It wasn’t able to identify the specific font I was searching but it did offer up some similar alternatives. Pretty neat stuff.

WhatTheFont now also has an iPhone App so you can conduct your font searches on the go.

3. Identifont

Option #3: Identifont  finds your fonts by asking a number of questions about the font. This one can be useful if you do not have an image of the font you’re looking for. Worth a shot!

4. Flickr Typeface Identification

As a last resort, Flickr has a group dedicated to identifying fonts and another group that showcases fonts used in different images called Fonts in Use which can be useful for quick reference.

Happy font hunting! :)