5 best fonts for 3D text effect (all free!)

It’s always important to pick a suitable font for your 3D text.

When creating 3D text, pay attention to the fonts with bold and distinct letterforms - they tend to work well. Additionally, serifs and sans-serif fonts often look great due to their clean lines.

However, the choice of font also depends on the style you're aiming for—whether it's modern, futuristic, or more ornate. Experimenting with different fonts and styles in a 3D rendering software can help you find the perfect fit for your project.

Marshmallow

This font is created by Neil Summerour, a versatile designer with a background in type design, lettering, and calligraphy. Neil has an impressive portfolio of more than 60 typeface families with over 500 fonts. His work extends to crafting custom typefaces for clients across the world.

Introducing Marshmallow, a playful and striking script typeface available in two versions: a sleek connected style(Script) and a gentle unconnected style(Fluff). These two font versions offer flexibility for various display purposes.

Marshmallow Script boasts an extensive character set, reaching up to 820 characters. Both variations come with a selection of swashes, stylistic alternates, and three additional stylistic sets, as well as titling alternates, ligatures, and contextual ligature combinations. The fonts also include ordinals, superior and inferior numerals, and OpenType-generated fractions. While it may not suit every context, using Marshmallow font for your 3D text is a brilliant choice.

Moreover, the font has broad language support of over 90 languages.

Marshmallow in 3D:

Lostar

Lostar is a modern display font. With its distinctive letterforms, this font proves ideal for contemporary and minimalistic design themes.

The intriguing ligatures in its serif style set it apart, adding the coolness that distinguishes it from other serif fonts. This typeface is a perfect fit for any 3D text and headlines, logos, posters, packaging, T-shirts, coffee shops, restaurants and any advertising application.

Lostar is available in uppercase, numerals, punctuation, ligatures, and has multi-language support.

Lostar in 3D:

Capuche

A great serif font, Capuche is eccentric, bold, bloating, retro display font. Designed to be fit for various design purposes such as logo, branding, titling, magazine headers, signs, gift and postcards, cafes and much more. Definitely will go for a 3D text!

Optimal size for Capuche is large display or poster.  

Capuche in 3D:

Miju

Miju font is a bold display typeface inspired by Japanese culture.

Will definitely stand out among other fonts. Its contrast-filled characters make it both original and highly impactful. Excellent for 3D text, brand identities, logos, packaging, posters and the like.

Miju is designed byJérémie Gauthier,graphic & type designer based in Lyon, France.

Miju in 3D:

Glosta

Glosta is a serif font that comes with a very beautiful change character that will bring a touch of luxury and style to your projects. Designed by Teuku Riski Firmana, an Indonesian typeface designer, Glosta is perfect for 3D, editorial design, branding, headings, logos, magazines and more.

Glosta has 650 glyphs and 290 alternate characters, including multiple language support. With OpenType features with an elegant alternative style.

Glosta in 3D:

How to pick fonts for 3D effect

When choosing fonts for a 3D text effect, first of all consider these factors:

Boldness: Bold and semi-bold fonts work best for 3D. They are more impactful, so you can be sure they are always visible due to their strong letterforms;

Clarity and simplicity: Choose fonts that will be easy to read in 3D. Try to avoid ornate fonts that might lose clarity when given volume and depth. Sans-serif and serif fonts are a popular choice for 3D effects due to their simple and readable appearance;

Proportions: Adjust the depth, lighting, and angles to see how the fonts interact with different effects. Make sure the font won’t be stretched or distorted in 3D;

Composition: Make sure the font and it’s background are contrasted - 3D effect adds complexity, so you need to make sure it will be readable in the final composition;

Consistency: If you're using multiple words or lines of text, aim for consistency in font choices to maintain a cohesive look.

Personalization: Don't be afraid to customize the fonts. Adjusting spacing, bevels, shadows, and other effects can further enhance the 3D appearance and match your project's aesthetics.

To Sum Up

Remember to balance creativity with readability. Feel free to experiment with different fonts and customization to find the combination that best suits your project's goals and visual appeal.

If this guide was useful. we’ll also advise you to read our article about 8 graphic design secrets for beginners.