Where did these ugly fonts come from?

It is difficult to pinpoint where and when the first "grunge" font was used, and who first used it. But signs point to surfer turned graphic designer, David Carson, who was known as the "Father of Grunge." His signature distorted and often illegible style was loved and hated in nearly equal measures in the 90's. In his magazine, Ray Gun, he once set an entire interview he disliked in the Dingbat typeface. In 1993, he opened the type foundry, Garage Fonts, that featured many of the type styles he was using in Ray Gun. Today, it has over 750 fonts by numerous different designers.


Some grunge examples from Garage Fonts:




David Carson may not be the first person to ever use a distressed font, or create something dark and beautiful with typography, but he may be where the name and the style got its identity.

Grunge Fonts

Grunge fonts are a loosely defined group of fonts that encourage designers to break out of "clean" design and create something dirty. Distressed, uneven, incomplete--grunge fonts aren't intended to be pretty, and oftentimes aren't even useful.

But they do make a statement.

And if the intention of good typography is to match the medium to the message, than having a few quality grunge fonts in your bag of design tricks is essential. In this blog, I'll be talking about the history of grunge fonts, some good foundries for acquiring them, and even how to make your own. I'll probably delve into some overall grunge concepts as well, and talk about using grunge fonts in logo design.