As graphic designers, we are occasionally blessed with a spacious canvas, a magazine spread or poster sheet with a great field of empty space on which to set very large letters. This is where extra light typefaces shine. Gossamer hairlines grace the pages of glossy fashion periodicals and the A&E section of the newspaper. They add a modern elegance to billboards and book covers. In the FontFeed today is a list of over 50 extra light fonts. Below are some of our top picks.

Stainless™ Light & Thin

While most hairline typefaces can be described as delicate, Stainless retains a sturdiness due to its rigid, squarish structure. Still, when compared to the rest of the powerful family, Stainless Ultra Thin can be almost airy.

FF Absara™ Thin

One of the few serifs with a thin weight, Xavier Dupré’s FF Absara™ family has the advantage of sans, serif, and headline companions.

Handsome™ Pro Thin

Handsome is one of the best script typefaces, both for its natural, connecting strokes and its flexibility — it’s available in various inky pen tips, including this ultra fine weight.

Mundo™ Sans Extra Light

Mundo Sans is an undiscovered gem from Adobe and Monotype alum Carl Crossgrove. The humanist sans serif family ranges gracefully from this extra light to a surprisingly pleasant ultra black. An OpenType Pro version with extra language support is also available.

Kabel™ Light

There are two versions of Kabel: the charmingly rotund ’70s bastardization ITC Kabel, and the original. Besides being more elegant, Rudolph Koch’s Kabel comes with a very thin light weight. The short x-height enhances its art deco features.

Bodoni Egyptian™ Thin

Nick Shinn’s Bodoni Egyptian exposes the raw skeleton of classic Bodoni by breaking it down to a monoline form.

Stratum™ Thin

Now that Stratum exists, we don’t need to rely only on Bank Gothic for that industrial, machined look.

Serifa™ Extra Light

Adrian Frutiger designed Serifa around the forms of Univers™, so it makes a great companion for that old workhorse. But one thing Serifa has that Univers doesn’t have is a weight this light.

FF Fontesque® Sans Ultra Light

Fontesque Sans is a family of bouncing, gleeful glyphs, eager to lend life to children’s books or toy packaging.

Tinka™
Our last item isn’t quite as thin as the others, but it is free for the taking, so no complaining! Joachim Müller-Lancé of Typebox claims he was not under the influence of crop circles, Caspian folklore embroidery, or voodoo electronics when he created this font. He simply felt “a slight buzz and an urge to tinker with shapes”, hence the name “Tinka”.

» Download Tinka

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Fonts used in title graphic: Transfer™, Interstate™ Extra Light.

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