Bullet journaling fonts and artistic hand lettering to inspire you and bring your journal to life!
Bullet Journaling Fonts For Inspiration
Bullet journals were originally intended to be used as an organisational tool, however over time they’ve evolved to be so much more than that. If you search on Pinterest or Instagram, you’ll quickly discover the incredible creativity that goes into many of them.
The wonderful thing about journals is that they’re as versatile as they are unique, so you really can have fun and make your bullet journal spreads your own.
A functional journal by no means has to stifle your creativity!
The style you choose can vary or evolve throughout, or you can stick with a theme. You can keep it uncomplicated, or you can go wild. Either way, your journal has two objectives:
- To remain useful/practical,
- To bring you joy.
With that in mind, it’s important that however you choose to use your journal, whatever its core function – it should remain fit for purpose: there’s absolutely no point making a thing of beauty which no longer achieves the objective for which it was intended!
However – that by no means has to stifle your creativity!
It’s simply something to keep in mind whilst enjoying having some fun with decorating your journal.
Aside from using cute bujo doodles, one of the best ways to embellish your bullet journal whilst retaining its functionality is by using a variety of different fonts to bring interest and visual appeal to your bullet journal collections and spreads, especially for headers and planner quotes.
Whether you’re new to bujo (check out my guide to bullet journaling for beginners) or simply looking for some inspiration, this post covers a range of different types of bujo fonts you can try.
There’s a variety of easy and trickier ones, all of which can be customised to your skill level and preference. You can play with colour or combine different styles and techniques, stay simple or showcase your artistic flair.
How to Do Bullet Journal Fonts
I make no secret that at the time of writing, I’m still relatively new to bullet journaling.
When I first found my passion, it was specifically for the wellbeing aspect of journaling. But, bullet journaling is huge in its own right, both for its initial intention as a tool for organisation, and subsequently as a creative outlet.
I’m a convert when it comes to beautiful bullet journaling fonts.
With this in mind, it would be totally remiss of me not to have checked it out as an extension to the kind of journaling I’ve previously been drawn to.
Before I discovered bujo,I hadn’t even particularly considered journaling to be an artistic outlet for adults.
True, I included some colouring pages in the journal I created and sell, because I appreciate the value of mindfulness that the task offers. But pages designed for colouring aside, for me, the remainder of a journal has always been for writing.
And then I gave it a try.
I loved art at school, I’ve always been a fan of stationery, and it turns out that I still have a special place in my heart for aesthetically beautiful writing.
I’m a convert when it comes to beautiful bullet journaling fonts. And a bujo is a great way to explore this new passion.
My point? If you’re new to bullet journaling, don’t assume it’s not for you without a little experimentation!
I may update images as I continue to practice and improve my bullet journaling fonts, but right now all of those shown on this page are fairly new to me. They’re not perfect, but they give an indication of what’s possible without too much effort or skill!
An Unexpected Benefit: Bujo Fonts For Kids Too!
As a mother selling a kids journal, I just have to point out the impression these made on my daughter, Pixie! She’s coming up 7, and when she saw what I’d been working on, she became animated, and immediately keen to try herself.
I’ve included her very first attempts of several of the font ideas I’m sharing, and if she remains interested I may add more, to show what’s possible for children too – and I don’t just mean artistically.
Other benefits this process has brought include:
- Bringing joy to my daughter,
- Sparking her creativity,
- Improving her confidence,
- Giving her a focus,
- Reinforcing her interest in journaling in general,
- Providing a shared interest for us to work on together.
At heart, I will always have an affection for the positive value journaling brings.
Bullet Journal Font Ideas
Don’t allow your pleasure to be spoiled by everything having to be perfect.
I’ve included a selection of simple and easy bujo font ideas, and some that are a little more complex. But I promise that none of these are technically difficult. With a little bit of practice these are all very achievable, even if you’re no artist!
And remember, journaling – especially when you’re being creative – is supposed to be fun. Enjoy the process of practicing, and try not to allow your pleasure to be spoiled by getting bogged down with everything having to be perfect.
Here are a few tips to help you get started with some of these amazing fonts:
Tips For Bullet Journal Handwriting
- Use a dotted journal, notebook, or sheets of paper. Those dots are so useful as guides to keep your writing consistently sized and straight. Download our dot grid paper for free, or buy some here:
- If you get frustrated with making errors, start off using pencil so you can correct any mistakes, and then go over the finished writing in pen.
- If you’re still struggling with getting formation right, why not print off your favourite fonts and try tracing over therm to help you get the shape right, and then when your confidence grows you can try again at freehand lettering.
- Practice, practice, practice! As with all things in life, this s the only way to improve.
- If you want to make your journal look gorgeous but you’re worried about mistakes, why not start a collection (a section in your journal) just for practicing fonts? Or even have a notebook specifically for that purpose.
- You could also write out headings for your spreads in pencil, and come back to complete them when you feel more confident.
- Be sure to use appropriate, good quality pens, as this can make such a difference to the result. If you’re new to some of these fonts, why not start with pens that you’re already comfortable writing with, but also try pens that are specifically designed for the various types of fonts below, as they give a better finish. For example, you might love the pen you use every day (great, practice with that!), but you may find it’s prone to bleeding.
Recommendations For Bullet Journal Pens
Some of the best brands for bujo pens include:
- Staedtler
- PILOT
- Sakura
- Tombow
- Pentel
Try some yourself:
For creating vibrant and colourful bujo font ideas for your headers, try these Tombow or Paper Mate pens for best results:
For straight line and cursive bullet journal fonts, try this Sakura drawing kit:
For bujo calligraphy, try this Tombow dual brush pen:
Beginner Ideas For Bullet Journal Fonts
Let’s start with some of the very simplest ideas, which are doable for even a complete newbie…
Easy Bullet Journal Fonts
These simple bullet journal fonts are a great option for newbies. They’re the ones I started with myself, because they’re the least intimidating and easiest to replicate for somebody who has no experience!
They’re easy because they’re constructed almost entirely of clean straight lines, with very standard letter formation.
1. Simple print
As the name suggests, this is a simple straight line font consisting of uniformly-sized letters, which is easy to write and easy to read.
Of course, even a simple font like this one can be embellished with colour or washi tapes.
2. Serif font
You can’t go wrong with a classic Serif typewriter font for keeping your font practical and neat, but adding just a little touch of interest.
Don’t forget you can also add colour to any of your bullet journal lettering, simply by switching up the pen you’re using, adding a shadow, or by underlining or highlighting.
3. 3D lettering font
This is a great font for using strong, contrasting colours in your bullet journal spreads.
4. Modern font
This one is so effective but also a surprisingly easy font to reproduce (although Pixie found this too tricky first try)!
Bullet Journal Block Letter Fonts
These fonts are great for creating impactful headers. To really make them pop, you could use vibrant, contrasting colours for the front/sides of each letter.
5. Half block font
I love this cool font. Again, it’s fairly simple to copy, yet it looks great. It’s also slightly easier to recreate than the full block lettering.
6. Block letter
This is a big, bold font – and most likely you’ll remember doing this from school!
This is the first font Pixie tried to replicate, and I was honestly blown away by her efforts:
7. Bubble font
If you never wrote in block letters at school, then you definitely did this one! Their defining features are chunky, rounded letters, which are squashed together.
You can make the letters of this fun font a little fancier if you wish, by adding the high-shine spots to your bubbles, as I’ve done above, and Pixie copied below:
Bullet Journal Handwritten Fonts
Handwriting fonts are undeniably beautiful, but also a little more tricky to master. However, they’re still totally achievable. Don’t forget I’m new to all of these at the time of creating these images.
8. Cursive fonts for bullet journals
Cursive fonts are technically similar, yet can look very different as you can add distinguishing features according to your liking. I recommend starting with your best joined up handwriting, perhaps with a forward slant, like this one:
You’ll notice I’ve also started and finished off the page for added flair, known as flourishing*, which is a slight variation on a cursive font. You can also add shadows and highlights to give a 3D appearance, which can look particularly attractive.
*Flourishing is simply the added decoration of loops and curls to text – but it can look spectacular!
9. Faux bullet journal calligraphy fonts
Calligraphy can be a difficult skill to learn – but there’s an easy way to cheat and achieve the same visual impact!
I created this font by writing out the words in cursive, then simply adding extra lines along the downward strokes, and colouring in the space to thicken and amplify those downward strokes.
If you’re careful and precise and use the right pens, it can look just as good as genuine calligraphy while you’re still becoming accomplished at the real thing!
10. Floral lettering
This one is definitely a favourite – it’s so pretty! To replicate this gorgeous font, start by writing in cursive, transform into faux calligraphy as above, and then add some charming foliage.
That’s actually a little bit simplistic, here are the full steps in order to achieve the best result:
- Write out your header in cursive using pencil;
- Still using pencil, turn your cursive writing into faux calligraphy,
- Add your flowers or leaves – this can be done using colour pencils if you’re confident;
- Trace over the pencil with pen, being careful not to write over the top of the foliage.
Here’s Pixie’s try at a flowery font:
I think she did a great job, and shows off one of the most beautiful fonts you’ll come across to great advantage!
11. Faux calligraphy bounce font
This is a slightly more advanced font, it’s definitely one you’ll need to practice to getting it looking its best. You need to be confident with cursive writing – and then we’re going to make it super fancy!
To create a bounce effect, be sure to use your dotted paper as a guide, and select two lines you’ll be working to.
This doesn’t have to be absolutely accurate for the font to look fabulous, but having two rough lines to work to will help to keep some consistency so the font looks elaborate rather than messy.
Write your lettering bouncing the letters between the two line heights, like this:
It takes a little practice, but once you’ve mastered it, it’s a gorgeous font which will bring extravagant style to any journal!
Brush Fonts
Okay, I’m going to come clean and confess that brush letter style fonts will likely be the trickiest on this list to master.
It took me many attempts to perfect the technique – but once you do, it’s like something clicks and you’ll find you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
Brush lettering is one of the more popular fonts and is superb for creating ornate effects, with minimal effort: although there are additional elements you can add to make the font more decorative, simply using a brush pen can alone produce a very elegant impression.
Here’s how to nail using a brush pen to achieve that distinctive calligraphy appearance:
- Keep in mind the same tip as when we created faux calligraphy: the downward strokes should be thickest.
- Grip the pen close to the nib so you have maximum control over the pen.
- Hold the pen so only the very tip touches the paper.
- Write slowly, with light sweeping movements…
- …Except for the downward strokes, when you should apply pressure to press the side of the brush into the paper to produce that exaggerated thick line.
- Feel free to use lots of flourishing curls and loops for a super elaborate finish!
12. Brush calligraphy font
This is a truly beautiful and dramatic font, ideal for creating really striking headers in black pen, or colour if you prefer.
But there are also a few ways to make brush calligraphy even more intricate…
13. Bounce brush letter font
This one pulls together some of the skills we’ve learned above: calligraphy using a brush pen, plus the bounce technique.
I recommend getting comfortable with both of those before attempting this one or you may wind up frustrated as it’s not easy to make it look great first time – trust me, I tried!
But, as you can see, it’s worth taking the time to practice and perfect:
14. Bounce brush with shadow and highlights
Finally, this is simply an embellished version of the previous font, which just makes it that little bit more polished:
I hope these new fonts will give you lots of new ideas to try, alone and with your children. There’s something here for everyone, and any (or all!) of them will bring style and glamour to your own bullet journal!