As a graphic designer, it's probably a given that I have a thing for type. Which I can't deny, it's 100% accurate. But I've been collecting fonts way before "graphic designer" started showing up on my business cards. Heck, in an indirect way, they're the reason I started blogging.

Earlier this week, I needed a brain-break at work, and decided to start browsing around for fonts. After clicking around some of my favorite typography haunts, I found a font I loved. When this happens, the first thing I usually do is change my e-mail font preferences. Not every font works in Outlook or Entourage, but Oksana passed the test! It made me so happy to change the view on my desktop, I actually wanted to check my e-mail. That's the power of good type!

If you're looking to change the view on your desktop, I've got some links for you:

Free or mostly free fonts:

Font Squirrel
The web is full of sites offering you free fonts. Which is great, but that doesn't mean they're all good. Font Squirrel has done the work for you and found some great free type. This is usually the first place I go when I'm browsing around for fonts. (My favorite right now is Museo Slab)

dafont.com
Another large collection of free fonts. They have some really great fonts here, and I've found a couple of good ones. They're a good place for quirkier fonts or handwriting fonts.

Speaking of handwriting fonts...if that's your thing, you definitely want to check out Fonts for Peas. So many handwriting fonts! It's kind of overwhelming. I don't use this style of type as much as I used to but sometimes it's fun to mix things up. I guess these are also good for scrap booking? So NOT my thing, but if you're into it, I think you'll like the Fonts for Peas.

My Fonts
A very large collection of all things type. A lot of them need to be purchased, however you can search for fonts with a price of 0.00$ and a lot of things come up. There's also some good options for $20 or less (not bad considering some font families are $200 or more). I frequently use their "albums" to save fonts I might want to buy at some point. I also love their "what the font?" tool for all those times when you find a font you love and you have to figure out what it is. Right. Now. Or maybe that's just me.

Fonts that will cost you money (but are possibly worth it):

You Work For Them
They have a very nice collection of some lovely fonts. If you are looking to buy a font, and think you can get by with only one or two type faces (maybe you only need regular and bold?), there's some great options here. I caved and bought Monroe a couple months ago, and I'm so happy it's in my type library.

Veer
They've got all sorts of designery things, so naturally they've got type. It also looks like they've got some good deals ("Choose from over 12,000 fonts, starting at just $10"). I don't end up at Veer that often, but I think I might start stopping by more often.

House Industries
House just makes cool stuff. I've been admiring them for years, and have even splurged on a font or two. They don't have a lot to choose from, but what they do have is pretty great. Probably a place more for serious type-o-files, but it's always fun to browse, right?

(I should also mention that some of these sites have newsletters you can sign up for, and will sometimes offer you a font or two for signing up.)

This is by no means a complete list of places you can find fonts, they're just some of my personal favorites. If you've got a favorite haunts for fonts, please feel free to leave a comment and share!

So, now I expect you all to spend the rest of your weekend looking for fonts and changing the type preferences in your e-mail. Just promise me one thing? You'll never use Comic Sans ever again? That would make me so very happy.