Free Font Friday: Kiwi Maru
by Taylor Slattery | May 14, 2021
Due to the complicated structures of these characters, fitting them into small spaces requires very thin strokes. For this reason, utilitarian Japanese fonts can often feel overly-crisp and sterile, making them less expressive. Kiwi Maru features a pared-down selection of Kanji that more closely reflects common use and slang.
This more focused selection and the overall roundedness of the characters were designed in the hopes of inspiring more expressive communication. It’s got a neat, clean appearance while still retaining a bit of personality and not feeling overly formal. Its letterforms have a uniform stroke width and a tall x-height. Although all 3 of its weights are very similar, they each have great readability even at small sizes.
Kiwi Maru is available in English and Japanese alphabets with a curated selection of Kanji and can be found for free here.
Taylor is a concept artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and Design Lead at Weirdsleep, a channel for visual identity and social media content. Read more articles by Taylor.
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