TAN Kindred Font Free Download

TAN Kindred is a paid reverse-contrast display font from TanType Co., and a TAN Kindred free download is not something the designer offers: we could find no official demo, trial or personal-use version. To use it legally you buy a licence from TanType’s Creative Market shop, where the desktop licence is $17 per seat.

TAN Kindred free download: is there an official version?

No. The official Creative Market listing sells licences only and makes no mention of a demo, and we found no TAN Kindred release by TanType Co. on MyFonts, DaFont, FontSpace, Behance or Gumroad. Files labelled as a TAN Kindred free download on other sites do not come from the designer and carry no valid licence.

A licence gets you the font files (the listing’s FAQ mentions OTF and TTF) and the right to use them under Creative Market’s terms. Desktop use costs $17 per seat; webfont, e-pub and app licences are priced separately. The listing dates from 16 November 2020 and points to a sibling family, TAN Paradiso.

Get TAN Kindred — official listing

Please note that tantype.com is an independent site reviewing fonts. It is not run by, or affiliated with, TanType Co.

Free download: TAN Kindred (Display), personal use One style for personal use, shared with the designer’s permission. Commercial use needs a licence.

TAN Kindred specimen and verified specs

• Styles: 1 (Display)
• File formats: OTF
• Glyphs: 346
• Language support: Basic Latin (English), Western European, Central & Eastern European
• OpenType features: kerning, fractions
• Designer: Novia Jonatan (TanType Co.)

Checked by Tantype from the licensed font files.

Design: what “reverse contrast” means here

Most serif and display faces put the weight in the vertical strokes and keep horizontals thin. TAN Kindred flips that. In the specimen and character set above, rendered from the licensed font files, round letters such as o, c, e and the figure 0 are thick at the top and bottom and thin at the sides. The figures 3, 8 and 9 show it most clearly, with heavy horizontal curves stacked on narrow joins. The listing describes the result as “a reverse contrast display typeface”, “quirky and fun”.

The vertical strokes have their own trick. Stems in K, i, n, h and d are waisted: narrow in the middle and flaring out at the top and bottom, like a trumpet bell, which gives the letters a soft, Art Nouveau feel. Letters are wide, the i carries a large round dot, the Q has a long flat tail, and the lowercase g has a looping lower bowl. Even the braces and brackets are decorative, with pointed tips on the curly braces.

Wide, flared letters like these take up a lot of horizontal space, so TAN Kindred is for short words at large sizes. A single name, title or headline is where it reads best.

What’s in the TAN Kindred package

• Styles: one, named Display in the font files.
• Formats: OTF in the licensed files we used; the listing’s FAQ also mentions TTF.
• Glyphs: 346, covering upper and lowercase, figures, punctuation and accented letters.
• Version: 1.000. Not a variable font.
• Designer: Novia Jonatan per the font files; published by TanType Co.

Languages and OpenType features

The character set covers Basic Latin (English), Western European and Central and Eastern European languages, which includes the accents used in French, German, Spanish, Polish and Czech.

The TAN Kindred font has two OpenType features. Kerning fixes the spacing of specific pairs and works automatically in almost every app. Fractions converts typed fractions such as 3/4 into a properly drawn fraction; you turn it on in Illustrator, InDesign or Affinity through their OpenType or Typography panels. Canva and Cricut Design Space have no fractions switch.

Kindred has no stylistic alternates or swashes, and the Private Use Area (PUA) is empty. For Canva and Cricut users that is simple: what you type is what you get, and the full design is available without any glyph tricks.

Uses and pairings

The flared, wide shapes suit boutique and beauty branding, café and restaurant menus, wedding and event stationery with a retro twist, book covers, posters and short social media headings.

Pair it with a plain partner so the contrast reversal stays the focus:

• Work Sans for body text; its straightforward shapes do not fight Kindred’s curves.
• Libre Franklin for menus, labels and small print that need to stay readable.
• Courier Prime for a typewriter accent on tickets, invitations or packaging details.

Licensing: personal vs commercial use

TAN Kindred is licensed under Creative Market’s font licences. According to that page, the Desktop licence covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, with seats matched to the number of users. Web use under it is limited to images; embedding the font on a website requires the Webfont licence, which comes with a pageview limit set at checkout. Apps and e-books need their own licences, and logo use carries specific conditions. Read the full terms before relying on this summary, which is not legal advice.

How to install TAN Kindred

1. Download TAN Kindred from your Creative Market account and unzip it.
2. Windows: right-click the OTF file and select Install.
3. Mac: double-click the OTF file, then click Install in Font Book.
4. Restart your design app so the font appears in its menu.

Free alternatives to TAN Kindred

No free Google font copies reverse contrast in quite this way, but these three cover nearby ground at no cost:

• Lobster is a bold connected script. It shares Kindred’s retro warmth, but the letters join and slant, so it looks hand-lettered rather than built.
• Abril Fatface is a fat-face serif with conventional contrast: thick verticals and hairline horizontals, the exact opposite of Kindred. It suits classic editorial headlines.
• Righteous is a geometric display sans with low contrast and rounded forms. It has some of the same 1970s spirit without any of the flaring.

TAN Kindred FAQ

Is TAN Kindred free?

No. There is no official TAN Kindred free download or demo. The font is sold on Creative Market from $17 for a desktop licence.

Can I use TAN Kindred for commercial projects?

Yes, with a paid licence. The Desktop licence covers commercial work; websites, apps and e-books need their own licences.

Does it work in Canva and Cricut?

Yes. Upload the licensed OTF to Canva (uploads require a paid plan) or install it on your computer for Cricut Design Space. All of its letters are reachable by typing.

Who designed TAN Kindred?

Novia Jonatan, according to the font files, for TanType Co.

Is there a related font?

The listing names TAN Paradiso as a sibling typeface from the same foundry.