Introducing Open Kannada Fonts
Introducing Open Kannada Fonts
Building a curated home for open-source Kannada typography.
Over the last few years, I have worked on several Kannada typography projects, including font design, font engineering, documentation, and preservation. During this journey, I noticed one common problem.
There are many places where Kannada fonts can be downloaded, but very few focus on open-source licensing, proper attribution, and legal redistribution.
This is why I started Open Kannada Fonts.
Website: https://openkannadafonts.arunck.com
Why another website?
This project is not another font download website.
Instead, it is a curated collection of legally redistributable open-source Kannada fonts.
Every font included on the platform is verified for:
- Open-source license
- Unicode compliance
- Original author credits
- Original repository
- Safe redistribution
The goal is to make it easier for designers, developers, students, educators, and researchers to find Kannada fonts that they can confidently use in their work.
Why licensing matters
Many people ask:
“Can I use this font?”
Sometimes the answer is not clear.
A font may be freely available to download, but without a proper license it can be difficult to know whether it can be shared, modified, or redistributed.
Open Kannada Fonts focuses on projects that clearly define these permissions through licenses such as the SIL Open Font License (OFL) and other compatible free software licenses.
This helps build a healthy open-source typography ecosystem.
The first release
The initial release contains Kannada font families that are already distributed under recognized open-source licenses.
Each font page provides:
- Font family information
- Type designer
- Foundry
- License information
- Original repository
- Download link
- Simple type tester
The homepage also includes a single download containing the complete font collection for convenience.
A simple website
I wanted the website to remain simple.
Instead of using large frameworks, the project is built with:
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
The website is generated from a single metadata file (fonts.json), making it easy to maintain and expand.
When new font families are added to the project, the metadata is regenerated and the website updates automatically.
Design philosophy
The website follows a minimal and documentation-oriented design.
The focus is on:
- Typography
- Readability
- Fast loading
- Mobile-first design
- Accessibility
- Clear navigation
There are no unnecessary animations or distractions.
The content should always remain the primary focus.
Open source
The website itself is also open source.
If you would like to contribute, report issues, or suggest improvements, you are welcome to participate.
GitHub Repository:
https://github.com/imarunck/openkannadafonts.arunck.com
Contributions are welcome.
Future plans
This is only the beginning.
Some planned improvements include:
- More verified Kannada font families
- Better documentation
- Improved metadata
- Font comparison tools
- More educational content about typography and font licensing
The long-term goal is to make Open Kannada Fonts a trusted reference for open-source Kannada typography.
Thank you to all the type designers, developers, and open-source contributors who make Kannada typography better for everyone.
If you know of an open-source Kannada font project that should be included, feel free to get in touch or contribute through GitHub.