Start Today: A Casual Hand-Brushed Font Worth Getting Right

If you’ve been browsing font marketplaces lately, you’ve probably noticed Start Today showing up in project previews, mood boards, and social media templates. It’s a casual hand-brushed typeface that comes in three distinct variants—Start Today Script, Start Today Sans, and Start Today Extra. The appeal is obvious: it feels warm, approachable, and creative. But like any tool that looks effortless on the surface, using it well requires more than just downloading and typing.

Whether you’re a small business owner creating your own branding, a freelancer putting together client proposals, or a hobbyist working on a personal project, understanding how to choose, pair, and apply Start Today will save you time, money, and a fair amount of frustration. Let’s walk through the common pitfalls people run into—and how to sidestep them.

Mistake 1: Assuming One Variant Does It All

Start Today Script is the showstopper. Its loose, brush-like strokes and playful letterforms grab attention instantly. Many newcomers grab only the script version and try to use it for everything—headlines, body text, captions, even low-resolution thumbnails. The result is often hard to read and visually chaotic.

Start Today works best when you treat the three variants as a system. The script is ideal for short headlines, pull quotes, or accent words. The sans version gives you a cleaner, more legible companion that still carries the same hand-drawn feel—perfect for subheadings, short paragraphs, or navigation labels in a brand guide. And Start Today Extra? That’s your specialty weight: use it sparingly for emphasis, such as in a single powerful word or a large hero header.

Better approach: Before you start a project, decide which variant will carry the main visual weight and which will support it. For a flyer, for example, use Script for the main headline, Sans for the event details, and Extra for a single key phrase like “Free Entry.”

Mistake 2: Ignoring Readability at Smaller Sizes

Because Start Today has a casual, hand-brushed character, it can lose clarity when scaled down. Thin strokes in the script variant may become nearly invisible at 12pt, and the open counters in the sans variant can close up if tracking isn’t adjusted. I’ve seen people use Start Today Script for long body paragraphs in a printed zine, only to find the text became a muddy blur.

The hand-brushed aesthetic is inherently less legible than a neutral sans serif at small sizes. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it—you just need to be deliberate. For digital body text, stick with Start Today Sans at 16px or larger, and increase line height by 1.4 to 1.6 to give each letter room to breathe. If you’re working with script, reserve it for anything under 24px only if it’s a short phrase.

Better approach: Print a test page at the target size. Place it on your desk and read it from a normal viewing distance. If you have to squint, it’s too small—scale up or switch to a plainer font for that passage.

Mistake 3: Overlooking Kerning and Letter Spacing

Start Today Script is designed to feel natural, but natural doesn’t mean perfect out of the box. The default kerning in a font file is a starting point, not a final solution. In script fonts, certain letter combinations—like “vo” or “rn”—can gap awkwardly or collide. The same goes for Start Today Sans when used in all caps; the default spacing may feel too tight for a casual hand-drawn look.

Many beginners assume that because a font is “hand-brushed,” spacing should be loose and organic. But there’s a difference between intentional looseness and sloppy gaps. If you’re using the font in a logo or a headline, take the time to manually adjust kerning for pairs that look off. Even small tweaks can transform the visual polish.

Better approach: Use design software that allows optical kerning first, then manually fine-tune problem pairs. For shorter text blocks in Start Today Extra, add 5–10% letter spacing to prevent the thick strokes from feeling cramped.

Mistake 4: Not Checking the License Before Buying

Start Today is available from multiple foundries and marketplaces, and the licensing terms can vary. Some include a standard desktop license good for print and static images; others require an additional web license for embedding in digital products. I’ve seen entrepreneurs purchase a single desktop license and later try to use it for an app icon, only to realize they need an app license tier.

This mistake can cost you both money and legal headaches. If you’re a freelancer designing logos for clients, be upfront about licensing: which weights are covered, whether the client needs their own license, and whether commercial use includes merchandise or on-demand products. When in doubt, read the license summary on the product page—not just the marketing copy.

Better approach: Before you complete the purchase, write down exactly where you plan to use Start Today: website, printed materials, videos, products for sale. Compare that list against the license restrictions. If you’re unsure, contact the foundry directly. Most are happy to clarify.

Mistake 5: Using Start Today on Every Element of a Project

Because the font is so distinctive, applying it to every piece of text in a layout can overwhelm the viewer. I’ve seen posters where the headline, subhead, body, caption, and footer all use the same script variant—resulting in a wall of similarly shaped strokes that makes it impossible to know where to look.

The charm of a hand-brushed font diminishes with overuse. It’s like a seasoning: a little adds flavor; too much ruins the dish. Use Start Today’s variants to create hierarchy. Let the script shout, the sans whisper, and the extra hit the accent. For body paragraphs in longer documents, consider pairing Start Today with a clean neutral font like a simple sans serif or a serif that won’t compete.

Better approach: Limit Start Today Script to no more than two tiers of heading. Use Start Today Sans for supporting text, and bring in a plain font (even your operating system’s default) for large blocks of text. This gives the hand-brushed feel room to breathe and actually enhances its impact.

Mistake 6: Ignoring Contrast and Background

Start Today’s brush strokes have irregular edges and sometimes thin spots. On a busy background or over an image with varied brightness, those details can vanish. A common error is placing the script variant directly onto a photograph without adding a subtle shadow or a solid contrast strip behind it. The result is a headline that merges with the photo and loses its shape.

The same applies to color selection. Start Today works wonderfully in dark inky tones on light backgrounds, or in light tones on dark backgrounds—but mid-tones often kill the contrast that makes hand-brushed fonts readable. If you’re designing a social media graphic with a gradient background, test the font at actual export size before finalizing.

Better approach: Always preview Start Today over your intended background. Add a drop shadow, a non-transparent block, or a slight outline if needed. For print, use at least a 70% contrast difference between text and background.

Mistake 7: Forgetting to Test the Font Across Devices and Media

What looks perfect on your high-resolution monitor may look radically different on a printed flyer or a mobile screen. Start Today is a font with fine brush details that can get lost in low-resolution rendering. I’ve seen web designers embed the font without setting font-display: swap in CSS, causing a flash of invisible text or a fallback that destroys the layout.

Testing across devices isn’t optional. View your project on a phone, a tablet, a printed proof, and even a projector if you’re making a presentation. Check that the script ligatures are rendering correctly, that the sans variant isn’t breaking mid-word, and that the extra weight isn’t filling in at small sizes.

Better approach: Before finalizing, export a mockup and open it on at least two different devices. If you’re using the font on a website, test both Firefox and Chrome on Windows and macOS. Small discrepancies in rendering engines can affect how Start Today looks.

Mistake 8: Misunderstanding the Font’s Personality for Your Brand

Start Today is casual, approachable, and slightly playful. That’s perfect for a coffee shop menu, a children’s book cover, or a craft brand. But if your business sells financial software or legal services, a hand-brushed font might signal the wrong tone—even if you personally love the design. I’ve seen new entrepreneurs fall in love with Start Today’s look and force it into a brand identity that ends up feeling mismatched.

That doesn’t mean you can never use it. A financial blog could use Start Today in a single wordmark or a quote accent, but using it as the primary body font would feel unprofessional. Always step back and ask: does this font support the message I’m trying to send, or does it fight against it?

Better approach: Create a short list of adjectives that describe your brand’s voice—friendly, professional, energetic, serious. Then compare Start Today against that list. If more than half of the adjectives are mismatched, consider using it only in a secondary role or look for a different casual font with a more neutral tone.

Putting It All Together

Start Today is a genuinely useful typeface when handled with intention. The script variant brings warmth, the sans adds clarity, and the extra delivers punch. By avoiding the common mistakes—overusing one variant, neglecting readability, skipping license checks, ignoring contrast, and testing too late—you’ll get far better results from your investment.

Whether you’re designing a logo, formatting a presentation, or creating content for social media, take the extra few minutes to plan your font hierarchy and test your output. Your audience might not notice the typography adjustments consciously, but they’ll feel the difference in readability and polish. That’s the real value of using Start Today the right way.