People are always asking where we get the great typefaces we use in our designs, and how they can create elements using the same type. The truth is we use a lot of commercial (non-free) fonts. But there are some great free alternatives.
Often, one can find a compatible font simply by using Google to search for the font name and “font combinations” (to find a font that looks good with the first font) or the font and “free alternative”.
Chris Spooner, over at SpoonGraphics has a great post about some alternatives he recommends here.
I agree with many of his recommendations, some I have minor issues with.
The biggest thing I would tell people to be aware of is that many free fonts don’t have the variety of weights that a good commercial typeface has. Montserrat, which he mentions as an alternative to Proxima Nova and the amazing Gotham font (each of which come in many weights) only has a Normal and a Bold weight. Fine for body text, but trying to match something like Gotham Ultra isn’t going to work.
The article is a good read, however and written from the point of view of someone who thinks about type, which is refreshing.
Check out the full article here: http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/articles/the-best-free-alternatives-to-the-most-popular-fonts
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