Fonts are not only important from an aesthetic point of view. Their effect on conversion and bounce rates is quite substantial, especially if they are not easy to read.

This is why new fonts are being created every day, alongside older ones being improved just as fiercely. Users are surrounded by so many choices that they simply can’t decide what works the best for their web design.

Oswald, for instance, definitely deserves attention. Designers reformed classic ‘Alternate Gothic’ fonts and came up with a solution much more adequate for digital screens. Oswald fits perfectly the required pixel grid and is therefore widely used on all web browsers and devices.

Why not use Oswald then? Well, one of the things you should avoid is working with fonts as ubiquitous and overused as this typeface. Luckily, there are many sophisticated and beautiful fonts similar to Oswald that you can employ for your design. All you need to do is to check our list of trendy suggestions.

Fonts similar to Oswald

Alternate Gothic

Let’s begin with the basics: Morris Fuller Benton’s 1903 Alternate Gothic. Surprisingly enough, this is not the oldest gothic sans serif. It was used to replace Benton’s first attempt at Franklin Gothic with a more condensed typeface. If you want to know how Alternate Gothic looks, think of the YouTube logo.

Atrament

Atrament will surprise you with its well-balanced characters and broad set of features. This font pays attention to detail, unlike its semi-condensed fellow sans serifs from the 1960s.

Both its lower and uppercase letters have stressed vertical steams that attract attention right away. You will also like its apex with tiny, unusual gaps as well as the letter vertex with diagonal strokes. Thanks to it, ink can’t spread around and smudge the letter shapes.

To make things even better, Atrament has an amazingly attractive set of parallel italics.

Trade Gothic

Trade Gothic was the 1950s top pick for newspapers and books. What designer Jackson Burke couldn’t foresee at the time is that he had created a typeface that can respond to any time challenge.

Even nowadays, you can find this grotesque sans serif on a variety of web designs. To make web applications easier, Linotype released a more condensed version with three weights in 2008 (Trade Gothic Next).

Akzidenz-Grotesk

If looking for an authentic sans serif typeface, check 1898 Akzidenz-Grotesk. The font replaced and improved the well-known Ferdinand Theinhardt’s Royal Grotesk.

Nowadays, the font is completely merged with Berthold and comes in three different weights.

Impact

True to its name, Impact features condensed and heavy letterforms, tiny counters, and impressively tall x-heights. Designer Geoffrey Lee did an amazing job in 1965 – his product is now being used both on Mac and Windows operating systems. You can also find it on lolcats and other meme images on the internet.

Compacta

We recommend Compacta wherever spacing is an issue. Its letters are flat-sided and let you create great headlines while preserving space. This beautiful 1963 typeface was designed by expert Fred Lambert.

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Trump Soft

We own Trump Soft to Canadian designer Patrick Griffin. In 2013, he tried to optimize Trump Gothic with rounded corners and multiple weights (regular, medium, and bold). As a result, we now get to work with a much friendlier, softer Oswald alternative.

Neographik

You will appreciate Neographik’s tight apertures and the flat-sided, rectangular letterforms. The typeface belongs to Monotype’s family of geometric sans serifs but still looks playful and warm.

Formula Condensed

Make sure you don’t miss this 2018 Pangram Pangram masterpiece. This typeface keeps readers interested with an off-kilter appearance and its condensed proportions.

Franklin Gothic

Here comes another Morris Fuller Benton font to consider: the Franklin Gothic. Similar to Oswald, this font is purely grotesque and comes with a strong ‘newspapery’ feeling. Designer Jeffrey Zeldman often points out that this is his favorite font for editorial usage on the web.

Univers

We have discussed Univers in many different contexts so far and for a good reason. This typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger is the masterpiece of the Swiss discipline.

The uniformed series vary from extra condensed to extended and can easily be combined. Univers is the most comfortable choice on our list – if you employ it, there will be little you can’t do with it.

Titling Gothic FB

Let us suggest Titling Gothic FB to those of you who are not huge fans of Univers’s uniformity. This vast typeface family comes in more than 50 styles, all of them inspired by the nostalgic ATF Railroad Gothics.

This David Berlow product decorated the headlines of the Los Angeles Times and Gentleman’s Quarterly.

The Druk sans serif comes to mind each time we think of wide, heavy, and sturdy typefaces. Designer Berton Hasebe tried out a very interesting, non-commercial concept in 2014. The idea was to work with unique weights and widths to make designs more playful.

Thanks to its flat-sided letters, this font excels wherever spacing is a concern.

DF Korolev

Only DF Korolev lets you choose among 72 robust and refined weights. It is based on Soviet propaganda lettering from the 1930s (such as the one displayed at the Communist Red Square Parade). The font was named after astronomer Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov.

Tungsten Rounded

Tungsten and Tungsten Rounded both belong to the group of most functional sans serifs. Hoefler& Co introduced a special ‘collision detection’ feature to both variants.

Tungsten helps you avoid overlaps among diagonal letters. You can achieve this even when applying heavier weights in tight settings.

There are a total of six weights available: light, book, medium, semibold, bold, and black.

Greta Sans

Rather than a font, Greta Sans is a continuous and compact optical size toolkit. It optimizes basic text styles for use on smaller screens.

At the same time, its two extremes Black and Hairline can also be kerned and spaced tightly, making the toolkit universally applicable.

Cervo Neue

Compared to its predecessor Cervo, Cervo Neue comes in even 18 perfected variants. You will recognize it by its old-style numerals, enlarged punctuation, and very high accents.

Cervo Neue comes as close to a truly grotesque sans serif as possible. It is based on specific lettering used in Poland during the 70s, particularly in RSW Prasa’s ‘You and me monthly’ magazine.

Garage Gothic

Ever noticed how crude the letterforms on a parking garage ticket are? If you like those, Garage Gothic is the perfect condensed sans serif for your project. The 1992 Font Bureau product was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones.

Solido

The easiest way to describe Solido is usable. There are even 35 fonts in this family. You can also use any of its five weights: Solido, Solido Compressed, Solido Compact, Solido Condensed, and Solido Constricted.

Coign

Still having trouble deciding? Let us present Coign – perhaps the only elongated, 19th-century typeface that is universally legible. This 2018 Colophon Foundry font is offered in four widths and seven weights.

Forza

Forza is the more flexible sans serif companion to the well-known slab serif font Vitesse. Both products belong to H&FJ (or as you still may know Hoefler& Co.) and are offered in six different weights. Matching italics are also available.

Halyard

Halyard brings together the best features of 18th and 19th century grotesque sans serifs. Designers Lucas Sharp and Eben Sorkin gave it a significant commercial capacity.

There are even three optical sizes to choose from (Micro, Text, and Display), eight weights, and eight corresponding italics.

National

Another noteworthy Oswald alternative was released by the Klim Type Foundry in New Zealand. Designer Kris Sowesby has based the font on classic 19th-century grotesques. He offers it in even nine weights with matching Romans and italics.

Maple

You may find Maple very quirky, but keep in mind that its goal was to refine an even more imperfect grotesque sans serif called Process Grotesque. What it lacks in design, Maple compensates for in versatility – you get to choose from four different weights and parallel italics.

Maple was presented by the Process Type Foundry in 2005. Its designer is Eric Olson.

If you want visitors to have a great experience, stick to the best font practices out there. Follow the accessibility guidelines, limit the font weights, and, upon need, host fonts locally.

If you enjoyed reading this article on fonts similar to Oswald, you should check out these articles with fonts similar to Roboto, Gotham, Calibri, Trajan, Rockwell, Baskerville, Montserrat, and Brandon Grotesk.