Finding fonts for your crafting sessions can be a long, and often, painstaking journey. There are literally over 200,000 fonts worldwide to choose from, and that number does not include the various typefaces that are associated with them. This makes the search even more difficult.
That said, one of the most famous of these fonts is the Helvetica family. This font, in all of its simplicity, is elegant, professional, and versatile – so to make your search a little easier, take a look at some of these fonts that are similar to Helvetica, and add them to your collection!
Table of Contents
- A Little About The Helvetica Font
- 5 Popular Alternatives
- 11 Similar Fonts to Replace Helvetica
- How to Find Free Alternatives to Helvetica font
A Little About Helvetica
Helvetica is a san serif font, which means it is a typeface without any serifs (a slight projection finishing off a stroke of a letter). Let’s take a quick moment to discover a few fun facts about Helvetica:
- Helvetica was created in 1957 by Swiss designer, Max Miedinger, in a very successful attempt to create a new sans-serif font for the competition scene.
- The font was originally entitled “Neue Haas Grotesk” but was later changed to Helvetica to make it a more marketable name.
- By the late ’70s and ’80s, Helvetica became a “staple” font for many businesses, including Xerox, Adobe, and Apple.
- Helvetica is one of the most widely used fonts globally.
- Many different versions exist for Helvetica, including many languages and typefaces!
5 Popular font alternatives to Helvetica
Most computers or any other typing-capable machines come pre-equipped with Helvetica, however, sometimes you might want to change the style up ever so slightly, but still maintain the “essence” of Helvetica. Here are some of the most popular alternatives and examples of how the fonts look:
Open Sans is a clean, modern font that was originally commissioned by Google. It is ideal to use as a display font.
Work Sans, again commissioned by Google, is part of a multi-weight typeface family that ranges from thin to very heavy weight. Although designed for display purposes, this font can work well with printing too.
Up next is Proxima Nova; perhaps the most popular alternative out of the 5 fonts. This font can be used in a multitude of projects; from display to print. It’s especially popular for marketing and logo design.
Yet another commission by Google, Roboto was designed with the sole purpose of being a display font. Its readability makes it perfect for mobile devices, so it is a great alternative for your social media posts and promotions.
Finally, we have the classic Arial. Its contemporary and versatile nature makes this font a standard for almost every computer and mobile device. So widely used, it’s a great font for simple business design projects, however, because it is so common I find it very overused.
10+ Similar Fonts to Replace Helvetica
Occasionally, Helvetica and its suggested alternatives don’t quite fit your design and/or project. You might be looking for a sans serif that has a more quirky vibe, or elegant style – yet still captures the essence of the minimalism that is Helvetica. Below are some of the best fonts to replace Helvetica to really elevate your professional branding, brochures, and stationery designs!
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Olive
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Geomatrix
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Marshmallow
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Cloud
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Monday
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Avocado
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Indigo
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Simple House
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Queensides
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Rue
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Stoner
1. Olive
Olive is a modern and versatile font that brings an element of young professionalism to your designs. This makes it absolutely perfect for logo design or other small business marketing needs. It’s fun, easy to read, and gives off a bit of a warmer feel than Helvetica.
2. Geomatrix
Geomatrix maintains the minimalistic vibe that Helvetica brings to the table, but adds so much more! It’s contemporary, geometric, and plenty more fun! This one would be perfect as a display font for your blog, and it work’s fantastically for card-making!
3. Marshmallow
The fun, yet elegant style of the Marshmallow font is perfect for a variety of different projects. While strictly an uppercase font, this by no means limits you! Logos, marketing materials, wedding invitations, birth announcements, and so much more! It certainly brings your designs a step further.
4. Cloud
Cloud is a stylish sans-serif that, in my opinion, is absolutely adorable through its simplicity! Not only is this font softer than Helvetica, but is vastly more versatile. It can be used for an endless variety of projects – from display designs to home crafting! A must-have for your toolbox!
5. Monday
Not only is Monday perfect for all of your business needs, but the elegance of this sans-serif would be beautiful on your wedding stationery. It’s clean, easy to read, and classy; making it perfect for product labeling!
6. Avocado
This quirky sans-serif font is quite different than Helvetica, however, it is the perfect alternative when you are in need of something a little heavier and eye-catching! Avocado is a fun font that comes with three different weights – regular, thick, and thin; making this versatile as well!
7. Indigo
Indigo is actually a font duo that comes with a playful chunky style, as well as an outline type. This duo, when used together, can create more modern, edgy designs than Helvetica could. In fact, the two font similarities end with them being sans-serif!
8. Simple House
Again, a very different font when compared to Helvetica. Simple House brings a modern spin to your designs that Helvetica might struggle with. It’s versatile in that you can “dress up” this one to a level of elegance, or you can make it playfully fun with a more youthful twist!
9. Queensides
Queensides is an elegant font that adds a modernized twist to your display projects. Instead of the basic lines within Helvetica, this font offers unique curves and angles that draw attention. Perfect for your social media posts, brochures, and product packaging!
10. Rue
The adorable nature of the Rue font shouts creativity! While the style is vastly different from that of Helvetica, its versatility cannot be ignored which is why I added it to this list. You can use this font for all of your home decor projects, as well as to display designs!
11. Stoner
The modernism of the Stoner font has a “leg up” when set against the simplicity of Helvetica; and it also adds a fresh new style to any crafting project, graphic design, or print work! Use a combination of the font’s weights to really lift your designs to the next level!
How to Find Free Alternatives to Helvetica Font
Have a look at some of these resources to help get you inspired for your next project:
20 Best Serif Fonts for Logo Design and Branding – Tips, tricks, and a handy guide to choosing the best serif fonts for your business designs.
20 Best Script Fonts for Formal and Casual Branding – A showcase of some of the best script fonts to use for a more sophisticated look.
Best 20 Craft Fonts for DIY Projects – A great selection of free fonts that you can use for all of your commercial/small business needs!
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Keep on Crafting! 💖
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