The grotesque the Swiss designers set their posters in before Helvetica existed, and the face Helvetica was drawn to improve on. Rougher and less resolved, which is its appeal.
Download Archivo, free ↗Google FontsAkzidenz-Grotesk itself is licensed. Archivo is the closest free face, free for personal and commercial work under the Open Font License.
01Set it yourself
Set in ArchivoLoading the face
Tryor click the specimen and type your own.
Weight
Case
Dress it in a style
02Put it to work
Your words from the specimen, set in Archivo in the formats a project actually needs, in the colours you picked above.
yourstudio.com
Akzidenz-GroteskWorkAboutContact
Akzidenz-Grotesk
We design identities, websites and campaigns for people who care how things feel. This is the paragraph your headline sits on, set in Archivo.
Start a project →
Tip. Headline in Archivo, standing in for Akzidenz-Grotesk, body copy in Archivo. Copy the CSS from the specimen above and the headline is ready to paste into your site.
03Every character
AU+0041 · Archivo 700
72pxAkzidenz-Grotesk
48pxAkzidenz-Grotesk
32pxAkzidenz-Grotesk
20pxThe quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, 1234567890.
14pxThe quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, 1234567890.
04The free stand-in: Archivo
Why Archivo. The pre-Helvetica grotesque character (slightly rougher, less resolved) is closer to Archivo than Inter. Akzidenz-Grotesk itself is a licensed typeface, so everything on this page is set in Archivo, which is free to use on the web and in print.
Archivo, on its own. A grotesque drawn for interface work, slightly squared. Holds up at caption size and at billboard size.
If Akzidenz-Grotesk is installed on your computer, an A/B key appears in the specimen above so you can compare the two.