Typeface lists
- These are not recommendations! That takes more work.
I might boil down into recommendations later. This is more just
a catalogue of stuff I had open in browser tabs.
- Needs much older material brought in from Quora answer about alternatives to Helvetica.
- Notes may be wildly incorrect and subjective.
- Lists are in no particular order, have not been filtered for excellence;
they just include things that I felt were good or interesting enough.
FOUNDRIES
- https://newlyn.com/fonts
- https://www.grillitype.com/typefaces
- https://djr.com/
- https://productiontype.com/article/the-nebiolo-foundry-turin-1880-1978
- https://mailchi.mp/ilovetypography/cohort-4?e=532331a414
- https://www.latinotype.com/#catalog
- https://rosettatype.com/fonts/
- https://www.matterofsorts.com/ - enigmatic australian Vincent Chan
- https://www.205.tf/
- https://a2-type.co.uk/
- https://www.reset-type.com/typeface
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts
- https://typetype.org/fonts/
- https://www.colophon-foundry.org/typefaces
- https://fontstand.com/news/foundry-profiles/mass-driver/
DO NOT USE FOR BODY
UNDER-RATED SANS
- https://www.schick-toikka.com/dia - lovely grotesque
- https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Alegreya+Sans?preview.text=dolphin - humanist sans, lovely italic
- https://www.type-together.com/playpen-sans-font - handwriting
- https://djr.com/forma - impressive revival - optical sizes
BOOK SERIFS
- https://okaytype.com/harriet#specimens - revives Baskerville via Scotch Romans
- https://legacy.lineto.com/ - LL Bradford - revives Plantinesques
- https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Crimson+Pro
- https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Old+Standard+TT - Century, condensed-ish
- https://www.type-together.com/ploquine-font - elegant slab serif
- https://www.fatype.com/typefaces/make - Plantin inspired
- https://www.julytype.com/typefaces/jt-peleton
- https://www.typotheque.com/fonts/nocturno - great, egyptian/plantinesque
- https://www.dstype.com/fonts/bluteau-pro - optical sizes
- https://store.typenetwork.com/foundry/orangeitalic/series/farnham - nice optical sizes
- https://www.typemates.com/fonts/meret - compact, newspaper
- https://www.typemates.com/fonts/pensum-pro - lovely book face
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/teimer/styles - stunning didone
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/crabath - gorgeous garamondesque - optical sizes
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/icona-serif - a plantin ?
- https://commercialtype.com/catalog/duplicate_ionic - clarendon, compact
- https://fontreviewjournal.com/galaxie-copernicus/ - outstanding plantin revival
- https://www.type-together.com/literata-font - superfamily, optical sizes
- https://productiontype.com/font/gamuth/gamuth-text - “dutch baroque”
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/ingeborg-font-typejockeys - display and text, didone
- https://www.typography.com/fonts/chronicle-text/overview - “blended scotch”
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/fulmar-font-cast/ - “modern scotch”
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/calvino-font-zetafonts - garalde; text/display
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/passenger-serif-font-indian-type-foundry - clarendon
- https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Neuton - compact, robust, monolinear
- https://commercialtype.com/catalog/canela/canela - caslon… transitional…
- https://www.myfonts.com/products/sole-serif-complete-family-package-76428 - optical sizes, handsome, robust
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/garalda-font-type-together - elegant garamond revival
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/ashbury-font-hoftype - caslon-esque
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/legitima-font-cesar-puertas - italianate? venetian????? aldine????
- https://processtypefoundry.com/fonts/elena/ - calligraphic, nice italic
- https://carterandcone.com/font/miller-text/
ENGINEERING FACES
- https://luc.devroye.org/fonts-80708.html - gorton engraving
- https://webonastick.com/fonts/routed-gothic/ - revival of gorton
- links to Bryant https://processtypefoundry.com/fonts/bryant-2/ rounded Wrico
ALTERNATIVES TO HELVETICA
- https://newlyn.com/fonts/new-atten/ - Gill Sans/Johnston revival
- https://otherwherecollective.com/mikola/
- great blackletter sibling https://otherwherecollective.com/carpe-noctem/
- haha letterpress mould https://otherwherecollective.com/prixel/
- https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/nure/ superfamily
- https://type.today/en/journal/juneau - geometric sans
- https://www.area-font.eu/ - geometric sans, superfamily, inktraps
- https://tribby.com/fonts/barlow/ - superfamily grotesque
- https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/abitare-sans/ - geometric sans
- https://www.fatype.com/typefaces/baton - elegant grotesque superfamily
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/latino-gothic-font-latinotype - grotesque superfamily, many condensed/compressed
- https://vercel.com/font - geometric sans
- https://www.fontspring.com/fonts/latinotype/mohr - humanist sans
- https://www.wearegradient.net/typefaces/polysans-wide/ - geometric sans, inktraps
- https://abcdinamo.com/typefaces/rom - grotesque superfamily, condensed, compressed
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/icona-sans - beautiful grotesque
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/lipo - metro-ish? superfamily. condensed/compressed/wide
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/tabac-micro - lovely very small text/caption sans; inktraps
- https://commercialtype.com/catalog/styrene
- https://www.omnibus-type.com/fonts/archivo/
- https://www.swisstypefaces.com/fonts/suisse/#font - superfamily incl serif, mono
- https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/199162/abc-walter-neue - univers-like
- https://black-foundry.com/fonts/numero-02/ - very clean gothic
MONOSPACE
- https://mass-driver.com/typefaces/md-io/
- https://www.monolisa.dev/
- https://jtdtype.com/typeface/Array - calligraphic, Renaissance italic basis
- https://fonts.ilovetypography.com/fonts/familjen/quasimono#collections
- https://www.type-together.com/lft-etica-mono-font
- https://www.typotheque.com/fonts/diurnal-mono
- https://typesupply.com/fonts/queuemono
- https://www.type-together.com/adelle-mono-font
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/monologo-font-resistenza - lovely script variant
- https://www.suitcasetype.com/fonts/lipo-text
- https://processtypefoundry.com/fonts/coordinates/
UTILITY
- https://frerejones.com/families/retina - small size, data, ink traps
MISC
- https://www.fonthaus.com/fonts/monotypeimaging/linotype-sketch/MI35153848 - calligraphic italic, distressed
- https://www.fonthaus.com/fonts/monotypeimaging/Linotype-Feltpen/MI36843756 - handwritten
- https://www.schulschrift.at/ - school scripts - cursive
- https://software.sil.org/andika/design/ - legibility humanistic sans
- https://lineto.com/typefaces/blankenhorn#family - brush display scripts
- https://black-foundry.com/fonts/squil/ - lovely fluted humanistic, modulated stroke, text + display
- https://www.cnap.fr/sites/faune/ - humanist? calligraphic? french !
- https://www.myfonts.com/products/magnat-text-package-208815 - french !
- https://processtypefoundry.com/fonts/maple/ - lovely grotesque with those french characteristics too; “offspring of Process Grotesque – our retired interpretation of the Stephenson Blake grotesques”
- https://www.myfonts.com/collections/wt-volkolak-font-wraith-types - superfamily; serif, sans
- https://processtypefoundry.com/fonts/scandia-line/ - line/polygon