Sans serif · Peter Wiegel
Fundamental
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Fundamental', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Fundamental is a free sans serif by Peter Wiegel and original typeface by Arno Drescher 1935, from the designer’s own site. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Fundamental has an x-height shorter than 92%, is narrower than 90% and, at its regular weight, is darker than 88%. Its thickest strokes are 1.0 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Zerove
Fundamental on one light table with its two closest fonts, Zerove (83 out of 100) and Solitus (79). Zerove is 31% wider and 26% lighter, with an x-height 56% taller; Solitus is 22% heavier and 9% wider, with an x-height 12% shorter.
Fundamental and Zerove laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with FundamentalZerove…
Most different letters first; the figure is the share of ink the fonts have in common. Where the fonts agree the letters cancel to black: every white sliver is a real difference.
02 / Letters
The Fundamental alphabet
Capitals, lowercase, figures and signs · weight 400
Tap the letters you like, here and in other fonts, to find the fonts whose letters look most like them.
- &
- ?
- !
- @
- %
- (
- )
03 / Sizes
Fundamental at every size
1 weight (400) · six sizes, in your words
- 12 px
- 16 px
- 24 px
- 36 px
- 48 px
- 72 px
04 / Facts
Who made Fundamental, and can you use it?
- Designer
- Peter Wiegel, original typeface by Arno Drescher 1935
- Kind
- Sans serif
- Styles
- 1 weight (400)
- From
- Peter Wiegel
- Character sets
- latin
- Licence
- SIL Open Font License 1.1
Can I use it?
- Commercial use
- Yes.
- Logos
- Yes.
- Websites and apps
- Yes. Self-hosted.
- PDFs and documents
- Yes.
- Changes
- Yes, under another name. Not as “Fundamental Brigade”: the licence reserves the name.
- Sharing the files
- Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.
Fundamental is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. This is a plain summary, not legal advice: the licence itself decides.
Already in your apps?
- Google Docs
- Not verified. Docs adds Google Fonts, and Fundamental comes from Peter Wiegel. Google’s guide
- Word, PowerPoint
- Not verified. Install it from Peter Wiegel first. Microsoft’s list
- Figma
- Not verified. Search its font menu, or install it. Figma’s help
- Canva
- Not verified. Search its font menu for Fundamental, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Fundamental under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages.
05 / Measurements
Fundamental, measured
Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style
- x-height
- 44.8% of the emlowercase x
- Cap height
- 71.1% of the emcapitals
- x / cap
- 0.63lowercase against capitals
- Width
- 40.5% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 55%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 0.99 : 1nearly even strokes
Where it stands among sans serifs
Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind
x-heightSmaller than 92% of sans serifs
WidthNarrower than 90% of sans serifs
InkDarker than 88% of sans serifs
ContrastMore even than 96% of sans serifs
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Fundamental
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
- Zerove83x-height 56% taller · 31% wider · 26% lighter
- Solitus79x-height 12% shorter · 22% heavier · 9% wider
- League Spartan7513% wider · x-height 8% shorter · 12% lighter
- TASA Explorer7030% wider · 25% lighter · x-height 12% taller
- Josefin Sans6923% wider · x-height 8% shorter · 12% lighter
- Cal Sans6828% wider · x-height 16% taller · 15% heavier
All 100 fonts similar to Fundamental →Compare side by side →Get Fundamental on Peter Wiegel
07 / Swap
Swap Fundamental without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
None of the fonts that look most like Fundamental sets text to its width and x-height: a swap would move lines.
Fallback while it loads
Until Fundamental loads, this sets Arial in its place at 84.4% of its size, so running text keeps Fundamental’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Fundamental Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 84.37%;
ascent-override: 111.53%;
descent-override: 27.73%;
line-gap-override: 3.20%;
}
font-family: 'Fundamental', 'Fundamental Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Fundamental
Answered from its licence, Peter Wiegel and each app’s own font list
Is Fundamental free for commercial use?
Yes. Fundamental is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included; a changed version may not be called “Fundamental Brigade”.
How do I download and install Fundamental?
Fundamental comes free from Peter Wiegel . Download it from its page there and unzip the file. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each TTF or OTF file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open. The web fonts this page uses are FontKind’s own copy, kept with its licence file .
Is Fundamental in Google Docs?
Probably not: the More fonts list in Docs draws on Google Fonts, and Fundamental comes from Peter Wiegel. Docs can’t add a font of your own, so set it in an app on your computer, such as Word, instead.
How many weights does Fundamental have?
Fundamental comes in one weight, Regular (400). Ask for bold and most apps thicken the letters themselves: a faux bold, not a drawn one.
Who designed Fundamental?
Fundamental was designed by Peter Wiegel and original typeface by Arno Drescher 1935. Peter Wiegel also made 18th Century, 5by7, 5by7light and 81 more on FontKind.
What fonts are similar to Fundamental?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Zerove (83), Solitus (79) and League Spartan (75), out of 100. Next to Fundamental, Zerove is 31% wider and 26% lighter, with an x-height 56% taller. See all 100 fonts like Fundamental.