Sans serif · Frank Adebiaye
Grotesk
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Grotesk', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Grotesk is a free sans serif by Frank Adebiaye, contributions by Jérémy Landes and Ariel Martín Pérez, from Velvetyne. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Grotesk has an average x-height, is wider than 66% and, at its regular weight, is of average darkness. Its thickest strokes are 1.0 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Zerove
Grotesk on one light table with its two closest fonts, Zerove (89 out of 100) and Format 1452 (74). Zerove has an x-height 35% taller; Format 1452 is 12% narrower and 11% heavier, with an x-height 7% shorter.
Grotesk and Zerove laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with GroteskZerove…
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 Grotesk 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
Grotesk 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 Grotesk, and can you use it?
- Designer
- Frank Adebiaye, contributions by Jérémy Landes, Ariel Martín Pérez
- Kind
- Sans serif
- Styles
- 1 weight (400)
- From
- Velvetyne
- Character sets
- latin, latin-ext
- 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 “Grotesk”: the licence reserves the name.
- Sharing the files
- Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.
Grotesk 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 Grotesk comes from Velvetyne. Google’s guide
- Word, PowerPoint
- Not verified. Install it from Velvetyne 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 Grotesk, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Grotesk under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages.
05 / Measurements
Grotesk, measured
Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style
- x-height
- 52.0% of the emlowercase x
- Cap height
- 65.0% of the emcapitals
- x / cap
- 0.80lowercase against capitals
- Width
- 52.6% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 42%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 1.00 : 1nearly even strokes
Where it stands among sans serifs
Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind
x-heightNear the middle of sans serifs
WidthWider than 66% of sans serifs
InkNear the middle of sans serifs
ContrastMore even than 89% of sans serifs
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Grotesk
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
- Zerove89x-height 35% taller
- Format 14527412% narrower · x-height 7% shorter · 11% heavier
- Inder73more stroke contrast · x-height 3% shorter
- Anta7316% heavier
- CAT Robertson72x-height 13% shorter · 12% narrower · 19% heavier
- Stick No Bills6921% narrower · x-height 3% taller
All 100 fonts similar to Grotesk →Compare side by side →Get Grotesk on Velvetyne
07 / Swap
Swap Grotesk without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
- Inder73same text width · x-height 3.1% shorter
- Anta73text 1.4% narrower · x-height 2.7% shorter
- Sulphur Point63text 1.8% narrower · x-height 4.6% shorter
- Doppio One62text 1.3% narrower · x-height 0.9% shorter
- REM54text 0.8% narrower · x-height 3.2% shorter
- Kufam54text 1.7% wider · x-height 4.6% taller
Fallback while it loads
Until Grotesk loads, this sets Arial in its place at 108.5% of its size, so running text keeps Grotesk’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Grotesk Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 108.53%;
ascent-override: 92.14%;
descent-override: 18.43%;
line-gap-override: 8.29%;
}
font-family: 'Grotesk', 'Grotesk Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Grotesk
Answered from its licence, Velvetyne and each app’s own font list
Is Grotesk free for commercial use?
Yes. Grotesk 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 “Grotesk”.
How do I download and install Grotesk?
Grotesk comes free from Velvetyne . On its repository there, download the files as a ZIP and unzip it: the fonts are in its fonts/_ttf folder. 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 Grotesk in Google Docs?
Probably not: the More fonts list in Docs draws on Google Fonts, and Grotesk comes from Velvetyne. 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 Grotesk have?
Grotesk 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 Grotesk?
Grotesk was designed by Frank Adebiaye, contributions by Jérémy Landes and Ariel Martín Pérez. Frank Adebiaye also made BackOut and Lineal.
What fonts are similar to Grotesk?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Zerove (89), Format 1452 (74) and Inder (73), out of 100. Next to Grotesk, Zerove has an x-height 35% taller. See all 100 fonts like Grotesk.