Sans serif · Alistair McCready
Special Gothic
More axes (1)More axes (0)
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Special Gothic', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Special Gothic is a free sans serif by Alistair McCready, on Google Fonts since 2025. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Special Gothic has an average x-height, is narrower than 70% and, at its regular weight, is of average darkness. Its thickest strokes are 1.3 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Public Sans
Special Gothic on one light table with its two closest fonts, Public Sans (81 out of 100) and Kecal (81). Public Sans is 12% wider; Kecal is 6% wider and 7% heavier.
Special Gothic and Public Sans laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with Special GothicPublic Sans…
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 Special Gothic 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 / Weights
Special Gothic in 4 weights
4 weights, 400–700 · variable from 400 to 700
Variable weight, 400 to 700
- 400 Regular
- 500 Medium
- 600 Semibold
- 700 Bold
04 / Facts
Who made Special Gothic, and can you use it?
- Designer
- Alistair McCready
- Kind
- Sans serif
- Styles
- 4 weights, 400–700
- Variable axes
- Width 75–125, Weight 400–700
- On Google Fonts since
- 2025
- 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 or loaded from Google Fonts.
- PDFs and documents
- Yes.
- Changes
- Yes.
- Sharing the files
- Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.
Special Gothic 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
- Most likely. Under More fonts, in Sheets and Slides too. Google’s guide
- Word, PowerPoint
- No. Install it from Google Fonts first. Microsoft’s list
- Figma
- Yes. Built in, nothing to install. Figma’s help
- Canva
- Not verified. Search its font menu for Special Gothic, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Special Gothic under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages, read on 28 September 2026.
05 / Measurements
Special Gothic, measured
Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style
- x-height
- 50.4% of the emlowercase x
- Cap height
- 71.0% of the emcapitals
- x / cap
- 0.71lowercase against capitals
- Width
- 47.4% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 43%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 1.26 : 1nearly even strokes
Where it stands among sans serifs
Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind
x-heightNear the middle of sans serifs
WidthNarrower than 70% of sans serifs
InkNear the middle of sans serifs
ContrastMore contrast than 71% of sans serifs
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Special Gothic
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
Special Gothic's own familySpecial Gothic Condensed OneSpecial Gothic Expanded One
- Public Sans8112% wider
- Kecal816% wider · 7% heavier
- Gothic A1806% wider · 12% lighter · x-height 4% taller
- Plainsound807% wider · x-height 3% taller
- Pontano Sans79more stroke contrast
- Fixel799% wider · 11% lighter · less stroke contrast
All 100 fonts similar to Special Gothic →Compare side by side →Get Special Gothic on Google Fonts
07 / Swap
Swap Special Gothic without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
- Pontano Sans79text 0.9% narrower · x-height 0.9% shorter
- Miedinger76text 2.4% wider · x-height 4.2% taller
- Cabinet Grotesk75text 1.3% wider · x-height 4.8% shorter
- Plainsound Semi Condensed74same text width · x-height 3.2% taller
- Almarai73same text width · x-height 2.0% taller
- Clash Grotesk72text 1.0% wider · x-height 2.0% shorter
Fallback while it loads
Until Special Gothic loads, this sets Arial in its place at 95.3% of its size, so running text keeps Special Gothic’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Special Gothic Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 95.34%;
ascent-override: 105.41%;
descent-override: 30.94%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
font-family: 'Special Gothic', 'Special Gothic Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Special Gothic
Answered from its licence, Google Fonts and each app’s own font list
Is Special Gothic free for commercial use?
Yes. Special Gothic is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included.
How do I download and install Special Gothic?
FontKind doesn’t host Special Gothic’s files: it comes free from Google Fonts . On its page there, choose Get font, then Download all, and unzip the file. It holds one variable file for every style, and a static folder with a file per style: install one set or the other, not both. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each font file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open, Word included.
Is Special Gothic in Microsoft Word?
Not until you install it: Special Gothic isn’t one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts. Installed, it is in Word’s font menu and PowerPoint’s. On Windows, its weights beyond Regular and Bold show as fonts of their own, such as Special Gothic Medium and Special Gothic SemiBold. For someone who hasn’t installed it, turn on Embed fonts in the file in Word’s save options: its licence allows that.
Is Special Gothic in Google Docs?
Most likely. Search for Special Gothic under More fonts in the font menu of Docs; added there, it is in Sheets and Slides too.
Is Special Gothic in Figma?
Yes: Special Gothic is in Figma’s font menu with all four weights, in the browser and the desktop app, with nothing to install.
How many weights does Special Gothic have?
Special Gothic comes in four weights: Regular (400), Medium (500), SemiBold (600) and Bold (700). It is a variable font: it takes any weight from 400 to 700 and widths from 75% to 125%.
Who designed Special Gothic?
Special Gothic was designed by Alistair McCready. It has been on Google Fonts since April 2025.
What fonts are similar to Special Gothic?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Public Sans (81), Kecal (81) and Gothic A1 (80), out of 100. Next to Special Gothic, Public Sans is 12% wider. Its own family, listed apart, adds Special Gothic Condensed One and Special Gothic Expanded One. See all 100 fonts like Special Gothic.