Best Free Fonts That Haven’t Been Overused, part 1: Decalotype (2020)

Many free fonts, especially those on Google Fonts, have lost some of their impact because of overuse. Stuff like Montserrat, Varela, Lato and Open Sans are so widely used that, at this point, using Times New Roman would be a revolutionary act.

That doesn’t make them bad fonts, obviously, and using them will give you some peace of mind: at least the fonts on this car crash of a site look good.

However, there’s a whole world of free fonts out there for us to discover so this week’s theme will be ‘Amazing Underused Free Fonts’. Today, we’ll be taking a look at Decalotype, a slightly condensed geometric sans that’s perfect for headings, headlines and titles.

Decalotype comes in seven weights with matching italics, so flexibility won’t be an issue. Its tall x-height and open counters will let you use it to set body text, in addition to all the display scenarios I’ve mentioned above, but its slightly condensed nature could lead to some compromise in readability.

Here are some quick designs I’ve created using Decalotype