# Oswald font

> A condensed gothic sans redrawn for screens, variable from ExtraLight 200 to Bold 700, with Cyrillic.

Oswald is a condensed sans serif typeface that reworks the style of the old Alternate Gothic faces for digital screens. Vernon Adams, Kalapi Gajjar and Cyreal are credited. Oswald is a variable font with a weight axis from 200 to 700 and six named weights, without italics. It is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and suits headlines.

## Facts

- Classification: [Sans Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/sans-serif)
- Designed by: Vernon Adams, Kalapi Gajjar, Cyreal
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 6 (ExtraLight 200, Light 300, Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600, Bold 700)
- Variable font: Yes (wght 200–700)
- Glyphs: 869
- Character sets: cyrillic, cyrillic-ext, latin, latin-ext, vietnamese
- Last updated: 2025-09-11
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Oswald
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/oswald
- Tagged for: Headlines, Posters, Bold, Condensed, Social media

## About Oswald

Oswald is a sans serif family with tall, narrow letters and tight spacing, as the specimen shows: capitals and lowercase are compressed sideways, and counters are slim vertical slots. The official notes describe it as a reworking of the style historically represented by the Alternate Gothic typefaces, redrawn to fit the pixel grid of ordinary screens. Vernon Adams launched it in 2011 and kept updating it until 2014, adding Light and Bold and more languages; Kalapi Gajjar updated the Latin in 2016, and Cyreal is also credited. A variable weight axis arrived in January 2019, and a July 2023 update expanded the Cyrillic set. The axis runs from 200 to 700 with six named weights, ExtraLight to Bold, and no italic. The font holds 869 glyphs covering Latin, Latin Extended, Cyrillic and Vietnamese.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright 2016 The Oswald Project Authors (https://github.com/googlefonts/OswaldFont)

Allowed:
- Use the fonts in personal and commercial work, in print, on the web and in apps.
- Modify the fonts and build new versions from them.
- Redistribute the fonts, on their own or bundled with software, as long as the license text and copyright notice go with them.

Conditions:
- The fonts cannot be sold by themselves.
- A modified version must stay under the same license and cannot use a Reserved Font Name without the copyright holder's permission.
- The authors' names cannot be used to promote a modified version without permission.

Summary only, not legal advice. Full text: https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/

## Where it works

- **News and blog headlines**: Narrow letters fit long titles on one line, and the shapes were redrawn for the screen pixel grid.
- **Banners and thumbnails**: Bold 700 packs a few words into a small graphic for video covers and social posts.
- **Posters with stacked type**: Condensed capitals stack into tall blocks of text.
- **Navigation bars and tags**: Medium and SemiBold in capitals make compact menu items and category labels.
- **Headlines in Russian or Ukrainian**: The Cyrillic set, expanded in 2023, follows the same condensed proportions.

## Things to know

- **No italic**: Oswald is upright only.
- **Heaviest weight is Bold**: The axis stops at 700; there is no ExtraBold or Black.
- **Made for short text**: The narrow letters and tight spacing tire the eye in long paragraphs; use it for headings.

## FAQs

### Is Oswald free for commercial use?

Yes. Oswald is published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows use in personal and commercial work, modification and redistribution. The font cannot be sold on its own, and modified versions stay under the same license.

### Who designed Oswald?

Oswald was created by Vernon Adams. Kalapi Gajjar updated the Latin part in 2016, and Cyreal is also credited.

### How many weights does Oswald have?

Oswald has six named weights, from ExtraLight 200 to Bold 700. It has no italics.

### Is Oswald a variable font?

Yes. Oswald is a variable font with a weight axis from 200 to 700, added in January 2019.

### Which languages does Oswald support?

Oswald includes the letters needed for English and other Latin-script languages such as French, Turkish, Polish and Vietnamese, as well as Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/oswald (trendhub)