# Special Gothic font

> A grotesque sans with weight and width axes, running from condensed to expanded in one variable file.

Special Gothic is a grotesque sans serif by Alistair McCready, built as one variable font with a weight axis from 400 to 700 and a width axis from 75 to 125. Special Gothic has four named weights, Regular to Bold, and no italic. It is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and fits interface text and headings.

## Facts

- Classification: [Sans Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/sans-serif)
- Designed by: Alistair McCready
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 4 (Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600, Bold 700)
- Variable font: Yes (wght 400–700, wdth 75–125)
- Glyphs: 531
- Character sets: latin, latin-ext
- Last updated: 2025-07-30
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Special+Gothic
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/special-gothic
- Tagged for: Headlines, Body text, Interfaces

## About Special Gothic

Special Gothic is a sans serif in the grotesque mould, with plain, slightly compact letters and little stroke contrast. In the specimen the curves of a, c, e and s close in toward horizontal endings, the a is double-storey, the R has a straight diagonal leg and the numerals are straight-sided, which gives text an even, workmanlike texture. The family is a single variable file with two axes. Weight runs from 400 to 700 with four named weights: Regular, Medium, SemiBold and Bold. Width runs from 75 to 125, so the same file yields condensed, normal and expanded settings. There is no italic. The font has 531 glyphs covering Latin and Latin Extended. Alistair McCready is the designer, the name table lists Monolith as manufacturer, and the license is the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright 2023 The Special Gothic Project Authors (https://github.com/AlistairMcCready/Special-Gothic/)

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

- **Interface labels and body copy**: Regular and Medium at normal width give a neutral text sans, with Bold for emphasis.
- **Condensed headlines**: At width 75 the letters narrow, so a long headline fits a column without shrinking the type.
- **Expanded titles**: At width 125 a short word spreads into a wide display line.
- **Editorial systems**: Because width is an axis, navigation, captions and headings can each take a different width from one file.

## Things to know

- **No italic**: Special Gothic is upright only; software will slant it artificially if italic is requested.
- **Regular is the lightest weight**: The weight axis runs from 400 to 700, with nothing lighter than Regular or heavier than Bold.
- **Width goes both ways**: The width axis runs from 75 to 125 around a default of 100, so the font can be both narrowed and widened.

## FAQs

### Is Special Gothic free for commercial use?

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

### Who designed Special Gothic?

Special Gothic was designed by Alistair McCready. The font's name table lists Monolith as manufacturer.

### How many weights does Special Gothic have?

Special Gothic has four weights: Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600 and Bold 700. There are no italics.

### Is Special Gothic a variable font?

Yes. Special Gothic is a variable font with two axes: weight from 400 to 700 and width from 75 to 125.

### Which languages does Special Gothic support?

Special Gothic includes the letters needed for English and other Latin-script languages such as French, German, Spanish, Turkish, Polish and Romanian.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/special-gothic (trendhub)