Sometimes, it is the simplest fonts that attract the most attention. The perfect example is the Optima font family, a package of striking humanist sans serif typefaces that work for every project.

The creator of this typeface is Herman Zapf. Ever since Stempel presented this font family in 2002, designers are looking for fonts similar to Optima to improve their -Linotype’s Optima Nova.

The Optima font family is described as humanist, but many features distinguish it from classic sans serifs. For instance, it was designed with flaring terminals and higher stroke contracts. Thanks to it, Optima takes the elegance of Roman letters to a whole new level. Beauty product promoters are simply delighted by it.

Yet, fonts easily become less impressive when they are overused. Be it in advertising, branding, or package design, nowadays everyone strives toward originality. Therefore, it might be a good idea to skip Optima and choose a similar font instead, perhaps one that can offer more styles and weights.

Here are some of the best fonts similar to Optima

Severn Sans Serif Font Family

Severn Sans Serif Font is a minimalist and clean font. It is therefore the most modern and stylish alternative to Optima. It will also enrich your design with a complete package of lower and uppercase letters, punctuation, numbers, and weights.

Contax Sans

This great sans serif font is on the market since 2011. It improved Alex Kacyun’s pioneer product Contax Pro, but its stroke contrast gives it a more delicate look. There are eight weights available, each with matching italics.

Mentorâ„¢ Sans

If you are looking for a family of fonts to choose from, Mentora is the way to go. Over the years, it served many different purposes, all the way from 1970s book illustrations to 1990s book jackets. It was also the main source of inspiration for the 20th century top designers, such as Hermann Zapf, Reynolds Stone, Eric Gill, and even Michael Harvey.

Charlton Sans Serif Font Family

If you were impressed by Optima, Charlton Sans Serif will leave you breathless. It is beautiful and simple, available in even nine different weights. We recommend it for headers, titles, logos, or branding in general.

Vanitas

Michael Harboe’s Vanitas sans serif was presented in 2011 and soon made it to the covers of the best fashion magazines. You will often find it also on the package of some great beauty products.

It replicates the classic, geometric design of Didot and Bodoni, but it has uniquely high contrast. Vanitas is a sans-serif typeface designed by Michael Jarboe and published

Granville

Another high contrast representative is Production Type’s Granville. It was designed by Jean-BaptiseLevée who chose not to abide by the thick-thin rule of sans serif but to create a small and sturdy text face font. It is available in light, regular, and bold, all of them with matching italics.

Maquna – Stylish Sans Serif Typeface

Typeface fans have certainly heard of Maguna, an Optima alternative that is very eye-catching. Unlike Optima, Maguna only offers bold uppercase characters. You will also get access to fascinating ornaments, ligatures and glyphs, and multilingual support.

Boutique

Mileau Grotesque’s Boutique can be described as the neo-classical Optima. Timo Gaessner’s 2012 masterpiece is not used all that often. The reason is that it offers exceptionally high contrasts.

Berton

What makes Berton a great Optima alternative is its practicality. There is no design project where you can’t use it as your leading display font. Whatever you may need – Berton can do!

Beausite

Beausite features a neo-grotesque skeleton with very high stroke contrast. This is something unique among Optima alternatives. Fatype designer Yassin Baggar worked with even three levels of contrast. Grand (top headline choice with the highest contrast); Fit (very low contrast); and Slick (cutting the difference between these two).

If you can’t decide, take time to check each of the six weights and their matching italics.

Logam

Logam is a very stylish and luxurious Optima-like typeface. It combines the pointed-pen features of typical serifs and the catchy ligatures of their successors.

Moreover, it will impress you with its original structure. There is pure geometry that acts perfectly balanced to the eye, and a variety of styles that make it usable…well, everywhere!

You can find this font on book titles, stationaries, quotes, greeting cards, posters, and DIY vintage projects. Check it out right away!

Vinter

Vinter is another high-contrast sans serif representative. Vinter’s contrast doesn’t damage its delicate appearance but rather complements it.

Vinter was released in 2012 by Norwegian foundry Monokrom. Its designer FrodeHelland provided both the regular and the italic style. Thanks to him, we can use Vinter also at large display sizes.

Yadon

Yadon is a stand-out sans serif you can use to replace Optima bold. You are looking at a do-it-all set of lower and uppercase letters, punctuation, and numbers that can be applied for a variety of beautiful, timeless projects (templates, banners, logos, etc.).

Darby Sans

The same as Optima, Darby Sans belongs to the humanist sans-serif family of fonts. It was first used in 2013 for the Wallpaper Magazine redesign, but its qualities soon made it a commercial hit.

If you find its contrast a bit low, check the Darby Sans Poster variation.

Bradley

Bradley Sans would be the Optima alternative I would choose if asked which font is the most stylish. Some designers believe it is a bit ‘overdone’, but it may still be exactly what you need.

For optimal results, match it with strong and modern sans serifs. It will enrich them with an elegant, professional appearance. Ideally, apply it to your business cards, letterheads, or nametags.

Cotoris

Delivered by Japanese designer Ryoichi Tsunekawa, Cotoris is exactly as stylish and calligraphic as you expect it to be. This sans serif is ideal for display settings, such as stylish logo designs, and is available in regular, bold, heavy, and italic styles.

Malak

Despite being the youngest typeface on our list, Malak didn’t take long to become very popular. Beautiful and practical, this typeface is the definition of a single form-and-function solution. There are three different weights and a very compact set of characters and numbers to work with. To make things even better, Malak supports multiple languages.

Malak is used both in private and professional scenarios. Business designers agree this is a stunning choice for corporate advertising materials. Aficionados, on the other hand, have no problem using it on their social media profiles and wedding invitations.

Antiga

FAEL published Antiga in 2018 in an attempt to inject some Roman influence into Art Noveau. Designer Rafael Serra worked only with uppercase characters. Nevertheless, he provided a stunning selection of ligatures.

Klara

Let us present another great alternative to Optima typeface: the always elegant and stunning Klara. It is often seen in advertisements, quotes, or magazine and web titles. You will also like its support for multiple language sets.

Linotype Brewery

Linotype Brewery is a small-size sans serif, often criticized for being usable only at larger scales. This may be the reason why the original 1997 design by Gustav AndrejsGrinbergs got replaced. 2012 brought us Brewery 2, a similar typeface with even seven different weights and matching italics.

Brixanos

Brixanos is another great Optima alternative you can use for a variety of projects. Its futuristic appearance makes it ideal for sci-fi and technology designs. And yet, the font triggers convincing emotions which work perfectly in the business world. It features short-length text blocks, which makes it perfect for your catchy headlines.

Love

Designer Jeremy Schneider named this typeface after his favorite band and the title song of their 1967 album Forever Changes. The font doesn’t only have a memorable name, but also very stylish alternate characters. Yet, you may find it a bit restrictive, as it only offers uppercase characters and a single weight.

If you enjoyed reading this article on fonts similar to Optima, you should check out this one about fonts similar to Impact.

We also wrote about a few related subjects like the Roblox font and what font does Roblox use, the best 72 free fonts for logos to create modern and creative designs, fonts similar to Futura, fonts similar to Avenir, fonts similar to Calibri, fonts similar to Gotham, and fonts similar to Montserrat.