Goodbye Quicksand: Free Font Alternatives

“You don’t like Quicksand very much, do you? At least tell me it’s advantages because I love it. Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re right about your assessment but I failed to find a better typeface for middle school worksheets.” Taylor via Email

Quicksand might be unique, but it’s not suited for body text. In this article and short video, I’ll share with you three Google Fonts that are a great alternative to make your documents more appealing and readable, shown at a real-life example.

After my brutal rant against Quicksand, showing that it’s too light, too geometric, and too striking for UI design, Taylor wrote:

I don’t hate it, but it’s often used in the wrong places. For very short copy or a title it’s okay, but it’s simply overused and most of the time in the wrong places. But there are some advantages, obviously. Quicksand feels friendly approachable, and quite unique. But in order to find a few alternatives, we have to determine what makes Quicksand distinct.

Distinct to Quicksand are the geometric construction, the simplified letter shapes, and the rounded terminals. This makes the typeface playful and friendly.

But there also are some disadvantage, when used for the