The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Founders Grotesk vs Grotesque No.3
A modern grotesque and the metal face it grew out of. Grotesque No.3 is a Miller & Richard foundry type shown in the Edinburgh firm's early 20th-century specimen books, while Founders Grotesk is Kris Sowersby's 2010 Klim Type Foundry family that used those Miller & Richard Grotesques as its starting point. Klim is explicit that Founders Grotesk is not a strict revival, so the two share a skeleton but not a purpose.
Founders Grotesk is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Work Sans, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Founders Grotesk → Grotesque No.3 is a commercial font, so it is shown here in Work Sans, its closest free alternative. All free alternatives to Grotesque No.3 →
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- Grotesque No.3 survives as a metal-era specimen face from Miller & Richard, and Fonts In Use notes that the closest thing to it digitally is Founders Grotesk itself, so there is no verified standalone digital release to license.
- Founders Grotesk is a commercial family from Klim Type Foundry with five weights from Light to Bold plus italics, and the per-style licence is a real cost next to any free grotesque.
- Sowersby took a magpie approach: the capitals lean on Miller & Richard's Grotesques, but the R comes from Caslon's Doric No.7 and the spacing is purposely tighter than any of the referenced types.
- Founders Grotesk was drawn for headlines and its lighter weights proved weak at text sizes, which is why Klim later released the looser, wider Founders Grotesk Text.
- Grotesque No.3 carries the irregular, hand-cut character of a 1912 foundry type, while Founders Grotesk smooths that into a tight, contemporary setting with a full italic and OpenType features.
Founders Grotesk
Reach for Founders Grotesk when you need a licensed, production-ready grotesque with a full weight range and italics for branding and headline work, and the Klim licence fee fits the budget.
Grotesque No.3
Reach for Grotesque No.3 when the project is about the historical artefact itself, such as period lettering or specimen-style display work, since it is a metal reference rather than a font you can buy and install.