McQueen Grotesk

God save the McQueen

Designed by Loris Olivier, Noheul Lee, Katja Schimmel and Olli Meier as part of a superfamily along with McQueen. Like a pair of modern sneakers – in it for the long run.

18 Styles
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Ping Pong is like chess, only without the dice.

Story

McQueen is the popular anti-hero with two faces. One is the ambitious eccentric who loudly lives by his own rules, the other is the reserved individualist who questions conventions in a restrained but determined manner.

Through the veins of the McQueen Collection flows the blood of three designers. Loris Oliver, who came up with the idea, is a Swiss designer with an enviable talent for creating trends. He knows the ‘Swiss Style’ all too well but the search for his own appeals to him much more. Noheul Lee also lives in Switzerland but hails from Korea and brings with her a quiet yet precise tone to the typeface as befitting with traditional Korean culture. Katja Schimmel from Germany completes the trio and adds meticulous font engineering to the typographical mix.

With the extensive update of the McQueen Collection to version 2.0, a fourth designer joins the already diverse group: Olli Meier, who has continued the meticulousness and turned the family completely inside out. He revised and harmonized all the characters and added eight new styles to each of the two families.

The core McQueen family, originally called “Display”, reconciles what are actually incompatible principles of enormous contrast, ink-trap-like ornaments and geometric shapes. Its counterpart, McQueen Grotesk, dispenses with these differences in line thickness and expressive characteristics and therefore appears more stable and restrained. At the same time, however, it retains the playfulness, dynamism and curves of its counterpart. In their own way, both families bear witness to a bold and cheeky character.

Both McQueens clamor for attention but with different game plans. McQueen is like a Lady Gaga outfit – showy and spectacular, fit for the stage. While McQueen Grotesk, is more stealth-like, akin to a pair of fashionable but reliable sneakers – in it for the long run, in other words extensive amounts of text. As in any good family, they like to spend time together, but equally allow each other to live their own lives.

Unless otherwise stated, the images used are subject to Unsplash licenses.

McQueen and McQueen Grotesk – 18 Styles each
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Glyphs

Uppercase

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Lowercase

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z

Latin Accents

Á
Ă
Â
Ä
À
Ā
Ą
Å
Ã
Æ
Ć
Č
Ç
Ĉ
Ċ
Ð
Ď
Đ
É
Ĕ
Ě
Ê
Ë
Ė
È
Ē
Ę
Ğ
Ĝ
Ģ
Ġ
Ħ
Ĥ
Í
Ĭ
Î
Ï
İ
Ì
Ī
Į
Ĩ
Ĵ
Ķ
Ĺ
Ľ
Ļ
Ŀ
Ł
Ń
Ň
Ņ
Ŋ
Ñ
Ó
Ŏ
Ô
Ö
Ò
Ő
Ō
Ø
Õ
Œ
Þ
Ŕ
Ř
Ŗ
Ś
Š
Ş
Ŝ
Ș
Ə
Ŧ
Ť
Ţ
Ț
Ú
Ŭ
Û
Ü
Ù
Ű
Ū
Ų
Ů
Ũ
Ŵ
Ý
Ŷ
Ÿ
Ź
Ž
Ż
á
ă
â
ä
à
ā
ą
å
ã
æ
ć
č
ç
ĉ
ċ
ð
ď
đ
é
ĕ
ě
ê
ë
ė
è
ē
ę
ğ
ĝ
ģ
ġ
ħ
ĥ
í
ĭ
î
ï
̇
ì
ī
į
ĩ
ĵ
ķ
ĺ
ľ
ļ
ŀ
ł
ń
ň
ņ
ŋ
ñ
ó
ŏ
ô
ö
ò
ő
ō
ø
õ
œ
þ
ŕ
ř
ŗ
ś
š
ş
ŝ
ș
ß
ə
ŧ
ť
ţ
ț
ú
ŭ
û
ü
ù
ű
ū
ų
ů
ũ
ŵ
ý
ŷ
ÿ
ź
ž
ż

Numerals & Currency Symbols

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
ƒ
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
π
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Punctuation

.
,
:
;
!
¡
?
¿
&
@
·
*
#
/
|
\
(
)
{
}
[
]
-
­
_
«
»
"
'

Mathematical Signs & Symbols

+
×
÷
=
>
<
±
~
¬
^
µ
%

Arrows & Shapes

Ligatures

fi
fl

Greek

π

Languages

Acheron
Achinese
Acholi
Afar
Afrikaans
Alekano
Aleut
Amahuaca
Amarakaeri
Amis
Anaang
Andaandi, Dongolawi
Anuta
Ao Naga
Aragonese
Arbëreshë Albanian
Arvanitika Albanian
Asháninka
Ashéninka Perené
Asu (Tanzania)
Atayal
Balinese
Bari
Basque
Batak Dairi
Batak Karo
Batak Mandailing
Batak Simalungun
Batak Toba
Bemba (Zambia)
Bena (Tanzania)
Bikol
Bislama
Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo
Bosnian
Breton
Buginese
Candoshi-Shapra
Caquinte
Caribbean Hindustani
Cashibo-Cacataibo
Catalan
Cebuano
Central Aymara
Central Kurdish
Chamorro
Chavacano
Chiga
Chiltepec Chinantec
Chokwe
Chuukese
Cimbrian
Cofán
Congo Swahili
Cook Islands Māori
Cornish
Corsican
Creek
Crimean Tatar
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dehu
Dutch
Eastern Arrernte
Eastern Oromo
Embu
English
Ese Ejja
Faroese
Fijian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Friulian
Gagauz
Galician
Ganda
Garifuna
Ga’anda
German
Gheg Albanian
Gilbertese
Gooniyandi
Gourmanchéma
Guadeloupean Creole French
Gusii
Haitian
Hani
Hiligaynon
Ho-Chunk
Hopi
Huastec
Hungarian
Icelandic
Iloko
Inari Sami
Indonesian
Irish
Istro Romanian
Italian
Ixcatlán Mazatec
Jamaican Creole English
Japanese
Javanese
Jola-Fonyi
Kabuverdianu
Kala Lagaw Ya
Kalaallisut
Kalenjin
Kamba (Kenya)
Kaonde
Karelian
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Kekchí
Kenzi, Mattokki
Khasi
Kikuyu
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Kituba (DRC)
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Kven Finnish
Kölsch
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Ladin
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Latgalian
Ligurian
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Low German
Lower Sorbian
Luba-Lulua
Lule Sami
Luo (Kenya & Tanzania)
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Makhuwa
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Makonde
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Malagasy
Malaysian
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Manx
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Mauritian Creole
Meriam Mir
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Naga Pidgin
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Ngazidja Comorian
Niuean
Nobiin
Nomatsiguenga
North Ndebele
Northern Kurdish
Northern Qiandong Miao
Northern Sami
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Norwegian
Nyanja
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Occitan
Ojitlán Chinantec
Orma
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Palauan
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Papiamento
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Pichis Ashéninka
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Pipil
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Polish
Portuguese
Potawatomi
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Quechua
Romanian
Romansh
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South Ndebele
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Spanish
Sranan Tongo
Standard Estonian
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Tagalog
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Tiv
Tok Pisin
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Uab Meto
Ume Sami
Upper Guinea Crioulo
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Venetian
Veps
Võro
Walloon
Walser
Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa
Waray (Philippines)
Warlpiri
Wayuu
Welsh
West Central Oromo
Western Abnaki
Western Frisian
Wik-Mungkan
Wiradjuri
Wolof
Xhosa
Yanesha’
Yao
Yapese
Yindjibarndi
Yucateco
Zapotec
Zulu
Záparo
Fonts in Use
Credits & Details
Design Contributions
  • Jan Charvat
  • Andreas Frohloff
Mastering, Production

Olli Meier
Andreas Frohloff (Version 1.0)
Christoph Koeberlin (Version 1.0)
Rosalie Wagner (Variable Fonts Version 1.03)

Marketing

Ivo Gabrowitsch (naming, copywriting, specimen)
Studio Sowieso (graphic design, imagery)
Julian Braun (3D motion design)
Lucy Beckley (English translation)

Design Period
2016–2023
Release Date
Version 1.0: July 20, 2020; Version 1.03: February 15, 2022 (Variable Fonts); Version 2.0: December 22, 2023 (8 new styles added; corrections to spacing, kerning, outlines; merged Grotesk and Display into one variable font with ‘Optical Size’ axis; small caps removed; renamed McQueen Display to McQueen)
Recommended Use

Advertising & Packaging
Editorial & Publishing
Logo, Branding & CI
Music & Nightlife
Poster & Billboards
Sports