# Barlow Condensed font

> The narrowest of the three Barlow widths: a low-contrast grotesk in nine weights with italics.

Barlow Condensed is the condensed width of the Barlow superfamily by Jeremy Tribby, a low-contrast grotesk that borrows from California's highway signs and license plates. Barlow Condensed has nine weights from Thin to Black, each with an italic, 18 styles as static files. It is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and suits tight headlines, labels and data.

## Facts

- Classification: [Sans Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/sans-serif)
- Designed by: Jeremy Tribby
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 18 (Thin 100, ExtraLight 200, Light 300, Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600, Bold 700, ExtraBold 800, Black 900; with italics)
- Variable font: No
- Glyphs: 680
- Character sets: latin, latin-ext, vietnamese
- Last updated: 2025-09-08
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Barlow+Condensed
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/barlow-condensed
- Tagged for: Headlines, Interfaces, Bold, Condensed, Signage

## About Barlow Condensed

Barlow Condensed is a narrow, low-contrast grotesk sans serif, the tightest of the three widths in the Barlow superfamily; the other two are Barlow and Barlow Semi Condensed. The design draws on the public lettering of California: number plates, road signs, buses and trains. In the specimen the round letters have straight vertical sides, so O, C and D stand like upright capsules, the stroke ends are faintly rounded, and the alphabet takes far less width than a normal sans at the same height. There are nine weights from Thin to Black, each with an italic, 18 styles supplied as static files; the family is not a variable font. Each font has 680 glyphs for Latin, Latin Extended and Vietnamese, the last added in December 2018. Jeremy Tribby leads the project, and the fonts are published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright 2017 The Barlow Project Authors (https://github.com/jpt/barlow)

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

- **Poster and banner headlines**: Tall, narrow capitals let a long line run large across a fixed width, and Black 900 gives it mass.
- **Dense tables and dashboards**: Condensed figures and labels fit more columns on screen before a table has to scroll.
- **Signage and wayfinding**: The letterforms come from highway signs and vehicle plates, which were made to be read quickly.
- **Navigation labels on small screens**: Medium and SemiBold keep menu items on one line in tab bars and side menus.
- **Headlines over Barlow text**: The three Barlow widths share their weights, so a condensed headline matches normal-width paragraphs.

## Things to know

- **Eighteen static files**: Each weight and italic is a separate file. The package has no variable font.
- **One of three widths**: Barlow and Barlow Semi Condensed are published as separate families with the same nine weights.
- **Vietnamese added in 2018**: The official notes record that Vietnamese support came with an update in December 2018.

## FAQs

### Is Barlow Condensed free for commercial use?

Yes, under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. Barlow Condensed may be used in personal and commercial projects, modified and redistributed; it cannot be sold by itself, and a modified version keeps the same license.

### Who designed Barlow Condensed?

Barlow Condensed was designed by Jeremy Tribby, who leads the Barlow project. The font files name Tribby Type as manufacturer.

### How many weights does Barlow Condensed have?

Barlow Condensed has nine weights, from Thin to Black, each with an italic, which makes 18 styles.

### What is the difference between Barlow and Barlow Condensed?

Barlow Condensed is the narrowest width of the same design. Barlow is the normal width and Barlow Semi Condensed sits between them; all three have the same nine weights.

### Is Barlow Condensed a variable font?

No. Barlow Condensed is not a variable font; it is supplied as 18 static files.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/barlow-condensed (trendhub)