# Overpass font

> A sans derived from US highway sign lettering, adapted for screens in nine weights with italics.

Overpass is a sans serif typeface designed by Delve Withrington, Dave Bailey and Thomas Jockin, interpreting the Highway Gothic lettering of US road signs. Overpass is a variable font with a weight axis from 100 to 900 and nine named weights with italics. It is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and suits interfaces, signage and text.

## Facts

- Classification: [Sans Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/sans-serif)
- Designed by: Delve Withrington, Dave Bailey, Thomas Jockin
- 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: Yes (wght 100–900)
- Glyphs: 1332
- Character sets: cyrillic, cyrillic-ext, latin, latin-ext, vietnamese
- Last updated: 2025-09-02
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Overpass
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/overpass
- Tagged for: Headlines, Body text, Interfaces, Signage

## About Overpass

Overpass is a sans serif family that starts from Highway Gothic, the letterforms in the Standard Alphabets for Traffic Control Devices issued by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. The designers adjusted those sign shapes so they would hold up at small sizes on screens and, later, at display sizes in the lighter weights. The specimen shows traces of the source: slanted cuts where some strokes end, as on the descender of p, wide openings and plain, slightly narrow capitals. Overpass is a variable font with a weight axis from 100 to 900. Nine named weights from Thin to Black come in roman and italic, 18 styles in all. The fonts hold 1,332 glyphs covering Latin, Latin Extended, Cyrillic and Vietnamese. Delve Withrington, Dave Bailey and Thomas Jockin are the credited designers, and a monospaced companion exists as a separate family.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright 2021 The Overpass Project Authors (https://github.com/RedHatOfficial/Overpass)

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

- **Wayfinding and signage**: The letterforms descend from road sign alphabets designed to be read quickly at a distance.
- **Software interfaces**: The sign shapes were reworked for small on-screen sizes, and nine weights with italics cover a full UI hierarchy.
- **Documentation and long text**: Regular with a true italic handles extended passages in print and online.
- **Posters and environmental graphics**: Thin through Light were tuned for display sizes; Black gives heavy headlines.
- **Interfaces in Cyrillic**: Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian letters are part of the same family.

## Things to know

- **One axis**: Overpass varies in weight only, from 100 to 900.
- **The monospaced version is separate**: Overpass Mono is a different family and is not in this package.
- **No Greek**: Latin, Cyrillic and Vietnamese are covered; Greek is not.

## FAQs

### Is Overpass free for commercial use?

Yes, under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. Overpass may be used in personal and commercial work, modified and redistributed, but the fonts cannot be sold on their own and derivatives must carry the same license.

### Who designed Overpass?

Overpass was designed by Delve Withrington, Dave Bailey and Thomas Jockin of Delve Fonts.

### How many weights does Overpass have?

Overpass has nine named weights, from Thin 100 to Black 900, each with an italic, which makes 18 styles.

### Is Overpass a variable font?

Yes. Overpass is a variable font with a weight axis from 100 to 900, supplied as one roman and one italic file.

### What is Overpass based on?

Overpass interprets Highway Gothic, the road sign lettering that the U.S. Federal Highway Administration specifies in its Standard Alphabets for Traffic Control Devices.

---

Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/overpass (trendhub)