Bahnschrift is a sans serif typeface that looks mechanically drawn and deceptively simple. It is based on the German industrial standard typeface design DIN 1451, which has been used in highway signage and has been widely influential since its introduction in 1931. The font’s clean, no-nonsense style works well on signs or notices and in headlines, and gives an authoritative look to any sort of information design
Bahnschrift was Microsoft’s first typeface built using variable font technology, which means that in addition to the typeface’s five pre-built weights and three pre-built widths, it can have potentially infinite variations between the extremes of its weight and width design axes. At any particular width, all the weights take up exactly the same amount of space, so changing the weight doesn’t mean that the text will reflow.
Type designer Aaron Bell reworked an earlier Microsoft design used in game titles to turn it into the current variable font, expanding its weights and character set and adding code ("hinting”) to the font so that it will render well on low-resolution screens.
Bahnschrift is a purely upright typeface design; it does not have italic styles. Consider Grandview, a related design with italic styles, for body text where italic styling might be required.
