Big Shoulders Stencil
Designed By
Patric King
9 Styles Display
The evening
edition.
Big Shoulders Stencil · Regular
Try a short headline and compare the letterforms at a larger scale.
9 styles available. Compare the specimens below, or enter your own text.
Download Big Shoulders Stencil ↓TTF · SIL Open Font License 1.1
Set Your Own Text
Change the style and size to compare the letterforms.
Platform 3, Southbound Express
A Headline In Place
Big Shoulders Stencil · Regular
A poster setting with supporting text.
Theatre / Music / Conversation
An Evening
In Good
Company.
Friday · 7:30 pm
The Assembly Rooms
9 Styles,
One Family
Every available style is shown below in its own font file.
Thin100
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Extra Light200
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Light300
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Regular400
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Medium500
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Semi Bold600
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Bold700
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Extra Bold800
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Black900
Platform 3, Southbound Express
Chicago has its own typeface. Big Shoulders was drawn by Patric King of XO Type Co as the house face of the Chicago Design System, a single typographic voice for the city and its people, and its tall, condensed American Gothic letters take their cues from the city’s past in railway transport and public protest, and from its dance floors.
The family splits those stories between its members. The Inline version carries the dance side, the House music parties and LGBTQ club nights of the 1980s onward. This Stencil version takes work and protest, the lettering of shipping crates and placards.
It comes in 9 weights, Thin to Black, and the letters are tall and closely packed. Less expected for a stencil, there are small caps, with a caps to small caps switch, plus stylistic alternates, discretionary ligatures and fractions.
We would reach for the heavy end, Bold through Black, for signs and posters. The Thin and Light are already slender before the stencil gaps break them up, so keep them above 24 px. Google added the Stencil family in February 2025.
Characters & Figures
719 glyphs reported in the reference style. This selection shows 400 recorded characters.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 & @ ? !
View The Recorded Character Selection
The Font Files
Download
Big Shoulders Stencil
9 TTF styles with the accompanying CSS, README and license information.
Download ZIP · 433 KB ↓- Version
- 2.001
- License
- SIL Open Font License 1.1
Install On Your Computer
Extract the ZIP first. On Windows, select the font files and choose Install from the context menu. On macOS, open the files in Font Book and choose Install.
Use On A Website
Keep the font files and the included stylesheet together. Update the stylesheet path to match your project.
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="/fonts/big-shoulders-stencil/big-shoulders-stencil.css">
body {
font-family: 'Big Shoulders Stencil', sans-serif;
}Keep the copyright and license notices with redistributed files.
Heading & Body
The family provides the heading; Inter carries the supporting text.
Big Shoulders Stencil Heading · Inter Body
The Evening Performance
Doors open at seven. The performance begins at half past. Please take your seat before the lights go down.