Qlikview Sans font family

data visualisation in complex digital environments

The primary goal put forward by Qlik was to make the new custom font perform well in digital environments, both desktop and browser-based, with data analysis and visualisation as the main consideration. The typeface is to be used only onscreen in tables, separated words, navigation menus, and very short paragraphs, as the sole typeface in Qlik’s applications. Additional requirements by the client included: usage at small pixel sizes, a pan-european character set, compliance with Windows-desktop type rendering technology, and delivery as webfonts via web server.

During the conceptual stage, TypeTogether defined a set of desirable attributes that influenced the design of the resulting QlikView Sans. Given the technical restrictions, letter shapes were engineered to minimise the problems inherent to low resolution rendering. Complex shapes are simplified wherever possible and curve tension is adjusted in such a way to avoid problems with grid-fitting. To ensure a high degree of legibility, QlikView Sans is fitted with generous counters, a tall x-height, and pays special attention to problematic characters that may be misread at small sizes. Additionally, narrow proportions of the letters help to provide enough space to visualise large amounts of data, taking care not to compromise legibility.

Acting as a counter-balance to the mass of impersonal data, the typeface brings a friendly, natural touch to the software. The final look and feel of QlikView Sans is a bit of a hybrid; a generally grotesque letter structure is mixed with carefully chosen humanist elements — see in particular the numerals and outstrokes on k, K, R.

TypeTogether collaborated with Tom Grace for the Cyrillic part and Irene Vlachou for the design of Monotonic Greek.

See more images in Flickr.