Fonts

MSUthemes bundles the Metropolis font family, Michigan State University's official typeface for digital communications. This ensures your visualizations maintain consistent MSU branding.

Overview

The Metropolis font is:

• Open Source: SIL Open Font License
• Complete: 18 font files (9 weights × 2 styles)
• Professional: Designed specifically for digital use
• Automatic: Registered automatically when using theme_msu()

Font Weights and Styles

Metropolis includes these weights:

• Thin (100)
• ExtraLight (200)
• Light (300)
• Regular (400)
• Medium (500)
• SemiBold (600)
• Bold (700)
• ExtraBold (800)
• Black (900)

Each weight is available in:

• Regular style
• Italic style

Automatic Font Registration

Fonts are automatically registered when you apply the MSU theme:

from msuthemes import theme_msu

# Fonts are automatically registered
theme_msu()

# Now create plots with Metropolis font
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 2])
plt.title('This title uses Metropolis')
plt.show()

Manual Font Registration

You can manually register the fonts if needed:

from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts

# Register fonts with matplotlib
register_metropolis_fonts()

# Now Metropolis is available
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Metropolis'

Checking Font Availability

Verify that Metropolis fonts are registered:

from msuthemes import is_metropolis_available

# Check if fonts are available
available = is_metropolis_available()

if available:
    print("Metropolis fonts are ready to use")
else:
    print("Metropolis fonts need to be registered")

Getting Font File Paths

Access the bundled font files directly:

from msuthemes.fonts import get_font_path

# Get path to a specific font file
regular_path = get_font_path('Metropolis-Regular.otf')
print(regular_path)

# Get path to bold font
bold_path = get_font_path('Metropolis-Bold.otf')
print(bold_path)

Font Files Included

All 18 Metropolis font files:

Metropolis-Thin.otf
Metropolis-ThinItalic.otf
Metropolis-ExtraLight.otf
Metropolis-ExtraLightItalic.otf
Metropolis-Light.otf
Metropolis-LightItalic.otf
Metropolis-Regular.otf
Metropolis-RegularItalic.otf
Metropolis-Medium.otf
Metropolis-MediumItalic.otf
Metropolis-SemiBold.otf
Metropolis-SemiBoldItalic.otf
Metropolis-Bold.otf
Metropolis-BoldItalic.otf
Metropolis-ExtraBold.otf
Metropolis-ExtraBoldItalic.otf
Metropolis-Black.otf
Metropolis-BlackItalic.otf

Using Specific Font Weights

Control font weight in your plots:

from msuthemes import theme_msu
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Apply theme
theme_msu()

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 6))
ax.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])

# Use different weights
ax.set_title('Title in Default Weight', fontsize=16)
ax.set_xlabel('X-axis Label', fontsize=12, fontweight='light')
ax.set_ylabel('Y-axis Label', fontsize=12, fontweight='bold')

# Add text with specific weight
ax.text(2, 3, 'Annotation', fontweight='semibold', fontsize=14)

plt.show()

Font Troubleshooting

Fonts Not Appearing

If Metropolis fonts don't appear in your plots:

1. Clear matplotlib's font cache:

rm -rf ~/.cache/matplotlib

1. Re-register fonts:

from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts
register_metropolis_fonts()

1. Restart Python: Exit and restart your Python session to ensure changes take effect.

2. Verify registration:

from msuthemes import is_metropolis_available
print(is_metropolis_available())  # Should print True

Check Registered Fonts

List all fonts registered with matplotlib:

import matplotlib.font_manager as fm

# List all available fonts
fonts = [f.name for f in fm.fontManager.ttflist]

# Check if Metropolis is included
if 'Metropolis' in fonts:
    print("Metropolis is registered")
else:
    print("Metropolis not found")

Manual Font Cache Rebuild

Force matplotlib to rebuild its font cache:

import matplotlib.font_manager as fm

# Rebuild font cache
fm._rebuild()

# Register Metropolis fonts
from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts
register_metropolis_fonts()

Font Configuration

Setting as Default Font

Make Metropolis the default for all plots:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts

# Register fonts
register_metropolis_fonts()

# Set as default
plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Metropolis'

# All subsequent plots use Metropolis
plt.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 2])
plt.show()

Specifying Font in Specific Elements

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from msuthemes import theme_msu

theme_msu()

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 2])

# Specify font for specific elements
ax.set_title('Title', fontfamily='Metropolis', fontsize=16)
ax.set_xlabel('X-axis', fontfamily='Metropolis', fontsize=12)

plt.show()

Using Without Theme

Use Metropolis fonts without applying the full MSU theme:

from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Just register fonts, don't apply theme
register_metropolis_fonts()

# Manually set font
plt.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Metropolis'

# Create plot
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])
plt.title('Using Metropolis Without Full Theme')
plt.show()

Font in Different Plotting Libraries

Matplotlib

from msuthemes import theme_msu
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

theme_msu()
plt.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 2])
plt.title('Matplotlib with Metropolis')
plt.show()

Seaborn

from msuthemes import set_msu_style
import seaborn as sns
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

set_msu_style()
sns.boxplot(data=data)
plt.title('Seaborn with Metropolis')
plt.show()

Plotly

Plotly doesn't automatically use matplotlib fonts. You need to specify the font:

import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = go.Figure()
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=[1, 2, 3], y=[1, 4, 2]))

# Specify Metropolis font
fig.update_layout(
    font=dict(
        family="Metropolis, sans-serif",
        size=12
    ),
    title="Plotly with Metropolis Font"
)

fig.show()

Font License

The Metropolis font is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows:

• Free use in personal and commercial projects
• Modification and redistribution
• Embedding in documents and websites

See the license file in the package for complete terms.

Font Information

• Name: Metropolis
• Designer: Chris Simpson
• Type: Sans-serif
• Format: OpenType (.otf)
• Use Case: Digital interfaces and data visualization
• Official MSU Font: Yes (for digital communications)

Tips and Best Practices

1. Cache clearing: If fonts don't appear, first try clearing the matplotlib cache
2. Restart needed: After registering fonts, restart your Python session
3. Fallback fonts: The theme works even if Metropolis isn't available (uses sans-serif)
4. Consistent usage: Apply theme_msu() at the start of your scripts for consistency
5. Weight selection: Use regular weight for body text, bold for emphasis

See Also

• Themes - Complete MSU theme including fonts
• API Reference - Font module documentation
• Gallery - Examples using Metropolis fonts