Argon Glow was created for the Easterhegg 2025.
While researching libre typefaces (OFL or similarly licensed) with a neon-sign look, we found quite a few candidates. But each of them made some sort of design choice we didn't like.
Major issues were gaps and line lengths. Neon signs are made using bent tubes. Some shapes would require either multiple tubes or involve very tight bends and layering in the third dimension. Some typefaces did try to imitate layering, but because typefaces are usually two-dimensional, this didn't really look satisfactory.
When using multiple lines, some typefaces really likes the more is better approach, using unnecessary gaps that one wouldn't do when creating physical signs, simply because it would be a useless amount of additional work.
Bending tubes is difficult, requiring a minimum radius to not damage the pipe or cause flattening. So all typefaces using corners on the inside of bends were a no-go. Some typefaces on the other hand liked bends so much, they added extra bends to the end of lines, which did a full 180. Maybe to try and imitate serifs? Either way, we didn't like that.
So in the end, and over the course of multiple months, we made our own custom typeface that meets all of our desired properties and is freely available under the OFL version 1.1. We hope y'all like it.