METRO-DF was inspired by a trip to Mexico City. The official signage of the Mexico City subway uses a peculiar adaptation of the classic font Eurostile, designed by Aldo Novarese. The capital E was most unusual. The overall feel was of a past vision of the future, with a distinctively Mexican touch. (The squared circle, or rounded square, is very common in both old and new Mexican design.

I began with a ripoff version of Eurostile (also known as Microgramma), adjusted it to the proper width and weight, then drew the observed characters as well as a few other variants of my own invention in the retro-future style. Using this font in all-caps mode presents the best approximation of the original signage.