Ask any designer and they’ll likely tell you creativity doesn’t start with freedom, but rather with limitations. Built on a single, fixed grid, an uncompromising framework designed to hold an entire typeface, Sector is the product of such an extremely restrictive design process: inspired by the logic of retro LCD displays, where simple segmented systems can express remarkably complex alphabets, this typeface is able to represent 700 glyphs, including diacritics, small caps, alternates, ligatures, fractions and more features with a single grid module, making it the most versatile and adaptable font in its admittedly narrow genre. As if that weren’t ambitious enough, Sector expands into a family of six styles across two condensations derived from the same underlying grid: a dependable yet playful geometric sans, and a more daring narrow counterpart with sharp sliced terminals. Completing the family are six “Rotalic” styles, designed to introduce dynamism without compromising the grid’s structure. The result is a cohesive and versatile collection of interconnected styles, designed to operate with or without their “blueprint” background, either as a bold display stencil or a surprisingly readable text face.
