Spektra, a multi-script typeface that celebrates the spectrum of human diversity

The idea behind the Spektra type family was born during the covid-19 pandemic. Both of us were locked down in separate rural locations in Slovenia so we needed to figure out a way to be creative in our own spaces. Being inside in a small space and not being able to go out, made us think about the world we live in. How diversity of cultures, ideas, religions, races contribute to the richness of every day and every person. We gathered our thoughts and applied them into the world we enjoy the most - designing typefaces. The style we set for the letter shapes was chosen with consideration and regard to other scripts. Low contrast, bold strokes and condensed letter shapes style presented the base for the development of multi-script variable typeface. Our native language uses Latin script so we initiated the development on Latin typeface. We overcame some challenges especially when developing the Arabic letter shapes, where calligraphy is a very important aspect of design. Next steps were Cyrillic, Greek and Hebrew script. In Slovenia, quarantine brought new emotions to the people and spread the idea of raising the voice and standing out for our rights. As protests started to expand in other countries too, we felt that Spektra could be a representative letter shape of the current state. By combining various scripts under one type family we would like to contribute to the solidarity and kindness among people and to make people aware about the differences among them.