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RIFT A SCI-FI INSPIRED, GEOMETRIC, SANS-SERIF

The typeface Rift is a tall, geometric, sans serif and is available in many unique styles. It was designed in 2016 by Mattox Shuler, who runs Fort Foundry. The typeface is rooted in the square-sans genre and its bold shape is great for titles. Rift is ideal for font pairing because of its wide variety of styles. It comes in 5 weights with corresponding Italics and Soft styles. Its stylistic alternatives offer a more playful tone and its tabular figures are perfect for vertically aligning numbers. Another fascinating aspect of Rift is that is free and can be used for both personal and professional needs. Though the typeface is originally influenced by the Sci-Fi genre, the end result was a very versatile and contemporary typeface.

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The idea behind creating Rift was originally based in the design of a board game called Control. The game consisted of Sci-Fi themes and time-travel motifs so the inspiration for this typeface came from titles and lettering on old, campy Sci-Fi posters. From this vision came the tall, geometric typeface built for the game’s logo and cards. It has a charming personality and also has great legibility, perfect for titles and text at medium to large sizes. Its tabular numbers are perfect for tables and large lists of numerical information. Rift also creates an interesting rendition of a square-sans typeface with its Soft version. The soft, rounded edges of Rift Soft create an unusual juxtaposition with its tall, rectangle shaped letter forms. In addition, Rift offers a set of alternate letter forms with more curvature. These alternates can completely change the tone of the typeface, playing up its versatility.

Rift took heavy influence from the square-sans genre of typography. This genre is characterized by typefaces with a box-like appearance and structured character. They are generally based on grotesque characteristics (think, Helvetica!) but intentionally square normally curved strokes. Many square-sans typefaces, like Rift, are only made with capital letter forms. Overall, they are designed with mostly straight lines, have very little curvature, and have symmetrical and architectural qualities. Often, square-sans typefaces can be hard to read but, in Rift’s case, the tall X-height has been paired with a very appropriate width, creating a great sense of legibility.

MATTOX SHULER

The designer behind the typeface, Rift, is none other than Mattox Shuler, founder of Fort Type Foundry. Schuler was never formally trained in design, rather he studied Marketing at the University of Georgia. He got his start in designing typefaces after working for a website that published articles and he was in dire need of typefaces for the titles. Schuler says he finds a lot of inspiration from old packaging and signs he finds in antique stores. Shuler’s type foundry, Fort, was created as a side-project in 2013 with the release of his typeface Bourbon. It quickly became a full time project for Shuler as each typeface he released made their way to the “Hot New Fonts” list. Since its conception, Fort has released 14 different typefaces. The inspiration behind Fort comes from building forts as kids and filling those places with creativity, exploration, and fun. Fort wants to take those values into creating type. Recently, Shuler has began adding other designers to the Fort team because “building Forts is always more fun with friends.” A few of Fort’s most notable clients are Netflix, Trader Joes, Taco Bell, and Marvel Studios.

TYPEFACE ANALYSIS

Rift is most notably a tall, square sans-serif with great legibility at medium to large sizes and on wide screens. This legibility is mostly due to its somewhat generous relationship between width and height. The typeface is very rectangular with quick rounded corners. Many of the letter forms appear to be almost horizontally symmetrical. Some examples of this would be the C,D,H, and X. When looking at each letter, it is noticeable that the feet and terminals of letter forms are flat and perfectly horizontal. Another trait that characterizes Rift as square-sans is that all the letter forms sit even on the baseline and there are no ascenders. There are also no descenders, with the exception of the tail on the Q. Another distinct characteristic of Rift is that the W joins with a pointed apex, instead of with crossing V’s. One letter form that is particularly odd is the K. On the K letter form, the leg extends out of the arm instead of the stem which is interesting because it is the only letter where the strokes do not meet at a perfect point. Rift is available in 5 weights and has an italics version for each. The weights range from light to bold, allowing Rift to fill many different typographical needs.

Rift also is available in a Soft version. This version is basically the same as regular Rift, except the feet, terminals, and ends of each letter are rounded instead of a flat. The end stroke of the letter forms still are very horizontal, but their sharp corners have been rounded. Another difference between Rift and Rift Soft is that the tail on the Q is much shorter in the soft version. Rift Soft also comes in 5 weights and their italic versions.

Another quirky trait about Rift is that it offers 9 stylistic alternatives. These alternatives include an A, N, R, M, W, G, Q, Y and a ligature of A and E. All of these alternate letters are more rounded versions of their original counterpart. These letters took the sharp angular lines of the originals, and turned them into more box-style, vertical letters with quick curves. Most of them appear to be based off the original letter O. Another interesting characteristic about these alternate letter forms are that the M, N and Y appear to be in lowercase form but still sit at the same x-height as the rest of the alphabet.

corners

This example shows the curves on the corners of Rift’s letter forms. It also shows the rectangular shape of the letters, and emphasizes how the rounded corners interact with the very straight lines.

terminals

The top example of Rift shows how the terminals of letter forms end at a sharp horizontal line. Below, is an example of Rift Soft’s more rounded version of the terminals.

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x-height

This example shows how Rift has a consistent x-height. There are no ascenders and descenders, with exception of the Q. It also illustrates how many of the letters are horizontally symmetrical.

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