Collection: Catalysis

Catalysis is an experimental typeface featuring six versions of each character in different widths and heights, designed to fit together both horizontally and vertically. This produces dense blocks of text not dissimilar to traditional Japanese Inkan or Hanko signature stamps, used as personal identifiers in commerce and government. The font employs custom OpenType code to automatically cycle through and arrange the variants straight off the keyboard, and individual characters can also be viewed by selecting the relevant letter and choosing from the pop-up, or from the Glyphs palette. Activating a stylistic set will override the cycling mechanism. Like a stamp, the outlines are worn and inky and the interior angles have begun to fill in, effects that come to the fore in larger sizes. Very effective in wordmarks and shorter sentences that invite deciphering. The font does not support accented characters, for which there is no headroom – though Substrata, a close relative, does provide international character support.