The branding agency's client wanted an "ultra modern" typeface that was "futuristic without being gimmicky or ephemeral," according to the design brief. Designer Sebastian Lester took on this intriguing custom font assignment, but soon, a bureaucratic decision cancelled the project."I was left with a sketchbook full of ideas and thought it would be a shame not to see what came of them," says Lester. He decided to finish the design on his own.Lester's research confirmed that the principal ingredient of an "ultra modern" typeface was simplicity of character structure: a carefully drawn, monoline form, open letter shapes and smooth, strong curves. To conceive a typeface that crossed the line from modern to futuristic, Lester decided to amplify these qualities.
About a year after Lester's initial conceptual work, two highly functional and versatile typefaces emerged. These are Neo Sans and Neo Tech, designs Lester describes as "legible without being neutral, nuanced without being fussy, and expressive without being distracting."Both the Neo Sans and the more-minimalist Neo Tech families are available in six weights, ranging from Light to Ultra. Each has a companion italic, and Neo Tech offers a suite of alternate characters.While engineered to look modern as tomorrow, Neo Sans and Neo Tech display the functional and aesthetic excellence that earns them a place in the list of classic designs from the Monotype typeface library.
