Sacred is a typeface built for apparel prints on hoodies, t-shirts and trousers, with a gothic and alternative Christian theme. It brings Christian elements through a brutal, aggressive aesthetic. The typeface was designed to serve the brutalist Christian clothing brand Saint n Faith, while working just as well in any project with a similar tone.
The goal was a unique typographic base the brand could use across campaigns, products and materials in a semi templated way, with each print finished by adding final touches. The reference set came from metal band lettering, particularly death and grindcore.
The concept works with thorns, echoing the crown of thorns, in an aggressive and erratic tone while keeping legible strokes and moderate curves as counterpoint to the sharp points. Every letter was drawn individually, in upper and lower case, to have its own character. Being beautiful in isolation was never the criterion. The goal was a wide range of letters, each with a defined concept, so any design team working on a print later would have solid creative ground to build on. The result is a typeface plus support elements that can be bent and manipulated into symbols, words and unique abstractions.
