Rig Shaded Award-winning, 3D Science Fiction type specimen | Design by Jamie Clarke Type

Rig Shaded 3D blue type specimen | Design by Jamie Clarke Type

Rig Shaded

Rig Shaded is an award-winning 3D type family with a geometric sans serif at its heart. As its name suggests, Rig is designed as a framework to support a range of striking 3D effects.
It features four weights, including a unique ‘zero’ weight. Each weight includes two optional grades of distinctive halftone shading, Fine and Coarse, which emphasise Rig’s solid appearance.

Rig Shaded was inspired by custom 3D sign painting and aims to be the default option for designers looking for a sans serif, drop shade typeface.

The type family has appeared in many ‘Best Font’ lists and was refered to by one typorapher as ”the prettiest display typeface available”.

Two shading types

For greater control at various type sizes, two shading styles are available for each weight.

Depending on the color combinations chosen, Rig can produce subtle gradients through to strong graphic effects.

The Fine grade shading suits large headlines while the Coarse grade is designed for smaller titles, or to produce a distinctive texture at large sizes.

The halftone shading also makes it possible to produce a unique ‘zero’ weight, whose characters are described by their extruded facets alone.

Rig Shaded Award-winning font, 3D Fine and Coarse shading - type specimen | Design by Jamie Clarke Type

Rig developed from a quest to find ideal letter shapes for a shaded typeface while retaining their geometric principles and legibility. Each character has been designed to ensure maximum clarity and harmony when combined with 3D effects. The extrude and shaded styles have been handcrafted to produce a consistent weight and tone.

Rig's character set includes 230 glyphs, supporting 198 languages, including all Western, Central and South Eastern European languages. You can buy individual weight packs of Rig Shaded, or the entire family for a discounted cost.
A PDF specimen describing Rig Shaded's features and tips on use can be downloaded here.

Using Rig Shaded

Using Rig to create eye-catching 3D effects is simple:

Set your type in any of Rig’s styles
Select the type and duplicate it
Swap the duplicate's font style to another of Rig’s styles
Change its colour too
Repeat for each font style and colour desired

Pro Tips:
When you first set your type, use one of the Extrude styles to accurately gauge the width of your text.
Always keep the Face or Inline style at the top of your stack and the Shadow at the bottom.