Ika Compact - Fontwerk

Ika Compact

For the strongest statements in the smallest space

Designed by Jörg Hemker as part of a superfamily along with Ika. The ideal symbiosis of American grotesque and classic European sans.

Rag

Once you’ve been in space, you appreciate how small and fragile the Earth is. — Валентина Владимировна Терешкова

Unless otherwise stated, the images used are subject to Unsplash licenses.

Ika Compact flies a little higher than its normal counterpart, which strives for optimal flight altitude.

While its sister consistently subordinates itself to the content of a text, the compact variant pushes more to the fore, but without losing the characteristic humanistic, constructed and geometric elements of its sibling. Ika’s extensive language support (expanded Latin range with Greek and Cyrillic alphabets) is still there, as well as its clarity, balance and timelessness.

Comparison: Ika’s and Ika Compact’s terminals

The similarities end with the glyphs and their contrast. They are significantly narrower and the contrast is less. The x-height is lower, the ascenders and descenders are shorter and the terminals are vertical. All of this results in an extreme compactness and a somewhat more decorative and striking character, but also a little more static character. What is actually intended for tight headlines works also well in small texts as well as in interface design, especially in call-to-action buttons and UI menus and the three widths are perfectly suited to such usage.

Ika Compact loves to be set in uppercase letters

Stylistically, Ika Compact moves in the direction of tightly running American grotesque fonts with a rational form principle such as Alternate Gothic or Trade Gothic. Thanks to its open forms and the distinguishable characters based on DIN 1450, it is more elegant, accessible and clearly legible. Although she sees herself primarily as a family member of the Ika family, the Ika Compact also plays out its strengths as a display font independently of her sister.

#65

Uppercase

Lowercase

Latin Accents

ẞ

Ẃ

Ẅ

Ẁ

Ỳ

ẃ

ẅ

ẁ

ỳ

Numerals & Currency Symbols

€

₿

₴

₺

₼

₱

₽

₹

₸

₮

(

)

−

(

)

−

Punctuation

;

…

•

‽

⸘

(

)

{

}

[

]

–

—

‒

―

‐

‑

‚

„

“

”

‘

’

‹

›

‴

⟨

⟩

Mathematical Signs & Symbols

∙

≅

⋅

≙

−

≠

≥

≤

≈

∞

∅

∫

Ω

∆

∏

∑

√

∂

‰

Arrows & Shapes

↑

↗

→

↘

↓

↙

←

↖

●

○

◊

■

□

▲

▼

△

▽

▴

▸

▾

◂

Ligatures

ffi

ffl

fft

Greek

Cyrillic

Space Cocktails

Jörg Hemker

Design Contributions

Andreas Frohloff
Eugene Yukechev (Cyrillic consultancy)

Mastering, Production

Andreas Frohloff
Christoph Koeberlin

Marketing

Jörg Hemker (naming, graphic design)
Ivo Gabrowitsch (copywriting, specimen, imagery)
Lucy Beckley (English translation)
Anja Knust (imagery, graphic design)

Design Period

2017–2020

Release Date

July 20, 2020; Variable Fonts July 6, 2021

Awards

D&AD Awards 2021 Shortlist
2021 ADC Awards Merit
Modern Cyrillic 2021 Awards Shortlist

Recommended Use

Editorial & Publishing
Film & TV
Small Text
Software & Gaming
Wayfinding & Signage
Responsive Designs

Formats

static: OTF, WOFF2; variable: TTF, WOFF2
Further formats available on request

Licenses

TRIAL Free Test license
STANDARD Combined Print, Web, App and eBook license
EXTENDED Larger volume + Broadcasting
Further types of license available on request

Modifications & Extensions

Available on request

Variable Fonts

Included in the Family package at no extra cost.

1 Axis: width

Web file size: 71 KB (WOFF2)

Trademarks

Ika Compact™ is a trademark of Fontwerk GmbH

Download PDF

For the strongest statements in the smallest space

Ika Compact flies a little higher than its normal counterpart, which strives for optimal flight altitude.

Glyphs

Uppercase

Lowercase

Latin Accents

Numerals & Currency Symbols

Punctuation

Mathematical Signs & Symbols

Arrows & Shapes

Ligatures

Greek

Cyrillic

Languages

Space Cocktails

For the strongest statements in the smallest space

Ika Compact flies a little higher than its normal counterpart, which strives for optimal flight altitude.

Glyphs

Uppercase

Lowercase

Latin Accents

Numerals & Currency Symbols

Punctuation

Mathematical Signs & Symbols

Arrows & Shapes

Ligatures

Greek

Cyrillic

Languages

Space Cocktails

Pairing Suggestions