Lateral is a contemporary superfamily that revolves around the notion of sideways expansion. Its name comes from the Latin lateralis, “to the side”. In topographical anatomy, this term is used to specify a relative position, or to relate structures spatially to one another. On the macro level, the concept becomes manifest in the vast range of styles – the widest width takes up more than five times as much space than the narrowest one. On the micro level, it’s revealed in how the glyphs are constructed.

Lateral is Schick Toikka’s first variable font family, and was conceived for this format and its potential right from the start. At the core of the design is the special construction: All curves have a flat section at their extremes. In the central width, it’s short and hence of little visible consequence. The further one moves along the width axis, the more clearly this property emerges. It yields straight-sided rounds towards the compressed end, and letterforms with wide-stretching horizontal parts in the expanded styles. The design principle is strictly adhered to in all styles. For instance, the terminals of a given weight invariably end on the same height throughout the family. As a systematic approach to a sans serif in many widths and weights, Lateral follows the example of Univers. Its designer Adrian Frutiger was fond of working with scissors. He cut up letterforms and rearranged the parts by means of shifting, in order to derive new widths or weights. In a way, the flat joints in the digital Lateral resemble his analog technique – and lead to similar results: By keeping curves coordinated across the spectrum, the design acquires a slightly boxy overall look. Lateral is set apart from conventional sans serifs by its characteristic straights. Elements like the planed rounds and the horizontal exit strokes add brutalist overtones to every line.

The variable version of Lateral offers three axes, for width, weight, and slant, which are controlled by 56 meticulously drawn masters. In terms of static fonts, this translates to a massive workhorse family of 98 styles, spanning seven widths in seven weights, with upright and italic variants. While the middle widths are intended for all-purpose typesetting, the extreme ones lend themselves to display use.