Typeface Design for Champion Sans
No curves, no exceptions—every glyph in LL Champion is built from straight lines alone
Designed by Weichi He at Lineto between 2019 and 2023, released in 2024, with font engineering and mastering by Alphabet, Berlin. LL Champion applies the research-and-development rigour of complex text typeface design to the angular slab serif style long associated with US sports jerseys. The family spans three weights and two widths, determined through extrapolation, and extends to a companion sans serif sharing the same proportions. All versions are duplexed, with a fixed box width per style that reinforces the typeface's mechanical character.
Set in Champion Sans
Insights
- Weight range and widths were established with the aid of extrapolation rather than drawn entirely by hand.
- Duplexing—fixing box width across weights within each style—reinforces the typeface's mechanical construction, and also offers the practical benefit of preventing text reflow.
- The Carved variant evokes a three-dimensional impression suited to the block-like letterforms.
- LL Champion Sans shares the same weights and proportions as the Slab, and includes a Shadow version usable independently or as a layered colour fill.
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