Human Design: the 5 Types
what are manifestors, generators, projects, MG's & reflectors? untangling & simplifying the five different types
Human Design is a blend of modern science and ancient wisdom, bringing together astrology and quantum physics, chakras, the Kabbalah & and the Chinese I-Ching. It’s the ultimate profiling tool, giving us full permission to be ourselves. It offers a user manual for each of us, showing us how to be who we’re designed to be, how to work with our energy and how to make great decisions that are just right for each of us.
We can find our purpose, our ideal environment & our superpowers on this map. And we can journey through it to heal ourselves, our relationships & our work. If you’d like to find out more, download your free chart here or book a chart reading with me here
Human Design appears to a complex system, but it can be beautifully simply to integrate into your life, so I’m going to demystify it for you here in a series of posts starting with Type.
What is Type in Human Design?
Type is a simple way of gathering together all the charts with the same ‘Strategy’ and it’s a useful entry point to Human Design, handy for introducing yourself to others, and knowing how they might appreciate being approached.
However, I’ll show you how it becomes less important the more you know your design, and why you may not resonate with the memes and one-liners about your Type.
To find out your Type before you read on, click below to get your free chart from my website.
An overview of the Types
There are 5 Types, and they fit together as if they’re designed that way…!
The Manifestor Type are here to provide the spark to get things started, this inspires the Generator & Manifesting Generator Types who are here to build and create from this initial spark, creating and using energy as they move around doing the work. The Projector Types are here to guide the direction and how that energy is best used. And the Reflector Types are here to reflect back the health and potential of people and the planet.
So you can see that every Type has a clear purpose… but often as we’re growing up, we are conditioned to try and act like a different Type, perhaps to fit in with expectations that ‘we should all be the same’ or because some Types are ‘a bit much’ or ‘not energetic enough’. Once we see the world through the lens of Human Design, it opens us up to embrace who we are designed to actually be, not who we were conditioned to be.
A quick word on Centres…
You’ll find an in depth post on Centres just here in the Library, but as I share more on Type you might want to refer back here to see which Centres I’m talking about. When centres are defined they are coloured in (like the Sacral below) and when they are undefined they are white. When it comes to establishing Type (and therefore Strategy), it’s the defined Centres we are looking at.
The Manifestor Type
You know you’re a Manifestor if you have either a defined Solar Plexus, Ego or Root connected to the Throat Centre, but no defined Sacral. Those first three centres are motor centres, and having one of these connected directly to the throat (where we manifest from) is key to you inspiring new action in the world. You know you’re in alignment if you’re feeling peaceful; on the other hand anger is a sign you’re out of alignment.
Your purpose is to inspire and initiate others, be very much yourself and be guided by source, spirit, the universe; wherever you feel inspiration comes from for you. You’re not designed to DO all the doing though, so have Generators and MG’s around to pick up the work of creating from your initial spark.
Manifestors have a huge aura and can be ‘too much’ for some people - often my Manifestor clients tell me that they were asked to ‘be less’ while growing up, and learned to tuck themselves away to make others more comfortable, often leading to dis-ease. And at just c.10% of the population, Manifestors can also feel like they're different from most people, with their need to move fast & not explain themselves. Understanding their purpose is essential to feeling comfortable being themselves.
A healthy Manifestor will feel free to express themselves and initiate when the desire comes, and feel independent too, even in close relationships.
If you have a Manifestor in your life, don’t tell them what to do! Let them initiate, give them space to work things out and reach their own conclusions.
Signature & not-self themes
You’ll know you’re in alignment when you feel peaceful.
And the sign you’re out of alignment somewhere is anger.
Discovering what moves you back into alignment is key.
These two charts are both Manifestors, but the pattern of their lit-up Centres, their Gates and their Arrows are all very different, so you can start to see that, of course, not all Manifestor are the same!
The Generator Type
You know you’re a Generator if you have a defined Sacral, and no motor centres attached to the throat. The sacral is the only consistent motor centre, delivering consistent reliable energy for the right things. You know you’re in alignment if you’re feeling satisfied; on the other hand frustration is a sign you’re out of alignment.
Your purpose is to create life-force energy for the planet, by doing work you love and being lit up. Once inspired into action by the Manifestors around you, you are here to create and build, bringing things into reality. You have lots of energy so it can be tempting to take on other’s work, and they can be tempted to load you up too, it’s important to be aware of this as it can lead to burnout. Your Sacral is the key to knowing what’s right, as it will tell you YES or no… listen to it!
When I meet with Generator clients who are burned out and not finding new opportunities, it’s often because they have taken on too much that just wasn’t right for them, not lighting them up and instead draining their energy. I encourage them to declutter all round, including work projects, people and stuff, only keeping what lights them up. This frees up their energy and their aura to attract more of the good stuff to them.
If you have a Generator in your life it can be useful to ask them yes/no questions instead of wide open ones - their Sacral centre just knows if it’s a Yes or No, so use it!
Signature & not-self themes
You’ll know you’re in alignment when you feel satisfaction.
And the sign you’re out of alignment somewhere is frustration.
Discovering what moves you back into alignment is key.
And just as the two Manifestor charts were very different, you’ll see the two here are very different too, these two Generators will show up differently in the world and likely be conditioned in different ways too.
The Manifesting Generator Type (MG)
You know you’re an MG (or ManGen) if you have a defined Sacral and one of your motor centres is connected to your Throat centre. You know you’re in alignment if you’re feeling peaceful and / or satisfied; on the other hand anger and / or frustration is a sign you’re out of alignment.
Your purpose is similar to the Generator, to be inspired, to build, create and be lit up. You are also here to shake things up and will likely move fast and make mistakes; this is just right for you and is actually showing us the short cuts. The world can feel slow by comparison to an MG. Again similar to the Generator, you can get caught up in doing things that aren’t right for you, which can lead to burnout.
My MG clients often tell me they’ve been told to slow down and concentrate on one thing; I remind them that they are here to live non-linear, multi-passionate lives. They also have a very big energy which may have been ‘too much’ for others at some point and they may have surpassed themselves to fit in; you’ll know by reading this far that I go ahead and give them permission to be entirely who they are designed to be; it’s a clear theme in my work!
If you have an MG in your life, allow them to just be all that they are, fast and messy and full of energy!
Signature & not-self themes
You’ll know you’re in alignment when you feel satisfaction and / or peace.
And the sign you’re out of alignment somewhere is frustration and / or anger.
Discovering what moves you back into alignment is key.
Above are two examples of MG’s with different charts, the common theme is that complete channel from a motor to the throat. The one on the right has three motors connected, the one on the left has two, this is just one way they’ll show up differently.
The Projector Type
You know you’re a projector if you don’t have a defined sacral, and you have no motor to your throat. Some Projectors have more motor centres than others, this will impact how much energy is available to you when you’re alone (ie not drawing from other’s energy)
Your purpose is to guide the Generator Types especially in their use of energy. They make up c70% of the population so it’s essential they are heading in the right direction! Projectors are around 20%, and you bring a lot of wisdom which needs to be shared with the right timing to be effective.
Most of my Projector clients don’t feel appreciated in the way they’d like, I remind them that they need to build healthy self-worth first in order to be seen and their wisdom called out. This can look like resting and playing, feeling lighter, and healing any trauma. And then a Projector with healthy self-worth is magnetic! They need to be especially aware of when they are ‘borrowing’ sacral energy from Generators, and release this before trying to rest.
If you have a Projector in your world, invite their wisdom and let them know you see and appreciate them.
Signature & not-self themes
You’ll know you’re in alignment when you feel success for you or the people around you.
And the sign you’re out of alignment somewhere is bitterness.
Discovering what moves you back into alignment is key.
Here are two Projector examples. On the left are no motor centres - on the right are three motor centres, so this person would have more energy available, albeit not the consistent energy of a sacral.
The Reflector Type
You know you’re a Reflector if you have no defined centres at all, they are all white as below.
Your purpose is to see potential in people and the planet, and reflect back the health of the population. You are connected to energy and are able to bring the unconscious into consciousness, showing us where we’re really at, and maybe able to predict how the energy in a room will play out. Without your own consistent defined centres, be careful not to get lost in relationships where you become dependent on their consistent energy.
My Reflector client (I have just one so far, at just 1% of the population they are rare!) finds that she needs to take time to rest in her own aura each day and release the energy that’s not hers - the more re-conditioning work we do around her centres, the more she will find it easier to let go those energies, and eventually not pick them up in the first place.
If you have a Reflector in your life, encourage them to rest and take time on their own each day.
Signature & not-self themes
You’ll know you’re in alignment when you feel surprised
And the sign you’re out of alignment somewhere is disappointment.
Discovering what moves you back into alignment is key.
These two Reflectors look similar at first glance but you’ll see they have very different Gates lit up, different profiles and different arrow numbers, so they’ll bring varying themes and show up in their own unique way.
Here are some other ways to learn about human design 🌟 listen to the podcast 🌟 read the archives 🌟 treat yourself to a 1-1 Chart Unpack.
Or you are always so welcome to press reply on an email, or post a comment with questions or tell me if this resonates, I’d love to chat further about my favourite topic with you!
Sending love & courage ✨
Sarah xx
Hey I’m Sarah, certified Human Design coach, qualified life coach & Master NLP Practitioner. I guide women during times of change, helping them to build their foundation self-belief and giving them full permission to be exactly who they’re designed to be, living and working with ease and flow.
I created The Human Design Resource Library to offer a starting point on your journey, and a reference point to return to as you travel It’s my interpretation of the knowledge, based on in-depth training, research and time with clients, but I want you to know that not everything you read (here or anywhere) will resonate, because you are 100% unique!
To go beyond the generic knowledge, a 1-1 session is the perfect way to discover exactly how the Human Design knowledge applies to you, and how you can live as you’re designed to. Or to discover your design, take your first step by downloading your free chart here.
More in the Human Design Resource Library:
The 64 Gates (coming soon)
Family charts (coming soon)
The 4 Arrows (coming soon)
Definition (coming soon)
