What makes a Projector
Human Design reads type from the defined centers. A Projector's chart has at least one defined channel, so some centers are defined, but the Sacral is open and no motor is connected to the Throat. A Projector can have motors defined (the Root, the Solar Plexus or the Heart), and the Throat can be defined too; what is missing is an unbroken chain of defined channels between a motor and the Throat.
That makes the Projector the most varied type on paper. Some Projectors have a defined Spleen, some a defined Solar Plexus, some only the Head, the Ajna and the Throat, and the authority they decide by changes with it.
The strategy: wait for the invitation
Human Design reads the Projector's aura as focused and absorbing: it takes in other people deeply, which is where the gift of guidance comes from. The same focus can feel intrusive when it is not wanted, so for the big decisions of life (a job, a relationship, where to live) the strategy is to wait to be recognized and invited. An invitation, in the tradition, is recognition of what a Projector sees and can offer; accepting one that fits is said to open the way, while pushing in uninvited meets resistance.
The strategy applies to the big things. Daily life needs no invitation, and the tradition encourages Projectors to study what interests them, so that there is something to be recognized for.
Success and bitterness
The Projector's signature is success, the feeling of being recognized and used well. The not-self theme is bitterness, which the system reads as the sign of going unrecognized, of guiding people who never asked, or of working like a Sacral type without a Sacral's energy.
Energy and rest
Without a defined Sacral, a Projector has no steady supply of work energy of its own. Human Design says Projectors take in the energy of the Sacral types around them and can feel it strongly, which can lead them to overwork. The usual advice is to rest before exhaustion, to lie down to unwind before sleep, and to work in ways that fit their energy rather than a Generator's hours.
Five possible authorities
Projectors can have five of the eight inner authorities, more than any other type: emotional, splenic, self-projected, mental and ego projected. Teachers often name Projectors by them, such as an emotional, splenic or mental Projector. How common each is among Projectors is measured below, with the centers, channels and definition Projector charts have.
Working it out for yourself
The free Human Design chart calculator shows whether you are a Projector and which authority you have. The guide to the five types compares the Projector with the other four types, and the Manifestor guide covers the other type with an open Sacral.