Typeface crit
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- NegativeSpace
I started working on my first typeface. First off I am starting off pretty basic with a geometric sans (yes i know its been done to death). I just want to go through the process so I can get experience of the whole process, especially using fontlab, but I would like to make the letterforms as good as I can before I continue.
So far just uc, lc and figures. (also I already know I am going to open up the eye on the e)
The end of the strokes are all either vertical or horizontal if its unclear in the jpg. thx!
- mattyd0
not bad. reminds me of 'futura' though.
- vburo0
dayum!! them be Haute with a capital H.
well on first sight it is..
lemme take a closer look now.
- ivan_cook0
glad i'm not the only one working on a font :-)
the S (both cases) seem to lean to the right a bit.
i would like to see the lower portion of the lc E continue up to match the lc C.
good work!
- airey0
yeah it's futura all over but good on you for learning it all. the key to good fonts isn't just the letterforms though. it's good wordspace, leading and kerning tables running in the background.
use a standard futura font set as a basis for your font by opening futura in whatever font editing app you use and replace the letterforms. that way you just need to tweak the w, k & l specs. you'll learn heaps from that. no need to reinvent the wheel.
repost when you get her up and running! good luck!
- NegativeSpace0
Good call on the s's. They are so hard to draw for me, and I tried to make the top smaller than the bottom like it should be but it seems to be sloping.
When i had the e come up to the same height as the c, the aperature was really small, and I couldn't really make the eye smaller. At small sizes I am affraid it will not read properly. Plus with such a small counter it disrupts the texture.
Thanks so far!
*learn fontlab fast comes in the mail tomorrow*
- vburo0
yeah the "belly" of both the capital S and the s is cut of too early, that's why it looks like it hangs over to the right..
- vburo0
and you got a very low x-height.. beware of that, son!
nonetheless i like what you are making there..
- setsolid0
good job for your first typeface. I did 3 fonts aready... and know how much time and pain it can be...
look at your R, i will push the leg a bit futher to blance it better.
The G need some work also, the jaw need to push back a bit..
thats it for now, good job.
- NegativeSpace0
Alot of the letters are quite different from futura but yeah. I am thinking I may tweak the W, M V, etc to look different without the points so its less future like.
Is it common to use the metrics from another font? I was hoping to do it from scratch, to learn.
- NegativeSpace0
Wow, thanks for all the quick suggestions. I am in the middle of a boring study group, I am dying to work on this!
- vburo0
also a lot of font design n00bs (hear me haha, i never completed one) often make the mistake they use the same thickness for horizontal lines as for vertical ones.
just open up a blank canvas and draw to identical lines and rotate one of them 90 degrees.. you will see that the one "lying flat on the floor" seems to look thicker...
- NegativeSpace0
I wish I could edit to add on to my post.
The low x-height I was kind of experimenting with, sort of proportions of old style faces, just sort of to get away from the hight x-height that most sans have.
Is there a legibility/reability disadvantage that could arise from this feature?
- setsolid0
Is it common to use the metrics from another font?
...................................not worth it, and setting up metric is fun in fontlab :)
- setsolid0
at small size, low x-high, can be hard to read. but if you are not intend to use it as body text, its fine.
- setsolid0
buts it great for setting your type solid :P
- airey0
Is it common to use the metrics from another font?
.................... .................... ....not worth it, and setting up metric is fun in fontlab :)
setsolid(Apr 5 05, 15:54)
.................... .................... ....that's both true and crap in my opinion. yes it may be fun but you're trying to redo in a few hours what took type masters decades to understand. the nature of letterforms and their interactivity is quite complex. learn from the past and evolve it. don't simply reinvent the wheel and make the same mistakes someone made and pointed out 40 years ago! it's an artform worth learning and treating with respect.
- version30
very clean all of a sudden i felt like i was in grade school again
symmetry mmmmm
- setsolid0
airey: im not sure if you have done fonts before...
yes its good to learn from the past and not reinvent the wheel, bla bla bla... we all know that.... but he was asking was is it a good idea to use metrics from other font in his font... you can' just use other fonts metric in your font... metric infomation is not universal.. i say its fun to setup metric in fontlab... but never said it only took few hrs... whats going with you? haha come down and chill out man...
- vburo0
yeah setsolid said it..
low x-height can be tricky when applied as body text especially at small sizes..
- Zeitgeist0
Watch the angle on the "9"...
Its completely different than anything else (the 2, 6 descenders on lower case, etc)