Hello all. I wanted to run my newest design past the group. I've been working on it long enough to not be able to see it clearly anymore. I started out looking at the proportions of a 19th century slab display face and 'organified' them, then added a lowercase. I think it demands a pretty big size, so this preview might not be enough... Thanks for looking.
Comments
Hmmm. My original inspiration was a woodtype slab. I wanted to use the proportions for an original design. I know I am making it more fluid, but I don't see either felt tip or brush here. I want it to have a hint of hand lettering. Not too tight and exact, if you catch my meaning, but not rough either.
Yes, the eight didn't look quite done to me either. Though the models I'm looking up use pretty much that same form for the eight. I don't see any way to make it more elegant without also making it too skinny. I've tweaked it into a more refined version for now. I would still appreciate any advice on the forms (again, imaging that I don't want to abandon the lowercase, though I am quite willing to scrap any of the individual letters.) Was the main problem the mix of italic and roman forms?
Make the thick parts a little thinner and make the curve slightly less square. It's probably the same thickness as the left side of the C but with this kind of typeface. Logically, an O can be created by mirroring the C or D but usually doesn't work out that way.
Lowercase
Look at the left side of the u. Now look at the left side of the n. It's okay to try to make your lowercase interesting but you could do more to keep the relationships between letters more consistent. Look at tu in your example. There's some pleasant interplay with the tails. But tr won't have that. Keep looking for those relationships and you'll start to feel it flow.
8
I'd keep the lines on the top left and bottom right, thin to make it harmonize better with 6 and 9.
You did improve a few things in your second bottom lower case attempt, but you also made things worst with some other glyphs. I do like, and I do think that the "cursive" bottom lower case attempt is better—I especially like the improvement of lower case glyphs "a, g, h, m, n, u and y". Much more fluid and relaxed. I think you should stay with this approach. The "f" and "x" are no good—try again. Also, please do something about that "r"—put a ball on it, similar to the ball on "k" and "f". Stay with the "slight" natural slant of the new cursive lower case—avoid uprighting the "f" as you did. Makes the typeface wiggle back-and-forth.
If you want to send me your font data—I'm willing to make a few adjustments for you directly. Just to get you on the right track. Keep at it and you should be able to make it work. Good luck!
@Simon Cozens
The image above made all the letters bounce around while I was typing. It reminded me of that gpos thread.
I suppose I've let this go before ironing out the kinks. In the end I did get a lot of inspiration from what you said Ray. Gave me new eyes to look at the work. I've been tinkering with typedesign for years, but this one is a new style for me.
It will take some time to digest. When I've reached a more finished form I hope you will look at it again.
Thanks for the offer Alex, but for now I will work through it alone. I'm feeling stubborn about some of the letters. I've learned through my years as a designer that my work looks very rough until I reach the finished goal. That's one reason I usually don't show my work-in-progress to people.