I actually moved the /Q_u ligatures to DLIG in the Text cut but forgot that the CALT feature still cycles in the long-tailed versions. I've added a custom parameter to the Text instances now that overwrites CALT to remove the /Q dynamics. The long Q is still available as Q.swsh.
Just to go back to the ascender+descender=upm. That is a recommendation and no technical requirement. I never saw a problem with a font that didn't follow it.
Somehow I like the Medium two-storey /a less than the Hairline and the Black. Any idea what the problem could be? I've tinkered on it quite a bit, but I haven't figured it out yet.
After having my tastes tempered by the forum consensus, I now find my original Quinoa /Germandbls/ too wide, like everybody else did when I drew it. So I made a narrower one for the text cut, and a descending one for the display. The display is still pretty wide, but so are the other descending caps, like /G/.
I'm aware that the descender looks unconventional, but it fits the unicase flavor and generally BIG optics of the titling cut.
However, I was just about to transfer the new design to the italics when I suddenly felt it was a step back from the domed design. It's perhaps a bit less geometric, but more humanist, which is also important for Quinoa. Its dome plays very well with the many other round tops in the titling cut. I'm tempted to stick with it after all (bottom):
Toying with some flat-topped alternates for the sake of people with the wrong taste.
I do think the descender helps make the eszett recognizable, even if the hard right corner does everything it can to spoil it... if anything, I'll add that one (as an alternate).
Though it works surprisingly well as an alternate for the Text Cut:
Comments
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/catharsis-fonts/quinoa/