How many typeface projects do you have going at any given time?

And I mean completely different faces, not weights. How many clients/self-started project do you work on concurrently? And if many, how often do you jump between them?

Comments

  • Chris LozosChris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    I have worked on as many as 12 but I don't recommend it.  These days, maybe two at a time.
  • @chris Twelve? Wow. That is scary.
  • Vasil StanevVasil Stanev Posts: 759
    7
  • AbrahamLeeAbrahamLee Posts: 262
    I’ve got about 8 on my plate right now, with more on the back-burner.
  • George ThomasGeorge Thomas Posts: 631
    edited July 2018
    @Thomas Phinney-- I would say that moment would come when you decide it is ready to release. Sometimes I put off a release for quite some time just in case something occurs to me which will improve it. That's counts as "still working on it", maybe.
  • @Thomas Phinney@George Thomas is right, a project isn’t dropped until you know you don’t want to pick it up again. Having it on the backburner is fine. Let me put it this way— How many WIP projects do you have going, projects that you have not abandoned?
  • John HudsonJohn Hudson Posts: 2,955
    I typically have work for three clients at various stages at any given time, although this doesn't necessarily mean I'm working on designs concurrently. I try to schedule the work so that I can dedicate myself to an individual design for an extended period, although sometimes a change is refreshing.
  • I have nine on the go, but try to focus on just one, dipping into the others as needed to not go crazy.
  • Thomas PhinneyThomas Phinney Posts: 2,731
    It appears I also have nine that are not abandoned.

    “Abandoned” defined as: I am reasonably sure I will never go work on them again.
  • Paul MillerPaul Miller Posts: 273
    Too many, but I only work on one at once.
  • I'm going back and forth between two right now. I suspect as soon as one starts to feel like it has more promise, I'll probably drop my focus on the other one.
  • In a related question, how many "abandoned" Typeface projects do you have filed away in the drawers? Have you ever stumbled across one of those abandoned projects years later, only to pick it up again and carry it across the finish line?
  • Russell McGormanRussell McGorman Posts: 258
    edited July 2018
    Define abandoned, Matt. :) if it exists on a drive, a CD, or a server farm in Arizona we call "The Cloud", I may still pull it up at any time and finish it. (like all those books on the shelf I mean to read some day. :) ... I have about 4 or five. Joking aside, they were abandoned for good reasons. 
  • Mark SimonsonMark Simonson Posts: 1,652
    edited August 2018
    I think I have around 20-30 abandoned font projects (project that I spent a non-trivial amount of time on but decided not to finish). Sometimes I pick these up again (included in my back burner projects mentioned above).
  • Right now I have 4 active projects I am working on—meaning they are for clients who have deadlines. This is one too many, but some projects are hard to turn down/delegate. And it's too hot to go anywhere anyway. My self-started projects are all completely off my radar. It's been busy, but it's not always this busy, usually in the winter months things taper off and pick up again in the spring. 

    How often I jump between them depends on many factors. Usually, I try to break things up in sections and do one section at a time, per project, and get the one with the closest deadline done first. The sections can vary from hours to days. If a project or section is really quick, I might get it out of the way first, regardless of deadlines. If a section is really unpleasant, it can be nice to balance it with something more fun, and break it up.


  • Nick ShinnNick Shinn Posts: 2,131
    Would that “projects” meant just making fonts, and didn’t include specimens and banners and press releases and all that other marketing stuff.
  • Ray LarabieRay Larabie Posts: 1,376
    Just one.

  • Grey dots are published ones, empty ones are in the desk drawer, colors from green to red based on level of activity working on it. And that’s retail projects only. I like the color system because I allow myself to only have one on red, but at the same time I see those that I have marked for advancing, and at what stage or amount of work they are at.

    P.S.: Had to blur the work in progress -folder names; Some of them are NSFW, others I might actually end up using :D
  • Chris LozosChris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    Now that I look back and see the definition of "got going" I will say that I have 21 going now but only 4 that show visible movement ;-)
  • Would that “projects” meant just making fonts, and didn’t include specimens and banners and press releases and all that other marketing stuff.
    Yup, actual typeface, not just lettering work.
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