I'm not sure whether this should be in this forum, or education. Apologies if I'm in the wrong one.
I'm a recent graphic design graduate and I've drawn a few simple geometric display typefaces at University. These were "display", so I had a certain amount of artistic license with legibility.
However, I'm not sure where to begin with drawing a serious (preferably serif) typeface.
Do you draw with pencil first, then scan it in?
If so, do you use any sort of gridded paper?
How long until you take that design and start using Glyphs, FontLab, etc?
Are there any books that have helped you, or others begin designing type?
In the future I plan on taking a course or workshop on the subject, but I can't afford to at the moment.
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Also, may I be so bold to suggest my own 'RALP' to help you get started? bureauroffa.com/about-ralp
To answer your question: it depends. Just like every graphic designer has a different approach to his work, so does every typedesigner. Sketching is recommended, though I skipped that step, and I'm not the only one. Scanning is not always necessary, some suggest to try to design on the screen from scratch, with the sketches in mind.
'The Stroke' by Gerrit Noordzij is a very good book for a starting typedesigner, although you shouldn't expect to get all the answers you're looking for. 'Counterpunch' is also interesting, though none of these books are, well, 'necessary'.
Then, get as much professional feedback as you can, from different people, but remember to take all feedback with a pinch of salt.
One more piece of advice: drop the geometric thing. Drawing something more calligraphic will teach you a greater deal about typedesign.
Good luck!
Maybe an all caps display font might seem like a boring cop-out but you'd be surprised what you can learn.
You don't have to make sketches to make a font. You don't even have to have a plan. Or you can have a detailed plan, draw it all out ahead of time. I usually design from one letter outward and then later discard/replace that seed letter. I don't have a sketch, I have a purpose in mind . . . a manifesto of what the font's job is. Each letter has to serve the main purpose and harmonize with the other letters. As I create each letter, I'm testing it in words until it feels like it belongs. I learned this technique from doing those stupid rock band logo fonts in the 1990's. That's why I think it's important to play with less serious fonts . . . it;s a discovery thing.
You can be inspired by other font designers, but also look outside type design. Jimi Hendrix imitated horn players to get his unique sound, not just other guitarists. I'd avoid getting too much information from other font designers because the whole industry is eating it's own tail. But typographers - listen to what they have to say. They're the ones who have to deal with the mistakes we make.
If sketching doesn't feel like your thing, don't take that route. For years, I've seen people on font forums struggling with font designs because they tried to make something look like their sketch. For example, they'll draw a fancy lowercase g and then struggle to make it harmonize with the other letters instead of designing a font and later designing a g that suits it.
(FWIW, I'm a pencil on paper guy, except when I'm not.)
http://typedrawers.com/discussion/264/typedrawers-is-a-real-names-only-forum
Two books worth checking out:
Designing Type by Karen Cheng
Fontographer: Type by Design by Stephen Moye*
* Yes it's out of print, but it's cheap used. No it is not a big deal if you don't use Fontographer, the point is the advice on outline construction and the like.
Practice sketching loosely your ideas then refine the shapes at a larger size (preferably 6 to 8 inch cap height), on tracing paper or frosted mylar. In this way, you can invert the letter forms and refine the shapes further. Erasing and drawing, on both sides, until the shapes are completely refined to your eye. You’d be amazed how much easier it is to spot poor shapes while rotating the letterforms and inverting. You can do the same sort of thing by looking at your letter forms in a mirror.
Once you perfect this technique you’ll become a much more effective letter drawing technician working directly on screen manipulating vectors and splines. I still use some of these techniques, many times, while working directly on the computer, rotating the glyph and inverting to refine and optimize my curves.
There are no shortcuts to becoming a good type designer. Many newcomers to this craft immediately gravitate towards opening up someone else’s fonts in a drawing program and manipulate those shapes directly. Although this may seem easier, it isn’t a real substitute for becoming an apprentice in type design.
Larger is better (about 6.5 inches) for accuracy when drawing on physical media. Use a reducing glass to check for gross errors that don't disappear upon reduction. Inverting and reversed helps too. Doing it this way for a period of time will help improve your on-screen vector drawing skills.