
Bugazoo is a Garamond-based letterbat, all caps font where every creature tells you it's name and kind, an artist interpretation of various cryptids from around the world. A personal project, it is intended for kid's monster books, Initials of fairy-tale books and the like, and for teaching children their ABC's (intended to be sold on MyFonts). I plan a full set with punctuation, numbers,diacritics and special characters. Problem is I do not know how to find mythical beasts starting with Ntilde, Oslash, AE etc., so I rely on people on the board to give me a hint or two, it being international.
For those wondering why their favorite cryptid isn't on the list, it goes
Amphibaena
Banshee
Cocatrice
Dragon
Echidna
Fairy
Gnome
Harpies
Imp
(Jersey) Devil
Kappa
Lamia
Mora
Nymph
Ourobouros
Phoenix
Quetzalcoatl
Roh (Arab)
Snakebeast (personal)
Troll
Unicorn
Vampire
Witch
n/a ["xomster"]
Yale
World War Z
My idea was to pair the font with Garamond without using outlines or plagiarizing (hence the serifs are slightly different), so for example a Brothers Grimm Fairy talescould be set in Garamond and with Initials in Bugazoo.
A lot of work went into this. What do you think?
Comments
I like the subtle style (although I believe some letters could be more outspoken in the transformation from Garamond to Myth, especially letters such as the G, H and O) Some of the detailing seems to vary per glyph though, is this intended? (for instance, the Q has a detailed body with extra linework while the U is quite solid.) Might be worthwhile to bring them all to the same level.
Quite interesting project. Congratulations!
Addendum: other topic for search are the Medieval bestiaries. And you may verify if letters like Ø are actually used at the beginning of words.
Considering sameness of style, that's pretty hard to obtain. I accept the comment but intend to live it at this for the moment. Considering H, and overall in the font, on an advice by a painter I tried to reduce "gags" to three or less per letter. So it's two heads and a fish tail, the rest is plain letter.
Some very WIP work:
I'm interested to see the added characters such as numerals and special characters and your approach and thought behind@"Arthur Reinders Folmer"
Here are my initial ideas
The numerals look really promising, especially the 8 and 9 are A+! (those pupils are extremely effective!). And the Section is judging?
as it happened, this font was the second after another I sent to MyFonts (First Jardin Solid, then this here Etymonster. I sometimes change project names a lot).
I have given up on the issue and had to seek steady employment because of no font sales revenue. So there is absolutely no time for Jardin to get things going. I am at a loss what to do... if anybody is aware of a possible solution, please discuss here. Thank you.
How about a release on Creative Market? Doesn't preclude selling on MF in the future.
Sorry to hear about your woes with MyFonts and your outlook into the future working with type. Can you clarify this ticket issue? Since I know that MyFonts has had some technical issues, especially on the foundry side. Perhaps those just need some ironing out.
For your work, Take each project as a learning school and don't dwindle with lost loves of shapes or ideas. I can understand that your more "readable" typeface (Jardin) was marked as something that required some extra width: Without an array of weights, caps, cursives or italics it is difficult to find a sale, especially with the cut-throat offers around.
But as I said earlier in this thread, there is surely potential in te Etymonster capitals. Ornamented initials will never be a bestseller, but it is a niche you can place yourself into, which perhaps opens more avenues into, for instance, custom and illustrative work. Try to put a certain train-of-thought into them only you possess, and something will come out in the end.
I feel the Initials are still a bit too overshadowed by the Latin alphabet, and the myths and tales that are infused in the letters play second best. But then again, this can also be pro for readability. Perhaps worth a repeat?
For combining employment and building your niche while staying afloat: I'd say don't let it all just go. Your work shows an interest that's worthwhile to foster, and while it is difficult to combine work (especially if you work outside of the creative field), finding your own way is certainly more fulfilling.
For me the combination of not having to perform for my typefaces made my love for type grow even more. Making them forced me to work twice as hard as I would have otherwise, but this also gave me freedom to make and discover what I wanted. It's worth it in the end!
Helpful? Otherwise just drop me a line.
To parapharase the MyFonts response, "Currently, Etymonster doesn't require any corrections! But of course your foundry application isn't just one font, we need to make sure that all submitted products are OK before we can proceed."
Maybe Creative market really will be the better option, or some similar site.
Arthur, thank You, it was very helpful and heartwarming. Didn't quite get the "train-of-thought"reference but I think I understand it a bit.
Learning from Castellar, this is what the Etymonster looks 17 versions later:
Please, at least for my part, when/if MF does end up approving your application or you use CM in the interim, update the thread. Or send me a private message of its availability.
Mike
When it does find a "home," please let me know.
Keep us posted on the project!
Many of the larger distributors are wary of starting a relationship w/a new foundry whose initial release is not (a) a workhorse or (b) an on-trend display face (scripty/brushy/distressed revivals). I am surprised that Creative Market turned you down, as they have generally been much more open to novelty than MF, FS, and others.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/57280843/Etymonster?
We're adding some promotional materials to the presentation at localfonts. Check out the site too for other stuff and Bulgarian localization, it has much to offer!
https://creativemarket.com/fonts