Bugazoo letterbat

Vasil Stanev

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?

Vasil Stanev

Arthur Reinders Folmer

I'm interested to see the added characters such as numerals and special characters and your approach and thought behind them. For the AE and other characters you could also use inspiration from it's origins (Such as Norse, Germanic or other storytelling origins) I don't think they should have to fit one-on-one as a "first letter" to work.

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.

Igor Freiberger

Vasil, you may use the compilation made by Jorge Luis Borges on the "Book of Imaginary Beings". A search for translations of this book or the beings cited there would help to find the letters outside the basic latin Alphabet – and even the Greek and Cyrillic ones.

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.

Vasil Stanev

I thought more about it and decided to make the expanded Latin as versions of the basic one. Else every user may complain that their native monster isn't in the alphabet and I would have to make versions for Aacute, Egrave, then alternates and it will become messy. Maybe in a later Pro version, eventually.

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:

Vasil Stanev

Arthur Reinders Folmer
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

Vasil Stanev

(and why has my user split? I used to be logged with the same name and different avatar)

Arthur Reinders Folmer

It's understandable to limit the quirks, although I see possibility for the same contrast types (see the A and U you posted above, the U "incision" forms [not sure what to call them]) are a bit blunter and of a less finesse as those used in the A, it might be a small change, but could improve the overall "color" of the type.

The numerals look really promising, especially the 8 and 9 are A+! (those pupils are extremely effective!). And the Section is judging?

Vasil Stanev

Eile mit Weile

Vasil Stanev (Unused)

OK, this is the (hopefully) final version. Contrast is a big issue but I couldn't figure out a way to fix that without stuffing solid parts with detail. Basically it's a display font, so the letters will not be viewed side by side (if used after my intent).

Vasil Stanev (Unused)

Happy Holidays BTW! Here's to a good year!

Arthur Reinders Folmer

Looks like a really nice solid set! What are the two extra dingbats? Mythical fleurons?

Vasil Stanev (Unused)

Nah, it's a vrouw. 

Vasil Stanev

Hello friends,
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).

• Jardin: The site would like some larger sets and more weights, which the original design is not fully fit for... and the project bubbled beyond my capacity.

• Etymonster: Yet, because of some "ticket" MyFonts won't release the finished Etymonster first, although they find it "cool" and "not needing additional work" for the moment. My guess is order of acceptance must follow the order I have sent the files to them, for some unknown internal reason.

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.

Mike Wenzloff

That's a pity. With Halloween approaching in the US, I could see reasonable sales of the beastie font. I would have purchased it.

How about a release on Creative Market? Doesn't preclude selling on MF in the future. 

Arthur Reinders Folmer

Hello Vasil,

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.

Vasil Stanev

Thanks to you both, appreciated! I didn't want to appear desperate, I'm not starving or anything nor am I bashing MF. Sorry if it came out that way. Their response just got me wondering what's going on.
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:

Mike Wenzloff

No worries! Fwiw, I took it as a bit of exasperation over the situation. 

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 

Vasil Stanev

CM replied fast. Unfortunately my portfolio does not cut it.

Mike Wenzloff

Too bad for them. I think it would have done decent for the upcoming holiday at least. 

When it does find a "home," please let me know. 

Arthur Reinders Folmer

A pity, seeing their collection I see no reason why this should be so. Then again, as said above. Too bad for them to miss out!

Keep us posted on the project!

Vasil Stanev

FontSpring declined me also. Some folks advised me to put it on dafont for free personal use and a donation if someone wants commercial use... I do not like the idea very much.

Jess McCarty

Vasil, would you consider self-hosting your own webshop? Big Cartel makes it quite easy and affordable; Pulley integrates into the backend for auto-delivery of digital files. It may be a good way for you to get a foot-hold as you add additional families to your shop.

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.

Vasil Stanev

It's available for download!
https://www.behance.net/gallery/57280843/Etymonster?

Mike Wenzloff

Many thanks, Vasil!

Vasil Stanev

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!

Bandar Raffah

You should put it on Creative Market:

https://creativemarket.com/fonts

Thomas Phinney

CM rejected it, apparently.

Vasil Stanev

Etymonster should, if everything goes well on MF, be available for sale in a matter of a week, one year after the initial release. I have since included a satellite dingbat (see image). My idea is for parents to print out the characters one per page, the children color and cut them out and that's a budget funny Halloween decoration. Dunno if it really goes like this over the Pond

Vasil Stanev

https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/vsf/etymonster/

Thomas Phinney

Congratulations!