MUFI question

Paul Miller

I have looked at several fonts which have the MUFI character set implemented to a greater or lesser extent.  The ones I have looked at seem to be 'Old Style' fonts.

But does this need to be the case?

For instance is there any reason (philosophical or practical) why I should not implement a modern looking transitional face with the MUFI character set?

How might this affect it's use in practice?

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

Bhikkhu Pesala

I implement a number of historical ligatures and longs forms in all of my fonts, just because I can and it's not difficult to do since I wrote the code to automate it. 

I don't think many users will need them, but those who do won't necessarily want to be restricted to Black Letter or Gothic typefaces. 

Suppose, for example, that someone wants to reproduce an ancient manuscript from the British Library or a passage from Shakespeare. They might want to typeset it using a typeface like Caslon or Garamond. 

John Hudson

Quite a lot of the MUFI characters are included in the Brill fonts, in a sort of neoclassical style. Interpreting some of the characters in this style was an interesting challenge.

Paul Miller

I wasn't thinking Gothic or Blackletter, I was cosidering the Junicode font.  I think I read in the documentation for Junicode that it was a replica of an old metal type style from the early days of printing.  It certainly has a 'old style' look about it.

The font I am designing would be a bit more modern looking, like 'Kelvinch' but with more contrast and longer narrower serifs.

I will take a look at the Brill fonts.

James Puckett

You should ask medievalists if they would use a modern design. If they’re inclined to stick with old style type there’s not much point in adding the MUFI characters to a modern design. Which might be why these glyphs are typically found in old style types.

Paul Miller

Are there any Medievalists on this forum?

Igor Freiberger

Paul, try to contact Andreas Stötzner. He is not only a Medievalist, but also member of MUFI and author of Andron, one of the best text fonts ever made.

Paul Miller

James Puckett said:

You should ask medievalists if they would use a modern design. If they’re inclined to stick with old style type there’s not much point in adding the MUFI characters to a modern design. Which might be why these glyphs are typically found in old style types.

I think this is the very question I'm trying to answer !

Andreas Stötzner

I’m not a medievalist myself but I have done much research and font work upon medieavist and linguistics-related characters. I don’t see why it shouldn’t be a worthwhile project to provide these scholar groups with well-equipped fonts in the style similar to Times or Caslon. I’m pretty sure that some potential users would welcome such a choice – for which John’s Brill is a very good option already.

John Hudson

With regard to Times, Alice Savoie and I assisted an early mediaeval scholar a couple of years ago who needed a number of special characters for a book that was being set in Times New Roman. So yes, there is a call for this sort of thing.

James Puckett

Paul Miller said:
I think this is the very question I'm trying to answer !

But you’re asking a type design forum. We can chime in with our opinions about medievalists, but medievalists could just tell you what their needs are.

Paul Miller

So ... is there a forum for Medievalists somewhere ?

James Puckett

There are several subreddits for medieval history and culture.