define custom axes in .designspace file to generate a variable font through fontmake?

Rafael de Azevedo

I’ve been trying to implement a variable rendition of Wim Crouwel’s New Alphabet typeface by following this guide. I did get to generate a working .tff with a standard weight variation, but would like to customize the axes so they work in tandem to how Crouwel conceived the New Alphabet system.

Is there a way to include custom axes inside the .designspace file in a way fontmake understands? Been trying to do so on my own to no avail.

.designspace file here.

Rafael Saraiva

Decovar from FB uses custom axes, so it might be useful to have a look at the repo.

Rafael de Azevedo

Thanks! I got it to work and Decovar sources helped me a great deal. It’s now on GitHub: https://github.com/tipotipos/nu-alfabet