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Share your pleasure and learning experience at drawing revivals
ivan louette
Posts: 327
in Education
(I hope that's the adequate category to post the following. Otherwise moderators may move this topic to a better place.)
I would not open here a discussion about copyright or about why or why not drawing revivals. I find those questions are extensively and interestingly discussed on other topics.
I think that should be constructive and funny (why not) to read your personnal experience about drawing more or less accurate reconstitution of old or very ancient fonts (in the Venetians I take for example Mangel's Basel Antiqua), or more or less free reinterpretation of them (for example Hadriano, Pastonchi etc.)
That could be a technical learning or an aesthetical or even an emotional experience.
Do you have plenty of satisfaction or even big frustration in this area, express yourself here if you want for our information.
Thank you in advance !
ivan
I would not open here a discussion about copyright or about why or why not drawing revivals. I find those questions are extensively and interestingly discussed on other topics.
I think that should be constructive and funny (why not) to read your personnal experience about drawing more or less accurate reconstitution of old or very ancient fonts (in the Venetians I take for example Mangel's Basel Antiqua), or more or less free reinterpretation of them (for example Hadriano, Pastonchi etc.)
That could be a technical learning or an aesthetical or even an emotional experience.
Do you have plenty of satisfaction or even big frustration in this area, express yourself here if you want for our information.
Thank you in advance !
ivan
2
Comments
Dair (Cartier, 1967)
Drawn over scans (no autotrace)
Modern Suite (Scotch Modern, Figgins Sans, mid 19th century)
Drawn by eye (no scans)
Goodchild (Jenson, mid 15th century)
Drawn by eye (no scans)
I’ve certainly found satisfaction in being able to use my fonts to create facsimiles of ancient documents—in fact, achieving that goal was a large part of the production process, which I hesitate to call design. There is design, though, in expanding the character set and features, but it’s still not in the same league as creating new, original typefaces.
A big motivation, and reward, in doing these revivals was investigating and gaining an understanding of another time, another place, another technology, through the process of design, as an adjunct to academic, literary-intellectual wisdom. Trying to get the letters to combine nicely in the same manner as the original, one goes through the same trials and tribulations, no doubt, as the original designer, and it’s a weird kind of out-of-body feeling, like being in their skin, or having them look over your shoulder as you’re slaving away.
Charles Mazé recently revived Deberny & Peignot's #16. I would have loved to do it myself! But only because its Italic helps open up an interesting future.
@Nick Shinn Your first link doesn't work for me. However I saw "Cartier" a long time ago, and what a good idea to digitize it ! I like its somewhat between Art Nouveau and Art Deco taste. It has also something in common with Goudy's Kennerley. Your version is charming. About Moderns I find me very unexperienced to talk about Scotch as I am for Didones too. But your Goodchild is interesting, it remembers me Legacy ITC which is also a good large x height Jenson revival.
Your motivation at working on revivals is close to mine. Its a very immersive learning experience. I could complete your description with "trying to see through the original designer's eyes".
I very well understand you don't work with printer specimens. If you do so you must always add comprehensive comparisons with "real world" prints to your process.
@Ray Larabie This area of typography history isn't less interesting than the study of "Great historical Ancestors". I appreciate your "what if scenario" concept :-)
@Hrant H. Papazian Aren't doing something not completely wholesome and beeing naïvely proud of the result parts of a normal learning curve ? ;-)
My motivation for the Modern Suite was primarily to correct a couple of misperceptions prevalent in 2004 (and perhaps still), namely that the didone genre has poor readability, and that the sans serif is a modernist, 20th century invention. Also, I felt that the available Scotch Moderns were too cookie-cutter clinical in their finish, and there should be a more “post-printed” version published—a concept established by ITC Bodoni.
My motivation for Goodchild was again contrarian, namely to produce an old style newspaper text face. I figured why not base it on the source, Jenson.
About motivation I possibly misunderstood some parts of the the last paragraph of your first post.