C.M.T.

Ariel Martín Pérez
Ariel Martín Pérez Posts: 12
edited February 2018 in Type Design Critiques
Hello TypeDrawers,
This is my first post in this forum, I'm an illustrator and graphic designer, and amateur type designer. C.M.T (provisional name) is an ornate display typeface, and my first attemp at at creating a serif typeface with thick and thin strokes. I know that there must be contrast issues almost everywhere, but I wanted to have some feedback about how to solve these and other issues. I've decided to always leave the same gap between the horizontal serifs inside each glyph, but it's making it difficult to control the contrast of some letters (specially the X), so maybe I'll get rid of that feature.



Note: I still haven't attacked the espacing of the font, right now I'm just developping the glyph design.

Thanks in advance !
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Comments

  • Georg Seifert
    Georg Seifert Posts: 674
    Just a short remark. There is no glyph design without spacing. Proportions and spacing are as important as the shape of the serifs and the contras of the strokes. 
  • notdef
    notdef Posts: 168
    This reminds me of Basque lettering. 
  • George Thomas
    George Thomas Posts: 647
    edited February 2018
    Spacing between the serifs is the wrong approach; they should be ignored. Spacing is established by using a string such as HHOHOO for capitals, measured between stems.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • George Thomas
    George Thomas Posts: 647
    @Ariel Martín Pérez-- I sent you a private message.
  • Dyana Weissman
    Dyana Weissman Posts: 331
    Oooo. Interesting. Would be nice to see it in words; that might amplify issues you haven't considered yet. 
  • Ariel Martín Pérez
    Ariel Martín Pérez Posts: 12
    Hello everyone, thank for your answers. Some hints:

    1 - Its not intended to be a commercial typeface.
    2 - Since TypeDrawers wont let me edit/delete my post, there seems to be nothing I can do to change the name of the post. I'm just new here, so I'm still discovering how everything works. Are there ways to contact administrators ?
    3 - Regarding glyph design and its intrinsic relation to spacing, do you know any online ressource about how to set the spacing between the serifs by using H's and O's strings ?

    Thanks in advance,

    Best regards.
  • Dyana Weissman
    Dyana Weissman Posts: 331
    @Ariel Martín Pérez I can change the name of the thread, what do you prefer? 

    In the future you can always check the notes at the bottom of The Rules for contacting moderators and administrators. 
  • Ariel Martín Pérez
    Ariel Martín Pérez Posts: 12
    @everyone: thank you for noting the main issues on this post, they have been corrected.
  • Ray Larabie
    Ray Larabie Posts: 1,435
    I think the A is the only letter that doesn't feel like it belongs with the rest...too restricted. Maybe experiment with other A forms such as unicase, round-top, semi-crossbar* and dotted crossbar.

    * an asymmetrical bar that sharpens to a point and doesn't touch the other side. Sort of like the point in the middle of the B.
  • George Thomas
    George Thomas Posts: 647
    edited February 2018
    3 - Regarding glyph design and its intrinsic relation to spacing, do you know any online ressource about how to set the spacing between the serifs by using H's and O's strings ?
    You can get a good explanation here:
    http://briem.net/2/2.3.5a/2.3.5.03.capitals.htm



  • Dave Crossland
    Dave Crossland Posts: 1,431
    Also check out the HT Letterspacer tool for spacing
  • Craig Eliason
    Craig Eliason Posts: 1,440
    The sides of all your letters are either extremely round or extremely concave. I fear once you start using them in words, the letters will make satisfying spacing very difficult, as some combinations will lock tightly together (like CDE and NOP do in the sample above) while others will push each other away and open up gaps (like AB and VWXY). 
  • Simon Cozens
    Simon Cozens Posts: 752
    @Thomas Phinney's spacing video is a great intro to spacing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbc_O7bNROs

    And yes, HT Letterspacer will do it for you. But it's still good to learn how it all works by hand.
  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 1,998
    Craig Eliason said:
    The sides of all your letters are either extremely round or extremely concave. I fear once you start using them in words, the letters will make satisfying spacing very difficult, as some combinations will lock tightly together (like CDE and NOP do in the sample above) while others will push each other away and open up gaps (like AB and VWXY). 
    I don’t think that’s a problem in a display typeface like this one. It’s not like people will be stopping in the middle of a paragraph to figure out why there’s suddenly a random space in the middle of a word. Wonky spacing can even add charm in a design like this. 
  • Ariel Martín Pérez
    Ariel Martín Pérez Posts: 12
    @George Thomas , @Dave Crossland @Simon Cozens Thanks, I will look at the video and explanation and I will make a new version. The width of the current O was created by comparing it with the concave space left by the H, but further modifications can be made (regarding spacing).

    @Craig Eliason "James Pucket" ,  It is a very decorative typeface indeed, only intended for titles or even single word. One of the main concepts behind it was trying to create very large serifs, hence the very tight spaces between the horizontal serifs of the same letter. The same idea can be found in some old display slab serif typefaces, such as Egyptian Regular. But I hear your remark about spacing, so I'll try to reduce the gaps between letters (maybe by making them more squarish by expanding the serifs).

    @Ray Larabie I made several versions of the A, the current version is based on the design of the V... but I'm not totally satisfied with it in terms of contrast/general shape, so others versions will come.

    I'll keep you updated.

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