

Hello,
First of all thanks to TypeDrawers for kindly adding me to the community. I've
introduced myself in Introductions and hope I can give something back.
I'm working on a font called Nubium. To my eye it looks passable in the samples pasted here, but when looked at as a whole (I've attached a proof PDF) there's something undeniably awkward about it.
Based on my own expectation level I’m at a 5 out of 10 at this point. I need a 7 or an 8!
I would love to get your fresh eyes and opinions. Thank you
Comments
/r should follow the same logic, right now it has a unique treatment.
/k, and to a lesser extent /K, are problematic. Their untapered arms kind of merging into the stems create an area far denser than found anywhere else in the font. The vertical end of the arm is unorthodox and rarely a good idea.
I’m not sure about /y. This should be a very modular font, so having one letter breaking the rules doesn’t make sense. It could work just as well with a more square bowl like /u.
Pretty much every figure needs to be worked on, par 4 and 7. They feel unbalanced.
Make horizontal strokes a bit thinner than verticals, our eyes perceive them as heavier.
Bold needs more optical corrections for more even texture. Squint, and you’ll see how letters like /e and /a are far heavier. While this isn’t always fully correctable, you can still move in the right direction by, for instance, giving those two letters a slightly thinner middle horizontal stroke.
Nubium is Latin for 'clouds'. The name's taken from Mare Nubium ('Sea of Clouds'), which is a basalt plain on our moon. Mare Nubium's the site of the largest recorded asteroid impact in 2015, which was visible from earth with the naked eye.
Which isn't to say people won't misconstrue it, but at least I can back up why I called it what I did.
This should be in the Type Design Critique not the Lettering one.
If you'd like to comment please head here: https://typedrawers.com/discussion/3756/can-you-put-your-finger-on-whats-wrong-with-nubium-font/p1?new=1
Moderators feel free to remove this discussion in Lettering. I've saved the above feedback offline.
Hungry for your comments people.
I've focused on bold this week. More to do.
@Matthijs Herzberg your feedback really saved me, thanks.
@John Savard You're right I was trying to include a hint of MICR in the A, B and R. Just couldn't get it working in bold so the B and R are now toned back. A and R still compete but I'm holding onto the form of that A with grim determination.