Bolk - a Playful Blackletter

Vasil Stanev

Hello, please critique this design. Spacing and kerning NOT worked out yet, I am leaving that for later when I have got the design side all nailed down.

Ray Larabie

I think a unicase style N would avoid having to make the choices you've made with the stroke thickness and would fit thematically.

Vasil Stanev

Ray Larabie said:

I think a unicase style N would avoid having to make the choices you've made with the stroke thickness and would fit thematically.

That would probably mean that I would have to also redo the M.

Thomas Phinney

Vasil Stanev said:

Ray Larabie said:

I think a unicase style N would avoid having to make the choices you've made with the stroke thickness and would fit thematically.

That would probably mean that I would have to also redo the M.

That would be a feature, not a bug.

I think the C-S-T-U are the most successful letters, I would be inclined to judge others by how they fit in with those.

S is really quite lovely, but has two problems. One is it is leaning back to the left. The other is that the main diagonal gets thinner in the spine, which feels weird in this design. So I might redraw it with a slightly more angled spine and leaning a little more to the right.

Top bowl of B has a bit different shape than the similar part of R. I think the R bowl is maybe more successful.

The D feels like it comes from a different (and more traditional) font than the bottom bowl of the B. Maybe it is just me, but I would be inclined to change one of them, and keep that decision in mind for other letters.

Ray Larabie

That would probably mean that I would have to also redo the M.

I considered that, but I think if would be more interesting if you didn't change the M.

K Pease

For clarity and style alike, a rounder and more complete bowl of P.

Christian Thalmann

Or even a descending, full-height P?

Is this going to be all-caps, or are you going to add lowercase? In the latter case, you could get away with leaning a bit more into blackletter forms, such as a round E, descending F, etc.

Vasil Stanev

Christian Thalmann said:

Is this going to be all-caps, or are you going to add lowercase?

Please see the attached PDF for the lowercase.

Christian Thalmann

Vasil Stanev said:

Christian Thalmann said:

Is this going to be all-caps, or are you going to add lowercase?

Please see the attached PDF for the lowercase.

Ah, yes, thanks.

I think the lowercase needs much more work, though. Its rhythm is all over the place, quite unlike the tireless steam-engine plodding of blackletters. Some letters are also too small (h, f).

K Pease

Yes, I think you'll need to decide or compromise between the compact style of /f/g/h/j and the enormous reach of /p/q.

Leandro Ferreira

@Vasil Stanev First I loved the vibe of your typeface congrats. Although I think your lowercase letters needs a bit more taught and general work, because for me it feels like some letters are out of place (for me it seems they are a bit inconsistent), with a bit more refine and work you will get there. 

I have a question tho. How did you make your specimen, you did it manually or it is automatically generated by your type software, because I really this "experiments" you made with your type.

Vasil Stanev

Leandro Ferreira said:

I have a question tho. How did you make your specimen, you did it manually or it is automatically generated by your type software, because I really this "experiments" you made with your type.

Thank you.
I used the InDesign sample that  was prepared for TypeDrawers by somebody (excellent job!) that you can find in the sticky topic at the top of this sub-forum. And I added a page from a document some of my collegues probably use also over here, that has most of the extended Latin.

Michael Vokits

Love the overall feel of this! /A, /S, and /T are really choice. /e and /x are too dark in comparison with the other letters, especially the NE corner of /e -- it looks like it's about to fall on its face. The differing heights of /i and /j are jarring to my eyes and neither matches the x-height, but I could get used to it, and both are really nice. /a and /ae conflict, especially vehemently in /ae against the massive /e. I like the lowered, more uncial /f (maybe raise it a bit for optical matching), but its weight and position make /fj look bad. Spacing is peachy, but /V/a and /v/a need to be tighter to better match other pairs. And the more I look at that /A, the more I like it.