New chunky backslant script


Here's something I've been working on for a bit. Using my very small handwriting with a very broad nib as the start point with lots of digital manipulation. The lower case r doesn't have a lead-in stroke: it is implied by the previous letters. I'm mostly happy with it.

Comments

  • Very cool! This might just be my taste, but I really like the simplified shapes like r and u and v. Some glyphs have calligraphic details that seem a bit too much in comparison, like the bottom of x, the top of b and h. Again, could just be a me thing, but I think overall this would be even hotter if it was simplified/modernized further.
  • Yves Michel
    Yves Michel Posts: 183
    I agree with Jasper on his remarks. I like this  font very much! Finally something original!
    Meanwhile, I think the lowercase 's' is not legible.
    And there's a slight problem of kerning ('Ar') in the first word.

    Otherwise bravo!


  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 201
    Jasper, I like those individual touches, they give it a personal feel and I don’t want everything to be too regimented. I constantly change/improve as the work progresses so this is by no means the finished piece. 
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,211
    Excellent! But I read the O as B.
  • Nick, splendid as usual. I notice some of the same things; and my critique is usually about legibility issues: s is so ambiguous to me that it looked like a stumpy l (ell) or f. Outstroke of z could be a sharp point or other shape, because it stands out as a misfit. LC f makes sense and is attractive, but is wampus huge. My list of faves is considerably longer but I have to give 3 thumbs up to r, o, e, D, I, M, T, Z…… I love it a lot already, so I think it’s mostly there. 
  • Fanstastic!!!!!
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,891
     <3 
  • It took me a while to decipher the first word (Arrowhead). The B-ish O needs some work. The s seems tricky … but,
    overall, a really lovely font.
  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 201
    Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.
    Here's a new one with updated f, alt p, s, z, A, O, Q, R,
    The z is pretty much as before except a bit thinner on the outstroke.
  • John Nolan
    John Nolan Posts: 50
    Hmm...I really want to like this, but I'm having a little trouble reading it. Maybe I'm just thick.
    e.g.:
    What's the word after tofu? Can't figure out what the third letter in that word is.

    Is the X word Xergiff or Xergiss...oh, okay looking at the s in Squash, it must be Xergiss. Is that a word?

    Andrea: I think the first word is Arrowroot, not Arrowhead.


  • Simon Cozens
    Simon Cozens Posts: 748
    There are certain similarities with blackletter here, in that I suspect the word "minimum" in lower case will be a legibility challenge.
  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 201
    Uppuma and Xergiss: I've no idea what those are.
    The f in Tofu looks nothing like the s in Xergiss.
    I read recently that the ability to read cursive is declining, with younger people particularly unable to read as they haven't been taught it at school.
  • John Nolan
    John Nolan Posts: 50
    True, the f in Tofu looks nothing like the s.

    It's possible that my ability to read cursive has declined with age. I'm 71, but my handwriting was always rubbish. 
  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 201
    Not too bad.

  • Craig Eliason
    Craig Eliason Posts: 1,437
    I love this!
    The /s is improved in legibility, but perhaps a touch too tall still.
    I think /f is still too dark.
    Perhaps that charming loop of /r could be a bit darker.
    I'm not sold on that second /p in Uppama if that's what it is.
    Perhaps some risk that /V will be misread as /D?

  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 201
    Maybe the top of the r could be a bit bigger. I’m not worried about the V: it’ll be recognised in the context of a word. I’ll probably drop the alt p and thin the f a bit. 
  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 201
    edited September 2
    This is how it started: top is handwriting, then first digitisation, bottom now.


    I decided to change direction from another handwriting font to something more constructed, sharper with more contrast, as I thought the first digital effort looked too much like the Black weight of another font family of mine: https://g-type.com/fonts/goskar
    This is the default f BTW. The other one in this post is the alt style set.
    I have reduced the s in height and backslanted it more
  • Craig Eliason
    Craig Eliason Posts: 1,437
    Any way to squeeze a little more weight into /n and /m?
  • I find the handwritten f (top) very elegant, perfectly balanced and legible.
  • I've been struggling with the numbers: trying not to give them a pseudo-Chinese flavour, but here they are.
  • Looking great! Not sure the 4 is 4-ish enough, and maybe try a harder corner on the middle left side of five (closer to what 3 has) to make it less S-ish.
  • This is lovely work!

    In the numerals, I agree with Craig on the 4.

    The 6 and 9 main diagonal stroke seems to have reversed stress from everything else in the typeface, and the blunt endings are not working as well in them, as they do in some other characters.
  • Thanks. New improved. Some glyphs are a bit wider and some are altered: 4, 5, 6 and 9.
    I knew the 6 and 9 didn't look right but couldn't figure out what it was.


  • Out of interest I did a comparison with my very first font FF Penguin from... all those years ago. That was also an exercise in straight lines and chunky curves, but this new one is much more calligraphic.



  • This is gorgeous!
  • Thanks. 
  • The regular (strokeless) /r feels like it's crowding the preceding letter.
    Should the new six and nine arcs swing over a little more so they can re-thicken a bit? They might be a bit light there now. (For the record I thought the previous ones worked too.) New four and five are nice!
  • I have moved the left sidebearing of the r to where it was. Good idea about the 6 and 9. 
  • Eu estava animado com este projeto, muito afiado