Sharp Slab (working title)

2»

Comments

  • Much more flavorful. It's got a personality now. Nice work.

    E, H, L seem wide to me. O, P, Q, S, and maybe 4 seem a tad spindly. Maybe you could narrow T a bit and lengthen the semiserifs on the cross bar?
  • Here is an inline version of some of the letters, also a bit of grunge too, for a project at work. I'm hoping my boss approves.
    image
    imageimageimage
  • I think this inline version hold more potential for me. I'd like to make it more playful, and see where that goes. I also like the grunge.
  • I love this inline version!
  • The inline's definitely attractive, Sye. A very nice addition.

    One thing you might look at, though: some of the glyphs seem funkier than others. Those composed largely of straight lines, like L, H, V, T, M, seem cleaner, more symmetrical, and more regular than those with curves, like G, S, R, B, P. For instance, I think that tiny notch at the northeast corner of the P needs to either appear in other glyphs or else go away.

    The flat top of the G is really intriguing. But does this sort of thing need to occur in other rounded glyphs?

    But I'm afraid I don't care for the grunge texture. Seems, dated, 90s. (Though I didn't like it in the 90s, either.)
  • Max, we will have to agree to disagree about 90s and grunge, I love them both :-) but yes, I see your points, and this is quite quick, just to put in that project.

    Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Keep it coming!
  • Also, the notch is in other letters, if you look at the pervious samples.
  • Max, we will have to agree to disagree about 90s and grunge […]
    Absolutely, Sye.

    Also, the notch is in other letters, if you look at the pervious samples.
    I can find it in B, P, and R, and that's it. I think it needs to occur more often than that, and in different places on the letterforms, if it's going to stay. And I think it can't be confined to curved strokes.
  • Ok, here is the current state of the letters. Still really and all ove the place. Part of me loves it and part of me hates it. But that is probably because I feel pretty useless at this drawing business.
    image
  • /Z is too thick at the diagonal joints. /T has too much black concentrated at the top. Maybe the problem lies in the uneven bisection. Its bottom serifs could also be larger IMO. Personally, I would draw the bowls of /B, /R, /P, heavier (maybe as heavy as the stems).

    I think the /G is pretty nice, so there's no reason to "hate it"... But I liked your older /V much better!
  • If you haven't already, it would be really nice to see the inline components extracted into their own thin display face. This is really promising, I am strongly reminded of House Industries work.
  • The proportions are very wacky. I was about to suggest a narrower H and a wider O & D to get more even counter forms or white spaces. Wider M too. But this may go against a "naive" lettering look if that is hat you want. You could always try it and see if it breaks the voice you are looking for or gets you closer to it.
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,213
    The inline letters with vertical terminals on crossbars—E, F, T—look too wide. I think you need to compensate their width to account for the terminals. The O is too narrow; try to harmonise the area of the counter with that of the D first, as that might be sufficient.

    I'm pleasantly surprised by this thread. When I looked at the first post I had that sinking feeling that made me avoid the critique forums in The Other Place. Ugh, I thought, another one of those clunky geometric types that no one seems to have noticed never actually get used anywhere. But you've made something interesting out of it.
  • Eris Alar
    Eris Alar Posts: 455
    Thanks John :-)
  • Echoing Max's sentiment, I think the left side of the G is a bit bumpy. You've generally made the exterior of letters simpler than the interiors -- maybe the G could follow the lead of O & D?
  • Eris Alar
    Eris Alar Posts: 455
    Marc - The G is getting looked at soon :-)

    John - in regard to clunky geometric faces being used, maybe it just depends on the crowd your in, I seem to see them often. But I did not choose this direction for this font because of anything other than wanting to learn and begin afraid of curves.
  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 1,996
    John - in regard to clunky geometric faces being used, maybe it just depends on the crowd your in, I seem to see them often.
    They’re probably a little less popular with John’s clientele :)
  • Eris Alar
    Eris Alar Posts: 455
    Latest changes.
    image
  • Eris Alar
    Eris Alar Posts: 455
    One 'feature' of this design is the inconsistent line thicknesses. Especially on the Diagonals. I'm using a grid (grid spacing set to 10 in Glyphs Mini) and I;m not sure if this is my issue, as the grid can be brutal and make doing 'fine' corrections almost impossible.
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,213
    I think simplifying the serif structure of the S is a good idea, but overall the new shape seems too square, consider mirroring the upper bowl of R. The bowls of B, P and R could do with a touch more black.
  • Eris Alar
    Eris Alar Posts: 455
    James P - you mentioned on Facebook that the S looked like it was leaning to the left, do you think it still does?
  • The new G is approved. :)
  • I think you could fix the S by moving the top-left vertical to the right so the inline is to the right of the bottom-left vertical by the thickness of the inline. Does that make sense?
  • Alex Kaczun
    Alex Kaczun Posts: 163
    Go back to the capital S in post 95, Feb 27—works better overall.

    Your updated S is starting to look very squarish and stiff.