Hello everyone,
I am doing a paper and designing a limited typeface for my bachelor's degree, and I've discovered that something has gone wrong in the beginning of my process, esp. the sketching part. I am curious to know what is your process prior to using your preferred type programme. Do you only sketch out few minuscules and head for the computer? Do you sketch out all minuscules and majuscules on paper? Do you make a creative brief that states who is your target audience? My biggest problem is my approach is not as holistic as I would have liked. I focus too much on the individual glyphs.
To give you some context, I have attached a screenshot of my typeface as it is currently . Mind you, some glyphs are still very rough.
Comments
And quite often you start with some letters that describe you idea only to discard them when you have drawn the rest of the alphabet as the first few do not match what came out of it. After all it is most important that the letters fit together.
But this is a specific way, heavily depending on the computer, and instaurates a different relationship between the idea/form of the curve that you are trying to give shape to and the given tool. The relationship between the concept and purely manual gesture (as drawing in pencil is) still remains important, it also retains awareness of the physical world.
Besides, since Mads Davidsen gave a specific example, I was looking at his typeface. With such forms, it clearly could be heavily "constructed" in many parts, but nonetheless: how to best establish the proportions and relationships? If someone uses a graphic tablet or the like, it’s similar to drawing by hand, but always not the same. The physical, manual aspect, has a uniqueness to it. Such as writing on paper, for example, rather than typing.
I often spend ages by working with beziers directly, while with a pencil sketch it takes a few minutes (and attempts) to me to fix the errors.
When I was less skilled at working with Béziers, I wished I could just draw, since I already knew how to do that. But eventually I got to the point where I could get the results I want faster and more easily by skipping the drawing and going directly to Béziers.
I do draw sometimes, on paper, because it's still the quickest and easiest way for me to explore and record ideas. But as soon as I can, I start working in the font editor. I rarely scan and trace my drawings. They are more like notes that I refer to as I'm working in the font editor.
At the time, the results split about 50/50. What was interesting was that there was a strong correlation between age and whether the person sketched first: older were more likely to sketch first. Of course, age was also mildly correlated with type design experience—but the sketch-first thing was independent of type design experience.
I also note that sketching tends to be a preliminary thing for most type designers, with most typefaces. Once they are well into the digital, they tend to be mostly (or entirely) done with sketching.
Besides, we design typefaces as software to be used with computers, but nonetheless we end up on paper, on materials, with them as well.
I can’t explain precisely why, but I find that many contemporary typeface designs (not necessarily amateurish or "hastened") give a sense of "dematerialization".
Then, I get into my font editor asap because there I can test variables like proportions and spacing and make quick adjustments to only a few characters. It is best to continue to focus on the control characters at the start as these will influence other characters. The following part can also apply to drawing on paper: If it is going well up to that point I expand my character set to include /h /u /d /a /v /N /D /V. I tend to save the double-story /g for last because it usually takes me the longest.
Up to that point, I try to work fast. For one, it isn’t worth the time lost if the design goes no where and second, finding the right parts can take lots of experimenting. Move points, check, move points again, repeat.. If it isn’t working at all I do something easier like play golf or go to the pub.
Good luck!
I'm not sure this is what you mean, but I don't think you can begin a typeface concept just from the control characters. They are not the best for determining the appearance and character of a typeface. Other characters have more influence.
Control characters are a good place to start when you begin building a typeface in the font editor, since they will determine spacing and (to some extent) proportions.
I typically use that method because it is what I have been taught and seems to make sense. But, if I understand your process correctly, influential characters come first then the controllers next, which also makes sense.
I think being locked in vertical orientation affects the perception of curves. For sure, it does for me. I think that vertical lock has had cumulative affect on decades of typefaces.
Another disadvantage of drawing on a screen is the not so subtle nudging toward optimum vertex placement. Nobody's forcing you to put 8 perfectly aligned points on an O but that's probably how it's going to end up. If a control point is almost vertical, you'll probably snap it to vertical. If a horizontal is nearly flat, you'll probably make it flat...or increase the angle to make it more obviously slanted. It's not wrong to design this way but it pushes everyone's typefaces to look the same.
When you're designing with beziers I think you're more likely to end up with something that looks like someone else's design. I'm not saying designing with beziers is bad. But there are times I'm when making design decisions I feel like beziers are calling the shots and I need to grab a pencil and figure it out.
It's not about whether or not something is cleanly drawn, it's about designing in a space that rewards horizontally and vertically aligned control points in a fixed vertical view. When designing an S in beziers, I know where vectors should go and what kind of tension they need. There are 8 points on that S that will definitely be on extremes and vertically or horizontally aligned. On paper, I just know what looks good to me eye so my decisions are based solely on that...not on where I think how beziers should behave. Maybe that's not true for everyone but I'm guessing I'm not alone in this.
Regardless of the ability of beziers to render any type of curve, there are certain shapes that scratchbuilding shapes using vectors discourages. There's a certain squircular shape that I can see in abundance in the PLINC that's not the kind of thing I'd come up with if I were building from beziers. To make an O with that sort of shape requires 16 points. It's annoying to deal with so I generally go with an 8 point approximation. It's easier to make, looks clean and takes some of the strain off of having to consistently pull off the same shapes across axes. Does that have an effect on type design? I think so. Look at all the 21st century squircular fonts and see how many have 16 point squircles. I couldn't find any at all other than revivals of Microgramma etc.
Is it better that type designers don't make those unruly shapes? Maybe so. It's certainly more economical for the type designer. Does that make twenty-first typefaces look samey? Yes. There are probably some type designers who will claim that bezier placement isn't making design decisions for them and they may well be right. If you're not one of those, working a glyph out of paper frees you from those constraints. Whether or not you think you need to be freed from those constraints is a different matter. But when it's pencil and paper, there are no beziers telling you that you're doing it wrong. You still have to import that drawing and trace it using beziers but the decisions were already made on paper and that's really what I was trying to get at.
Here is a practical example of what you added. Neon, by Giulio Da Milano (1935). No particularly calligraphic or affected forms. Superelliptic curves. Yet it is not possible to draw this type of ellipse with four points. You need at least eight. (from the far right: my early digitization, a suggestion from Fabrizio Schiavi and my final choice – placing further bezier points at an angle (a PDF to see the actual curves is also attached).
If they look the same you might need to shift F5 as I mistakenly uploaded 2 identical O's
Nobody's forcing me not to make a 16 point O. But if I'm designing from vectors, I'm probably going to end up with an 8 point version and be done with it. I know nobody's forcing me to make optimize the number of points and keep them aligned on extremes. But realistically, that's where it'll probably end up. Whereas with a pencil, the decisions I make are purely visual.
@Christian Thalmann
That's precisely what I'm taking about. The placement of those points defines the curve of that S. It's not bad by any means but optimization and alignment of beziers have made that S what it is. The way the bottom the the spine curls up into that top bowl is totally bezierish.
Take that S, rotate CCW 45 degrees, reconfigure the points to make them just as efficient. No cheating...don't keep the original on the mask while you're working. Make it look good. Now rotate it CW 45 degrees and compare the results.