font design critique please
nina stoessinger
I've just designed my first font and would like to hear your opinions
about it. It's quite bold, I'm planning to make a 'light' / 'regular'
version too, but I first want to finish the bold version.
Sample: http://zarathustra.pentragon.net/temp/itb_sample.gif
Font file: http://zarathustra.pentragon.net/temp/identb_.ttf
I do know that the kerning needs more work, but I'd like to know if you
think the font 'works', overall.
Thanks a lot for any criticisms.
nina
Carol Ott
really like the lowercase "j". It's very sassy.
--Carol
"nina stoessinger" <n...@balcab.ch> wrote in message
news:3ABE0AB4...@balcab.ch...
Mike C.
outstanding about the font.
I am pleased that you want to design fonts, but try making a font
that has more of an interesting style to it. More playfulness,
more "pride" ... more spunk to the font.
":^) ®
--
Mike C.
* Logo Design
* DHTML & GIF Animation
* Custom Graphics for YOUR Site!
Stop by and see if my skills and talents are up to your standards.
Site at: http://www.artistmike.com
NEW SITE at: http://www.mikeslogoland.com/
mailto:mi...@artistmike.com?Subject=Logo.Project
godspeed you black hypemonger!
> that has more of an interesting style to it. More playfulness,
> more "pride" ... more spunk to the font.
Yeah, I agree. It's hard for me to get excited about any old font,
especially
in the high-tech sans serif arena.
As far as a normal font, yours is a little rough, some
of the curves don't seem even, and the nice straight meets curve thing,
evident in the letters f and j, should be in more (all) of the letters for
consistency. Also, you need to do some manual kearning of the letters.
Madman
are way overdone, they try to hard to be the message/look and forget what
their real purpose is.
Madman
"Mike C." <mi...@artistmike.com> wrote in message
news:3ABE5061...@artistmike.com...
Mike Minovski
<3ABE0AB4...@balcab.ch> :
>I've just designed my first font and would like to hear your opinions
>about it. It's quite bold, I'm planning to make a 'light' / 'regular'
>version too, but I first want to finish the bold version.
>
>Sample: http://zarathustra.pentragon.net/temp/itb_sample.gif
First of all, good luck in that quite difficult area of type design!
I'd suggest that you work on all weights simultaneously. The regular weight should, as a rule, come first, defining the general construction principle, the ratio between the letter 'flesh' and 'eye' (inner space) etc. Developing all weights in parallel would help you feel these more precisely, and introduce corrections on-the-fly; it would also give you the opportunity to check how the different weights work together - they must by all means work well, as belonging to one typeface.
I'm not a typographer myself, but I see potential problems as you develop the lighter weights - due to a not very clear construction principle. E.g. I'm not sure how these beam thickness variations you have, would translate into a light version. You may have to make them stronger, to give more character to the typeface; right now it looks somewhat plain to me - I can't figure what I could use it for.
BTW why is that computer-type slash across the zero? If it's supposed to be a graphic 'wink', IMO it should be found somewhere else, too - otherwise it would seem isolated and ending in itself. Could remain only there if the font was, say, fixed-pitch, or computerlike - this one isn't.
The small 'o' needs some more size/width/inner space - now it seems smaller compared to the other letters.
The main axis of the letters is not uniform: some work vertical, some are neutral, while e.g. the small 's' works horizontal.
You understand this is not a complete analysis, just what I noticed from your screen snapshot - don't have the time to d/l and play with the TTF.
A question: Why didn't you begin with some more peculiar typeface? e.g. hand-drawn, constructivistic etc.? The closer you get to traditional serif/sans serifs, the more difficult it is to design - theory is too strict there. OTOH, if you have an original idea for some artistic typeface, you are free to define most of the rules.
Oh, and the name is ve-e-e-ery intriguing... :)))
HTH
mike m.
--- Observing equilibrium. ---
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Justin
similar to other fonts....
Its looks nice and clean though.
nina stoessinger
that my font is not very uh, original, but then again I must say I'm
less interested in making a font that's screaming how 'cool' and really
original it is than making one that is readable and unobtrusive, yet a
little special. Maybe I missed the 'special' part a bit? :>
I can see that there are still a few irregularities (eg. in the weights
and the kerning) - I think the font needs quite a bit of 'finetuning'. I
was mostly curious to see if you guys think that the overall idea works.
Mike Minovski wrote:
>
> BTW why is that computer-type slash across the zero? If it's supposed to be a graphic 'wink', IMO it should be found somewhere else, too - otherwise it would seem isolated and ending in itself. Could remain only there if the font was, say, fixed-pitch, or computerlike - this one isn't.
Thanks for the input. I put the slash there for the one reason that I
didn't know how else to make the zero character decidedly different from
the 'O' - making it slimmer looked odd, since I tried to keep the same
curve in the rounded letters (C, D, O, etc.) and am reluctant about
departing from it.
> The small 'o' needs some more size/width/inner space - now it seems smaller compared to the other letters.
Thanks - it seemed so to me too, but I thought it's just me (because it
already is a bit bigger).
> The main axis of the letters is not uniform: some work vertical, some are neutral, while e.g. the small 's' works horizontal.
I'm not sure I see what you mean here - like I said, I'm somewhat new to
designing fonts. Could you maybe point out some resources that would
help me learn more?
> A question: Why didn't you begin with some more peculiar typeface? e.g. hand-drawn, constructivistic etc.? The closer you get to traditional serif/sans serifs, the more difficult it is to design - theory is too strict there. OTOH, if you have an original idea for some artistic typeface, you are free to define most of the rules.
Well, this is where I'm coming from - up to now my work with typefaces
has been on the 'receiving end' only - mostly in DTP, where I got
frustrated with 'artistic' yet unreadable fonts. I've had the idea for
this font in the back of my mind for quite a while - but maybe I should
put it off for a while and practise with some easier 'fancy' fonts? Or
study the theory first. :)
btw, the name is not *meant* to be compromising - it was 'inspired' by
this story: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/26868.htm - which I
find rather, uh, bold. :]
ta
nina
Mike Minovski
>I put the slash there for the one reason that I
>didn't know how else to make the zero character decidedly different from
>the 'O' - making it slimmer looked odd, since I tried to keep the same
>curve in the rounded letters (C, D, O, etc.) and am reluctant about
>departing from it.
I see. But it's not a common graphic element, it's a *specific* graphic element, so it not only serves your purpose, but also has its own implications and requirements. IMO you ought to think some more about it: not how to 'implant' it technically, but rather how it influences the overall look/character of the typeface.
>
>> The main axis of the letters is not uniform: some work vertical, some are neutral, while e.g. the small 's' works horizontal.
>
>I'm not sure I see what you mean here - like I said, I'm somewhat new to
>designing fonts. Could you maybe point out some resources that would
>help me learn more?
Although being a print designer, I'm not in designing fonts at all. What I wrote was from the position of your 'client' - someone who i supposed to like your font and want to use it.
The axis: the small 's' seems 'open' left and right and 'closed' top & bottom, as if it spreads in width. I understand that the structure you've adopted does not allow you to curve the ends somewhat up (down) and thus 'close' the letter - but you have to solve this problem somehow. Maybe decrease the width so the 's' appears more 'slim' and optically matches better the other letters. That's why I think the regular weight should come first, bold/black and light/thin following as derivatives. Thus you could more easily see what changes (simplifications, specific structural deviations, optical compensation etc) are needed for each weight - and apply them consistently. A good typeface is *first* of all a perfectly balanced, logical, integral system. OK, I'm beginning to talk too much... you realize all I'm saying is the view of a user - I guess pretty qualified and exigent, but still a user.
Besides, English is not my native language and I wouldn't dare plunge into the high terminology talk :)
>Well, this is where I'm coming from - up to now my work with typefaces
>has been on the 'receiving end' only - mostly in DTP, where I got
>frustrated with 'artistic' yet unreadable fonts. I've had the idea for
>this font in the back of my mind for quite a while - but maybe I should
>put it off for a while and practise with some easier 'fancy' fonts? Or
>study the theory first. :)
You bet it's the theory first :) I can't judge much about your theoretical knowledge but maybe you can get a reference point here: http://www.studiomotiv.com/counterspace/
Also, look for books. There's no such thing as an outdated typography book, no matter how old it is.
>
>btw, the name is not *meant* to be compromising - it was 'inspired' by
>this story: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/26868.htm - which I
>find rather, uh, bold. :]
Agreed :) But that's not a reason to design the black weight first, skipping the regular one... ;))
Okay, Nina, one more thing: "I am a dynamic young web design professional ..." (taken from your site where BTW I also saw that you *may* be having that 'typography bias'). I guess you realize that designing type for print and for web is by far not the same thing. Presumably being proficient in the web area, why don't you use the knowledge you have and focus on web typefaces? Quite a challenging profile, I'd say - and not much population there, as far as I can judge. Just crossed my mind...