Fredoka One Hebrew

[Ben Nathan]

Hello everyone! I'm new here :) I've been tasked to make corrections and modifications to several existing libre font projects.

Here's the first - designing an Hebrew version for the Fredoka-One type originally designed by Milena Brandao. 

What I did

Designed the full Alef-bet. Fredoka is a round font so I tried making the Hebrew as round as I can, which is tricky because Hebrew likes to be squarish.

What's next

- Work on the letters some more - I feel the Lamed and Kuf can get a better shape.

- Adding Nikud

- Hearing your comments 

See the github here: http://hafontia.github.io/Fredoka-One/

Would love anyone's thoughts on this, as this is all work in progress and shapes will probably shift around some more.

Cheers,

Ben

[Dave Crossland]

Thanks Ben! Looks good to me :)

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Cheers
Dave

[Meir Sadan]

Nice one, Ben! I really think you captured the feel of the typeface with the slight bloating of the strokes. My favorite detail is how the diagonals on the צ (tsadi) and ץ (final tsadi) are sloping in opposite directions - looks *awesome*.

I think that:

• The base shape for the ק (qof) can be used for a better ל (lamed) - notice how the lamed has a bit of a corner on the top right, while the qof is elegantly rounder
• The inward-facing "nose" of the ף (final pe) can be lowered just a bit
• Since there's no lighter weight, I'm wondering about the shape of the ג (gimel) and מ (mem) that can perhaps be a bit wider which will enable you to make their appendages more diagonal?

Great work!

[Ben Nathan]

Thanks Meir !

I agree with everything you wrote, great input.

I also had a great chat with Omer Ziv, talked about the overall feel of the font.

Tried to convert your comments in the new design, what do you think?

[Ben Nathan]

Design #3 

I had the weekend to rethink about the font :)

I realised I should use a simple skeleton, the roundness and playfulness for the font will come from the overall roundness and some new features i added - like the disconnected shin.

Here's the result:

I also added nikud glyphs:

On Wednesday, September 16, 2015 at 10:02:58 AM UTC+3, Ben Nathan wrote:

[Omer Ziv]

(No time to dive in, but) I think this direction is a great improvement Ben!

[Richard Fink]

Welcome Ben and l'shana tovah.

Looking good!  At the earliest opportunity, I'll take a look at the letterforms in the context of the existing glyphs in the font. I'm interested in how you've carried the aesthetic intent of the original glyphs into Hebrew.

Richard Fink 

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[Meir Sadan]

I think this new direction works well because it simplifies the base forms. The ש is good in terms of color but I'm not sure if style-wise this is the best solution, especially since you got rid of most of the "thinnings" at the intersections of strokes and this is a bit like a remainder of that previous style. Perhaps it needs a similar simplification?

Also, the bottom stroke in the ג gimel could be just slightly shorter.

Throwing one more idea - what if the diagonals had a tiny bit of a slope, similar (actually less than) in the ץ final tsadi?

[Ben Nathan]

Thanks ! 

I thought about it as well, adding little slopes like the "r" has or maybe refer to the "l" (can be nice in the Yud/Vav maybe).

I'll try the Shin again, and fix the Gimel.. although it's nice to have a long gimel :)

I'll post anoter update tonight, Cheers all, many thanks for the great inputs!

[Ben Nathan]

Design #4

Hello All, 

new version attached, please review the test pdf.

Changes i've made:

- fine tuned the letters, major changes at gimel & shin

- added kerning pairs and improved the spacing

- finalised nikud

Thanks!

Ben

[Meir Sadan]

Sweet!

I think the protrusions in ב bet and ת tav can be a bit more subtle, or maybe use a bit more curvature on the side to "pack them into" the letterform?

[Ben Nathan]

Thanks Meir! 

See new (and maybe final) version and nice PDF test file 

- Added some small changes, final tweaking and more kerning.

- Changed the arch in the Beit, He, Het, Nun, Resh and tav - the grey is the old arch, the new arch is higher and gives the letter better negative space.

(And also fixed some spacing problems I had).

 

- The Alef and Ayin got a small ink trap

Cheers!

Ben 

[Dave Crossland]

Hi Ben

Not heard any news in a while - how is it going? :) 

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Cheers
Dave

[Ben Nathan]

Hi Dave!

It's going good, i finished working on the font:

See it on my github.

I redraw the Alef and finalised all the letters (spacing, kerning nice curves).

Thoughts? :)

Ben

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Cheers
Dave

[Dave Crossland]

Great! Do you want to start the next project now?

[Liron Lavi Turkenich]

Hi Ben,

I am really loving the Hebrew version. I was just reading through the whole process and I am happy that you decided to introduce some modulation in the joints. This is making the letters so much friendlier and flowing.  I like it in the Gimmel and Shin, and wondering if it should be also in the Tsadi for instance. 

I think the biggest improvement was in making the arches (upper right corners) rounder. It’s working great. 

My two cents here are regarding the Kaf. I think that it shouldn’t be symmetric, and have one of the corners a bit different. Similarly, I think the Samech shouldn’t look like an o, but if I had to choose one change to be made- it would be the Kaf. 

Also the Sheqel symbol is missing. 

One last note- some positioning of the Nikkud: The Yoddagesh is clashing with any following letter, and the Holam in Vavholam should be more to the centre.

I’m happy to see another happy Hebrew font coming to life. As always- Good job!

Liron

[Ben Nathan]

Thanks Liron! like always - great comments! :)

Updated version - git: https://github.com/hafontia/Fredoka-One/tree/gh-pages/Glyphs

Cheers!

Ben

[Milena Brandão]

Hi Ben! 

I came across your Hebrew version today and I'm in awe! I'm unfamiliar with the Hebrew glyphs, so I cannot give you any technical input, but I can tell you, from an ignorant point of view, it looks absolutely beautiful and happy, like Fredoka should be :)

Good job!

Milena

[Ben Nathan]

Hi Milena! 

I'm so happy to hear that! :) it was fun working on it, Fredoka is a true charmer!

Cheers!

Ben