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Oban
Posted by anonymous in
13 Mar 2002 — 9:48am
13 Mar 2002 — 9:48am
hello
here's OBAN my first font.
based in the 60's tv screen, i tried to look for a great legibility in small sizes, so the counter is big enough to be printed at 4pt.
i tried to look for the better readability without lose from sight the base point. (the letter 'o')
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13 Mar 2002 — 10:17am
Also: let's see it small! In Flash maybe?
13 Mar 2002 — 10:40am
Ruben, I agree with Stephen: I think you're lying. ;-)
Seriously, pardon my language, but this is one goddam good design. I do happen to have a fetish for designs that combine the mechanical and the organic, but Oban (great name, btw) really is class.
Stephen's suggestion for the numeral "4" is right on, but for the UC "M" I think it needs more than just a lower middle: it needs a curvier middle. Also: the "K" is imbalanced, the "Q" is amazing, the "X" too wide.
In the lc, "k" and "x" have the same problems as above, but overall I'm salivating to see some text.
Non-alphanumerics: The exclamation/question color needs help, the dollar sign is the only one with a double bar that I've ever liked, the ampersand rocks, the BP is too stiff, the Pilcrow is great, the Euro looks forced.
More, please!!
hhp
13 Mar 2002 — 2:11pm
Stunning. I agree about the uc M, and I think the @ need work... The dollarsign was great. Overall a very nice feeling, friendly without looking corny. Will you sell it to me when it's done?
13 Mar 2002 — 2:39pm
Ruben - Release this beautiful creature no later than tomorrow, okay. I'll camp out tonight. Where do you live?
bj
13 Mar 2002 — 8:13pm
Nice work reminds me of Henk Elenga's" Crank8 Plus/Minus" and Mike Kohnke's "Gregarious"
13 Mar 2002 — 8:38pm
Ole, nice composition!
But font-wise, I think Oban has a unique earthy reality to it.
hhp
13 Mar 2002 — 10:52pm
As far as others out there...'Ectoplasm' by t26 has the same general flava...Oban is more classy.
www.t26.com
13 Mar 2002 — 11:25pm
Here is a sample of henk elenga's "Crank8" font.
Is this to die for or what?
13 Mar 2002 — 11:30pm
Hrant, these last 2 compositions are not my work, I got them from a site and a book just to demonstrate the similarities with Oban.
13 Mar 2002 — 11:50pm
I like all three, uh four. If I had to vote
1. Oban
2. Crank 8
3. Ectoplasm
4. Gregarious
14 Mar 2002 — 8:27am
Crank8: really really nice numerals!
hhp
14 Mar 2002 — 5:41pm
Concerning Flash:
I've noticed that cubic bezier curves (the kind that PostScript uses) seem to get distorted more than quadratics (which TrueType uses). Translation: Try exporting the font as a TT (of course after you move the letterforms from Freehand to Fontographer - or Fontlab).
hhp
15 Mar 2002 — 2:51am
ruben, very very nice, i love it!!!
absolutely fantastic for a first timer.
and stephen is right, Oban should be distributed by fountain. it would fit in that library perfectly.
20 Jun 2004 — 2:35am
So, did this font ever get released?
20 Jun 2004 — 4:53pm
22 Sep 2004 — 10:47am
there's something similar to this called Reform that i happened to just brush by in the headlines...there's obvious differences but could say it started with this?
22 Sep 2004 — 11:07pm
Ruben, this is really nice. I'm seeing that the leg of the UC K is too small or doesn't extend far enough to the right. It actually seems to jump left and right a little when I look at it.
I like the feeling of this. Kind of reminds me of the letters in the Sezession House designed by JM Olbrich.
Jon
13 Mar 2002 — 5:02pm
Let me add my praise for this specimen. I love the squarish forms and gentle tapers. The whole alphabet is very exciting and has enormous potential.
The lower leg of the K seems a bit thin, and the round corners of the Z seem inconsistent with the way you've handled similar junctions.
As for the punctuation, the letterforms seem close - I think I'd need to see the punctuation in context to judge their compatibility.
14 Mar 2002 — 2:16am
I wanna give Oban a good hug!
Sbo
14 Mar 2002 — 4:53pm
thanks a lot, for each comment, I'll take in consideration each of them, for soure.
i'm finishing some other works these next days, but as soon as i can i will post some corrections and also a text preview. by the way i tried to use the font in flash to post it here but the same curves that work perfectly in freehand sometimes doesn't look good on flash but other times do. i dont understand wy, but i don't really use flash usualy so maybe i'm doing something wrong.
by the way, it realy is my first font but i'm working on it for some time ago, and in the last few years i had read a lot about type design, even before i started to draw these one and i had talked with some friens and done some research.
so maybe that's the reasons,
thanks a lot for the compliments,
i gave my best to it.
thanks, again, and see you as soon as i can, bring you more news.
13 Mar 2002 — 10:11am
ruben!
First font, my foot! It's hard to believe you're
just starting out in type design when you have
such a great grasp of form and consistency.
I like the base shape, the rounded corners and
the angled terminals. I'm sure this face will
lend itself well to a bold weight too.
Two small concerns:
- The 'M' distracted me immediately. I'd like to
see the middle come down a bit to match the
other caps.
- The '4's counter is much smaller than any other
glyph. Maybe an open topped '4' is in order.
It's very cool overall and there is certainly
a market for this look. Peter Bruhn of Fountain
might be watching this critique closely. See his
latest.
Stephen