Do you have pics of your source material to show?

Welcome Kristin,

I think there is some really nice stuff going on here, and you said it could be for anything, correct? I think with what you have, as I was told when I first joined this community, is to find a purpose for it. Something I am still trying to grasp as well is how function, form and style cohabitate. Finding a function should be your next step. IMHO, it's hard to crit/judge the appropriateness of something without context.

p.s. - Where are you in grad school?

Ok, so it's for display. I just sense that you really need a specific purpose. Maybe late in the game. How much longer do you have? You can do it. I did my senior project with a window of 10 mo's and restarted at month 7, and it was a text face.

I know it's a tough question when it's all hypothetical. I do like some of the things going on, but a bit of it seems a little too arbitrary. But, once again I think if you nail down what it would be used for, some of those issues would be evident, and a solution more clear.

Your M for example. The swash coming off the second peak seems, well, is, an unnatural occurence in handwriting, specifically scripts, which are the orgins of the swash. From what I've learned, a successfull type, text or display, must appear 'natural' in the sense that you don't second guess a letter while reading. That doesn't negate the creative aspects, but it should take into consideration historical precedents. There's not alot of room in good type design for post-modernism.