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(x) Looking for Ancient style - Greek/Roman - various {gang}
Posted by brennan in
2 Dec 2002 — 5:24am
2 Dec 2002 — 5:24am
Hi all,
Im looking for a face to represent the ancient style. Not in the way of Lithos or p22's Acropolis. More like Bitstreams Engravers'Roman or Symbol/Universal Math. SPQR comes to mind.
If anyone has any links to types or research of this sort I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Brennan
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2 Dec 2002 — 5:45am
Engravers Roman
http://store.bitstream.com/charactermap.asp?handle=233&fontname=Engravers'%20Roman
2 Dec 2002 — 7:22am
Thanks for that character ref Jared,
Actually I was looking for more variations on that theme. I am developing a logotype for a company called Spartan and was after some research.
I was looking for an older style. I think im going to hit the Library and see what they have.
If Gerry Leonidas is on this forum he might know ;)
I found some resources if you want to check them out:
http://www.kolumbus.fi/jltypes/grproof.html
http://www.linguistsoftware.com/lgk2.htm
2 Dec 2002 — 7:53am
Brennan, I for one am a little confused.
Could you pinpoint what you/the_client are trying to convey?
hhp
2 Dec 2002 — 8:18am
Ahh! sorry Hrant,
Here is the deal:
The logotype is for a company called Spartan. I am trying to find an oldstyle Greek font that has an appearance of the engraved, worn look.
I know that im not going to get away with a totally Greek face so im going to have to "dress a Roman like a Greek" as you said on one of these posts. ;)
But its the feel of the face im after. 'Weathered by time' sort of look. I was going to do some research and draw the logotype myself, but was wondering if there were any faces like this already.
Sorry for the confusion.
Bren
2 Dec 2002 — 8:33am
If you want to be culturally authentic, you might have a tough time, since "Hellenicized" Latin fonts are pretty rare, so a specifically weathered one might not exist. One reason not to worry too much about authenticity in this case is that people might -understandably- not even have the sensitivity to realize what it is! Collective memory (in the West) doesn't seem to extend to anything before the Roman Empire, I mean in terms of noticing if it's authentic or not. Just use Democratica... ;-)
You could go Bizantine and use Sophia. Or you could use a less-familiar Roman style (like Herculanum) and pretend. Or you could take something like Skia and weather it yourself. Or you could wait for Gerry to give a much more qualified answer. :-)
hhp
2 Dec 2002 — 8:59am
Man, you are a wealth of information! haha! ;)
Thanks for all the recommendations! I agree that people might not recognise the authenticity, or even care, but I have the unfortunate/fortunate nature of being a perfectionist ;)
Democratica? uhh... No. (no offence Miles!)
Sophia is a great call! I love the geometry. I am going to have to adapt it somehow.
Thanks for all the info Hrant,
I'll show you what I come up with.
Bren
PS. I remeber you from the old TyD elist. Nice to know some things never change =)
3 Dec 2002 — 2:13am
Cheers for the link Mike,
There certainly are a couple there for reference. Thanks heaps!
Bren
4 Dec 2002 — 2:53am
Hi George,
Thanks for the info.
I dont know how this is going to work, but im going to try and merge the Latin & Greek to 'create' the feel of antiquity.
I only have to get a combo of S, P, A, R, T & N. Maybe hint at a bridge (is that the right term?) on the "A"? The Greek "R" is a Latin "P" thats going to be tricky because I use both. "S" will have to be Latin, same with the "T".
Any suggestions?
Bren
4 Dec 2002 — 8:28am
> merge the Latin & Greek to 'create' the feel of antiquity.
Sounds like a plan. Fortunately it's a logotype - a font would be a whole different story.
S: What about an h-flipped "Z"? That would look like a Greek Sigma.
P, R: Keep them open?
A: Try a chevron bar.
T: Tough one. Making it a cross is an obvious answer, except the Ancient Greeks were pagan.
N: Do something funky.
BTW, you could look at Barnbrook's Mason and Exocet for inspiration. And maybe Trajic notRoman:
http://www.themicrofoundry.com/ss_trajic.html
But please don't ask for a copy.
Overall: make things not very aligned; maybe flare the stroke endings.
hhp
4 Dec 2002 — 8:58am
Sorry for joining in late (been on a short holiday): Blambot has a worn-looking Greek-looking freeware font called Pythia. Maybe worth checking out?
4 Dec 2002 — 9:01am
Hrant! you were holding out on me! ;)
That face you have is a perfect refrence! The P and R are fantastic. I see how you have tried to combine the S.
S is tricky because (I feel) its about recognition. Since that is the first letter it has to have some sort of flow to lead you in (or am I being pedantic?). I agree a h-flipped S would look more authentic... lets see what happens ;)
I also had thoughts about keeping the P & R open. I was just looking at Palatino, maybe I'll funk them up similarly.
As for the A, I could use a lowercase:a
need to think now.
Thanks
Bren
4 Dec 2002 — 9:07am
Hi Yves,
Thanks for the link. I am trying to stay away from the Lithos style, but at the same time use some elements. Im contradicting myself! I'll stop now ;)
Bren
2 Dec 2002 — 9:47pm
There might be a couple here worth checking out:
http://www.dafont.com/en/theme.php?cat=108
Mike
3 Dec 2002 — 9:57pm
Keep in mind that the inverted "V" which is used as a cap "A" in some of the fonts offered by the "ionics" foundry is "L" in Greek.