Klimax Update with Italic

ugla
25.Apr.2008 9.54am
ugla's picture

hello. this is klimax. it is part of my diploma project with two other display fonts (Monoxil Outliner & Kakao).
the idea was to draw two opposite climaxes - the heaviest and the lightest, but both sharing the identical metrics and kerning.
i would really appreciate some feedback and critique.

thank you. ondrej

AttachmentSize
klimax.pdf170.48 KB
klimax-updated.pdf258.25 KB


Asvetic
25.Apr.2008 10.07am
Asvetic's picture

This is really sweet, and very unique.

However, I think the counter strokes on the Ultra weights are a bit too thin. Take “National”, in the upper left corner, for example. The counter strokes practically dissolve away.

I like the look and I think thickening the counter strokes a little wouldn’t have too negative effect on the over all look.


Asvetic
25.Apr.2008 10.12am
Asvetic's picture

After looking at the PDF, something about the capital C, G, Q and O seem off, like they’re compressed. I also don’t like the length of the counter strokes on the capital E, 4, 5, they’re too long. Actually, some of your counter stroke lengths seem inconsistent, and long. Such as on the U, V and W.

Hope I’m not being too nit-picky.


Asvetic
25.Apr.2008 10.14am
Asvetic's picture

One more suggestion, and then I’m done, how bout adding a rounded end to the counter strokes instead of a straight one? It’ll soften the forms slightly; as if a laser cut into them.


Stephen Coles
25.Apr.2008 11.03am
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Nice work. I know it’s part of its character, but I think your ’a’ bowl could stand to be a tad larger.


Chipman223
25.Apr.2008 11.44am
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I actually kind of enjoy the “ultra-black” looking like they have no counter, but I do agree that the counters are waaay to thin if you are to keep them there. I think that even tripling the counters in size wouldn’t be too much. I enjoy the ultra-light weight, the R reminds me of gotham, and the eyeglass g is great. I agree with stephen about the bowl of the a


Quincunx
25.Apr.2008 6.11pm
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While I like the black version alot, I agree about the counters. I think the concept and idea are great, but what about making another black, next to this one, with a bit more ’normal’ counters? The light version is excellent, though.


cerulean
25.Apr.2008 8.36pm
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You probably need optical sizes.


ugla
26.Apr.2008 5.45am
ugla's picture

hello.

asvetic: i’ll check the C, Q, G, O and U, V, W letters. i tried make the white strokes of E shorter, but it looked too much out of concept. the only exception is S where long strokes look super bad. the first version had rounded counter strokes and i can’t recall why i decided to make them straight actually... maybe i wanted them only to show the inner construction, not to play part of real counters. that’s why they are so thin too.

stephen: yeah, i know the bowl of the a is smaller than usual, but i have this feeling that anything larger would be too ordinary in this case. people always complain about this in my fonts by the way... maybe i have do something with it :)

the others: the optical sizes seems to be a good idea. i will definitelly keep this version for big point sizes and design something more conform for smaller ones. the plus style with classic counters and the minus version with thicker strokes and maybe a bit of contrast too. however, this will have to wait because i still have two other fonts to draw... ah... this hard student’s life...

thank you all.


Stephen Coles
27.Apr.2008 1.14am
Stephen Coles's picture

> i know the bowl of the a is smaller than usual, but i have this feeling that anything larger would be too ordinary

It’s a fine line a type designer walks between personality and usability. That ’a’ can get more usable without losing its personality.


ugla
27.Apr.2008 7.27am
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ok, i’ll trust you and i am gonna fix the ’a’ bowl. what do you think about the counters in the ’plus’ style stephen?


formlos
27.Apr.2008 7.39am
formlos's picture

Very niiice. (I especially love the heaviest weight.) Quite different. So heavy, so blocky, but still cute as hell. ;)

Dav


Chipman223
27.Apr.2008 8.14am
Chipman223's picture

I think the heavier weight is cut too deeply by the counter space as well. It doesn’t seem quite right. My eyes want to see the thin line breaking the e, c, u, t to be MUCH shorter. Maybe that cut into the lc a should closely resemble what you’ve done to the S. I don’t even think the p, h and r need them at all.


glyphobet
27.Apr.2008 11.44am
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This is beautiful. I think it’s perfect; you don’t need to change a thing. Good work.

-matt


ugla
27.Apr.2008 11.58am
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andrew: this was not meant to be a serious thing. i’d call it a display font for extra big sizes with a weird concept... i actually don’t know how to explain the the lenght of the counters, but i think the rules i followed while designing them are clear. one explanation could be ’super heavy weight with super big contrast’ which is best visible in the ’o’. this system, of course, is not possible to use with all letters, but the aesthetic effect which this system produces is quite interesting, i think.
later i will design the ’normal’ version with counters as long and as regular as they should be :)


Ratbaggy
27.Apr.2008 6.46pm
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love the direction.

keep us posted.

—————
Paul Ducco
Creative Design


AchillesG
28.Apr.2008 5.09am
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The Ultra Black weight is lovely especially the lower case “g”.

You’re definitely on to something.


kyrmse
28.Apr.2008 6.14am
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Love the heavy and the light weights! I would like to be the proud owner of (files enabling me to use) these fonts when they are finished... ;-)

Ronald Kyrmse
ronald.info.ms


Ehague
28.Apr.2008 1.52pm
Ehague's picture

Ditto on the optical weights. I also don’t think you’d lose anything by broadening the counters in general (on the ultra-black). The beauty in such a fat weight all comes from the tension between how badly the strokes just want to crush the counters, and how hard the counters have to work to resist.

I love the lowercase g, especially. The spine looks like a muffin top!


SuperUltraFabulous
29.Apr.2008 12.17am
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I LOVE THE ULTRA BLACK!!!

The light/regular weight feels like Auto from Underware.

Mikey :-)


ill sans
7.May.2008 5.44am
ill sans's picture

Very cool!


ugla
9.May.2008 6.17am
ugla's picture

ITALICS COMING IN FEW DAYS!


AGL
9.May.2008 8.23am
AGL's picture

Now I know what means Ultra Ultra Ultra Light and Ultra Ultra Ultra Black. Impressive.


SuperUltraFabulous
9.May.2008 8.35am
SuperUltraFabulous's picture

cool!


Bendy
10.May.2008 6.12am
Bendy's picture

it’s very cool. i love the super heavy. it’s really unique. great!


litera
10.May.2008 11.49am
litera's picture

Ultra black is very very unique in did. The most amazing thing about it is that it’s still readable. Definitely not as much as regular weights but definitely much more than other ultras.

Kudos!


Chipman223
12.May.2008 10.50am
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That’s quite a body of work, and a very fitting name for a diploma project. I <3 the Plus Italic lowercase k.


ugla
12.May.2008 11.01am
ugla's picture

thanks. i am pretty proud of the lowercase k too... unfortunatelly, i had to break the rule of same width of minus and plus style. i had to add some kern pairs with k in the minus version, because the fat style is filled on the right side, while the minus style k is just regularly open... but i think it doesn’t spoil the concept that much.


Quincunx
13.May.2008 3.44pm
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Absolutely great!
I like both the heavy and the light, plus the italics. I would still like a more regular version of the heavy, but nevertheless; great work. :)


SuperUltraFabulous
13.May.2008 9.28pm
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okay... I’m in love!


Asvetic
14.May.2008 5.27am
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Ondrej, you’re planning to offer us all a free pre-release copy of Klimax right? ~wink~


ugla
14.May.2008 8.58am
ugla's picture

should i? :/


Asvetic
14.May.2008 10.05am
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Well, you could create a little buzz for it.

Perhaps just giving it away isn’t exactly what you were thinking (though I’m not opposing if you want too), but what if you made it a cool give-away prize in a type oriented game or drawing.

Kinda like I Love Typography’s crossword/drawing for a complete set of Haptic.
http://ilovetypography.com/crossword-1/

Maybe Punchcut/Typophile could host a little contest/drawing right here and give away a few sets of Klimax.

Of course, it’s just a suggestion.


ugla
14.May.2008 10.40am
ugla's picture

well... acutally i am thinking about offering it to some typefoundry or someone. i haven’t done that before, but i feel that klimax can be the one to start with. but first i think i’ll wait for peter bilak, who’s gonna write me an opponency, i’ll see how’s that going to be like and then i’ll decide. i guess...


AGL
16.May.2008 6.12am
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again, cool


Joe Pemberton
16.May.2008 9.34am
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Great stuff.


Ale Paul
16.May.2008 1.33pm
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pretty


nicetype
21.May.2008 4.20am
nicetype's picture

Great work! I really can’t decide which I like more, the Heavy or the Light, I love them both :) The Heavy reminds me of Fat Ed by Underware (it’s a compliment), love the Small Caps, the g, a, s, diacritics, italics. And the Light is not less awesome. Like I said, love them both.


Chipman223
27.May.2008 6.29am
Chipman223's picture

Something about klimax reminds me of Gloriola, or maybe the other way around since I came across it for the first time last week. It’s not quite as extreme on the heavy side, but the lighter weight characters seemed to have a lot in common.


innovati
27.May.2008 10.09am
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oooh it;s beautiful!

are you planning on releasing it? I;d love to use it!


samth
5.Jun.2008 5.04am
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I find that the thickest set of writing, for example ’milk’ is difficult to read.

Otherwise, the other two I adore.