Hi Tobias, I think you have some winning aesthetic/functional combinations going here. I really like the low ascenders/descender (example lc.g). I do not really use this type of font in any of my own work, but I can see great potential for it in the current market.
This has a nice feeling and promise, but to me there are real problems of consistency, and the crossbars of the a and e are main problems.
You have a general monoweight effect, and the joins of the branches and one part of the bowls are thick. But the crossbar on a and e are much thinner. You can go for more of a two weight sans like Franklin, or change those crossbars. Gill is generally monoweight with the two weight effect on the aeg, so you can get away with it, but not with it so extreme, I think. Also the descender on the g to me looks painfully cut off, and the bottom of the t weak.
I think this is very nice - makes me think of Yellow and Fontana having a kid. It's cohesive, original, legible. And some of the glyphs are very charming.
William's point about the "a" and "e" crossbars is valid on a formal level, but I happen to think your approach can be a valid solution sometimes, including here.
The most obvious issues to me: - The dots of the "i"/"j" extend too far up (especially in #2). - The bar of the "L" is too heavy (although less in the #2). - The "4" is too wide. - The "&" is too playful (and too dark in the #2).
There are also some smaller things (like the "E" being maybe slightly too wide) but those are iffy.
I´ve made some adjustments and added a lighter weight on this one, making the weight gain logarithmic. The strong cut-offs on p and d had to go to make the light weight work. Some spacing is still to be done on the lighter weight. This is my first face, so please comment! http://www.kvant.org/zai.pdf
I agree with Hrant about the #4. I do however disagree with you Hrant about the dots of the i and j...I think they should go a bit higher. They'll start to blend together at smaller point sizes or at a distance.
The ampersand too playful? The face seems pretty playful to me already. (Might be right about it being too bold though.)
The crossbars of the "a" and "e" don't bug me too much. The crossbar of the "a" reminds me of Edward Johnston's Foundation Hand, don't know if that was an inspiration or not.
All in all Toby, I think its very nice, very polished, congratulations!
Terry, I think you're starting to see everything as a signage face... :-)
I agree that simply lowering the dots of the "i"/"j" would make things worse. But that's not necessarily what I'd change: I might make the dots flatter; and/or I might actually reduce the height of the stems - the Grid should be a tool, not a straightjacket. And after all, what is raising the dots further if not breaking the grid too? The reason not to raise them further (or even keep them so high) is potential line-to-line bumping (on shorter measures).
"Terry, I think you’re starting to see everything as a signage face… :-)"
Well, that's certainly a concern. :) I think you should keep your old lowercase g and just extend the hook a little. I also prefer your original "y". Hrant, don't you think the dots can be at least a little higher than cap height?
Cap height, sure, since I think: cap height should (generally) be lower than ascender height; and the dots can be as high as the ascender height (depending on the design). But not higher than the ascender height - that's just asking for trouble.
Thanks. This is primarily ment to be a headline face, thus the heaviness.
Most of the inspiration just came from my head, I wanted a handmade look, and maybe I subconsciously drew some inspiration from Gill´s bolder stuff.
About the dots: I just looked at Frere Jones´Interstate Ultra Black, where the dots extend some above ascender hight. So I´m thinking, if he can do it, so can I...
About the g and y: I kinda like the old ones better too, in a way, but they seem to distract the eye too much, especially in smaller sizes, I´m not sure. More thoughts on that appreciated. I´m thinking about making an even bolder version now. Tried extrapolating and it looked pretty cool.
If a font is so display-oriented that you're likely to set only one line in it, or be afforded the luxury of tweaking consecutive-line bumps manually, then I guess it's OK. But pretty much by definition a font is meant for setting text, text is rarely one line, and most users won't know/want to tweak stuff.
And remember: everybody makes mistakes, and there's never a single Answer anyway.
29 Dec 2004 — 5:26pm
Hi Tobias, I think you have some winning aesthetic/functional combinations going here. I really like the low ascenders/descender (example lc.g). I do not really use this type of font in any of my own work, but I can see great potential for it in the current market.
29 Dec 2004 — 6:47pm
i love it, it's very fresh. I think some slightly lighter weights would be even more useful and could make a really nice family.
29 Dec 2004 — 8:20pm
This has a nice feeling and promise, but to me there are real problems of consistency, and the crossbars of the a and e are main problems.
You have a general monoweight effect, and the joins of the branches and one part of the bowls are thick. But the crossbar on a and e are much thinner. You can go for more of a two weight sans like Franklin, or change those crossbars. Gill is generally monoweight with the two weight effect on the aeg, so you can get away with it, but not with it so extreme, I think. Also the descender on the g to me looks painfully cut off, and the bottom of the t weak.
29 Dec 2004 — 10:33pm
I think this is very nice - makes me think of Yellow and Fontana having a kid.
It's cohesive, original, legible. And some of the glyphs are very charming.
William's point about the "a" and "e" crossbars is valid on a formal level, but I
happen to think your approach can be a valid solution sometimes, including here.
The most obvious issues to me:
- The dots of the "i"/"j" extend too far up (especially in #2).
- The bar of the "L" is too heavy (although less in the #2).
- The "4" is too wide.
- The "&" is too playful (and too dark in the #2).
There are also some smaller things (like the "E" being maybe slightly too wide) but those are iffy.
Spacing: a bit too loose.
Great stuff overall!
hhp
30 Dec 2004 — 9:13am
Thanks guys, I
6 Jan 2005 — 12:45pm
Did some variations on g and y
6 Jan 2005 — 12:59pm
Here
28 Jul 2005 — 4:22am
I´ve made some adjustments and added a lighter weight on this one, making the weight gain logarithmic. The strong cut-offs on p and d had to go to make the light weight work. Some spacing is still to be done on the lighter weight. This is my first face, so please comment!
http://www.kvant.org/zai.pdf
28 Jul 2005 — 7:23am
The light weight (Zai One) is already too heavy for text. Why won't you make an even lighter version?
oribendor
28 Jul 2005 — 2:23pm
I agree with Hrant about the #4. I do however disagree with you Hrant about the dots of the i and j...I think they should go a bit higher. They'll start to blend together at smaller point sizes or at a distance.
The ampersand too playful? The face seems pretty playful to me already. (Might be right about it being too bold though.)
The crossbars of the "a" and "e" don't bug me too much. The crossbar of the "a" reminds me of Edward Johnston's Foundation Hand, don't know if that was an inspiration or not.
All in all Toby, I think its very nice, very polished, congratulations!
28 Jul 2005 — 4:15pm
Terry, I think you're starting to see everything as a signage face... :-)
I agree that simply lowering the dots of the "i"/"j" would make things worse. But that's not necessarily what I'd change: I might make the dots flatter; and/or I might actually reduce the height of the stems - the Grid should be a tool, not a straightjacket. And after all, what is raising the dots further if not breaking the grid too? The reason not to raise them further (or even keep them so high) is potential line-to-line bumping (on shorter measures).
hhp
28 Jul 2005 — 7:06pm
"Terry, I think you’re starting to see everything as a signage face… :-)"
Well, that's certainly a concern. :) I think you should keep your old lowercase g and just extend the hook a little. I also prefer your original "y". Hrant, don't you think the dots can be at least a little higher than cap height?
28 Jul 2005 — 7:53pm
Cap height, sure, since I think: cap height should (generally) be lower than ascender height; and the dots can be as high as the ascender height (depending on the design). But not higher than the ascender height - that's just asking for trouble.
hhp
29 Jul 2005 — 2:57am
Thanks. This is primarily ment to be a headline face, thus the heaviness.
Most of the inspiration just came from my head, I wanted a handmade look, and maybe I subconsciously drew some inspiration from Gill´s bolder stuff.
About the dots: I just looked at Frere Jones´Interstate Ultra Black, where the dots extend some above ascender hight. So I´m thinking, if he can do it, so can I...
About the g and y: I kinda like the old ones better too, in a way, but they seem to distract the eye too much, especially in smaller sizes, I´m not sure. More thoughts on that appreciated. I´m thinking about making an even bolder version now. Tried extrapolating and it looked pretty cool.
29 Jul 2005 — 10:02am
If a font is so display-oriented that you're likely to set only one line in it, or be afforded the luxury of tweaking consecutive-line bumps manually, then I guess it's OK. But pretty much by definition a font is meant for setting text, text is rarely one line, and most users won't know/want to tweak stuff.
And remember: everybody makes mistakes, and there's never a single Answer anyway.
hhp