tyleryoung
8.Feb.2005 2.57pm
tyleryoung's picture

like many pixel font junkies, i'm continually inspired by miguel hernandez. his fundamental typeface has been one of my favorites for years, and i have always wanted to try my hand at a character set that featured those fabulous peaks throughout the lowercase set.

so, i finally committed an evening to doing something about it, and katie is the result.

now, i know nothing of script typefaces. in fact, i have very little traditional type heritage knowledge. i just like creating the pixel letterforms. usually, not a problem.

now, it's a big problem, because i have NO idea where to start with the upper case.

i'm thinking the uppers will be very subdued compared to the lowers.

can anyone point me in a direction to follow?

also, i'm having trouble with the second half of the lc character set. they lean, where the rest are upright. i'm not sure there's much i can do about it though.

is the second version too "scripty" ?



tyleryoung
8.Feb.2005 3.04pm
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last graphic was wrong.

second version g's are now represented.


Miss Tiffany
8.Feb.2005 3.04pm
Miss Tiffany's picture

This is quite lovely. (I like your icon too!) Can it be spaced a pixel tighter? The -x- in "katie (second)" seems to be leaning in the opposite direction of the others. I love the -g- in "katie (first)". Nice overall.


tyleryoung
8.Feb.2005 3.20pm
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thanks for your help tiffany, i'll keep tweaking things and tighten the kerning.

btw: your icon is one of my favorites. the loop in the center just slays me.


tyleryoung
8.Feb.2005 5.23pm
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trying to marry the characters better. especially between the second half of the set and the first.

since i can't think of a way to stand the second half upright, i've tried to tilt the first half toward the second.

flows a bit better this way, and besides, the a, b, c, d, e, g, o, p, and q all are made of the same bowl now.


Stephen Coles
8.Feb.2005 5.35pm
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Nice work, Tyler. I appreciate that you note your inspiration.


tyleryoung
9.Feb.2005 1.23am
tyleryoung's picture

well, the upper case set is functioning at least. i really don't know how much more i can tweak it, but i'll keep trying.

i thought i might create a script uppercase, but that was a disaster. so i went with the more conservaative approach; essentially turning the font into an upright italics.

sort of.

the vertical nature of the set as a whole is rather hard for me to capture with the uppers while simultaneously giving them any sort of curvature. everything ends up looking angular.

any critical eyeballing is most welcome.


cerulean
9.Feb.2005 10.42am
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I think you may find it wise to eliminate the descender of the "l". It reads like a "long s" to me.


Gustavo Ferreira
9.Feb.2005 3.44pm
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katie is very elegant, tyler - i like it.

i agree with kevin that the long 'l' is distracting.

i think the uppercase fits well to the lowercase. maybe you could try to make the stem of the 'Y' vertical?

you can also try to extend it to bigger sizes (15, 17, 19...) - it will get even lighter and softer.

i can imagine this font in a composition with a big capital, ornamented borders (something like your icon)...

have fun,
- g.


tyleryoung
9.Feb.2005 5.27pm
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after seeing how the first uppercase set forced me into an italic font rather than a script font, i decided to see what a non-italic version would look like.

i'm still trying to capture an elegant script uppercase set, but it's slow going.

in the mean time, here's a few variations of katie so far.

kevin and gustavo, thanks for your help. i've noted your desire to see a baseline l. i haven't been able to make one i like yet, because it looks like it's leaning awkwardly without the long tail to balance it.

i'll put something up soon.

it's a pleasure to have your feedback stephen. thanks again for your time everyone.


tyleryoung
10.Feb.2005 5.54pm
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getting crazy with the cheese-wiz here.

many of these characters are either a) place fillers until i can figure out better solutions, b) satisfactory solutions for a script set, but not necessarily THIS script set, or c) i don't know. i haven't figured out c yet.

scripts are very complex!

isn't it better if all the characters' ascenders and descenders arc the same way?

i've done what i can to research existing sets on the web, but each one is so unique, it really doesn't do me much good as far as extrapolating a basic set of rules to follow.

all i know is that these scripts aren't working yet. i'll keep tinkering.


David Hubner
10.Feb.2005 10.16pm
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A swashy, scripty bitmap type..
Now, thats classy.. I love the lower one..

One thing though, the scripty lower case 'r' maybe looks to much like a 'n'..
( The sample for me currently reads 'The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Oven The Lazy Dog'.. )


tyleryoung
11.Feb.2005 2.10am
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more work to do, but it's starting to come together.

david, your formlos foundry is awesome. i really like it!


Miss Tiffany
11.Feb.2005 1.41pm
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Tyler this is getting better and better. I can see how the -l- could read as a -long-S- but I think context helps a lot. Hmm. Tough call. Either way I am really loving this. Lots of fun. Alternates can make or break a typeface, but you have offered so many it can ONLY be a good thing. (It always sucks when a typeface says it has alternate characters and the reality is that two of the characters have alternates.)


tyleryoung
18.Feb.2005 1.16pm
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thanks tiffany, for your continued attention.

i've got three other styles of scripts i'm working on, but this was the one i was the most excited about.

in the end, it has suffered from the same problems all my other attempts have: letters leaning the wrong way, or "interpretive" characters conflicting stylistically with "literal" characters.

i haven't been able to create a set that flows naturally. yet.

i'm open to any advice!