A Type Designer's Journal

Musings and resources related to type design

Notes on Type Design by Gunnlaugur SE Briem

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I was just going through some old notes to find some information on type design to send to my new apprentice, when I ran across these helpful suggestions by Gunnlaugur SE Briem that I stumbled upon on the web many years ago. The site has moved, but thankfully the notes are still there. The site appears to be in frames, so I cannot give you the precise URL for the pages. Just go to the home page, then click on the "Notes on type design" link.

Topics include: optical illusions, font metrics, diagonals, spacing, kerning, proportions, how to correctly design thorn and eth, and much more. One suggestion the author makes that I highly recommend following is keeping a log. I cannot tell you how many times I've gone back through my Font Development Log (a computer file which I keep open at all times while working on type) to find the steps I used to create a range of glyphs so that I can maintain the same proportions for another weight in the family, as an example. Of course, it's critical to keep that sort of detailed information in your log so that you can retrieve it when needed. I also add notes such as "How to ...", "To do ...", and so on. Great to have all this information in one spot, instead of going through piles of papers or binders, etc. and inevitably losing the information eventually. (Which reminds me: be sure to make a backup of your log!)

Whether you are a beginning type designer or a more experienced one, you might find some very useful information in this article by Mr. Briem: http://briem.net/

Type Design Basics

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via typeworkshop.com

Here are some excellent tips for beginning type designers, or lettering artists, for that matter. This concise guide to basic type design includes helpful sketches to illustrate these important issues: basic type terminology, how to compensate for optical illusions, calligraphic origins and how they influence type design, spacing ("much more important than the shapes of the characters"), italic vs. cursive styles, readability, proportions (cap height, x-height, etc.), small caps, swash caps, digitizing sketches, kerning, ligatures. From Typeworkshop.com.  Link sent to me by Ukrainian type designer, Sergiy Tkachenko. If you find this information helpful, please let me know. I plan to add many more such links as I find them. Your suggestions are always welcome.

Polish Diacritics by Adam Twardoch

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via twardoch.com

What's the difference between a kreska and a kropka, or between a kreska and an acute? Where exactly should the ogonek be placed and how low should it go? (And what the heck is an ogonek, for that matter?!) How far up should the stroke be placed on L-slash and at what angle? If you are not too sure (or don't have a clue), then you might want to read this article by the authority on Polish type design, Adam Twardoch.

Adam gave me some useful feedback awhile ago on my poorly designed Polish diacritics for a particular typeface. I implemented his suggestions for that font, but I think I've become careless again. I need to review this article and start being more careful about how I design these characters. But then, there is the question of priorities; I am a one-man type foundry, so I don't have unlimited time to devote to a design that might not even sell. So, I have to ask myself, how many potential customers will be using my fonts for Polish? On the other hand, if I'm going to add a character to a font, I should design it as well as I can; otherwise, it might be better to leave it out altogether. At least that's my thinking at the moment. What do you think?

Thanks to my friend and fellow type designer, Sergiy Tkachenko, for pointing me to this article, which he found on the LiveJournal blog (in Russian).