Make Your Own TTF Font Files!

One of my biggest disappointments in with my specific art school was that in my Typography classes, I took a typeface from concept all the way through creation, but stopped right at the end. It was never converted into an actual typeface. This never sat well with me, as I was left with this itching question of WHY?

Why spend the time to create an entire type family if you never convert it to a usable font format?

Recently I have stumbled across a website that put some relief in my OCD and give an opportunity to create a font!  Best of all its FREE, and Pretty easy. 

If you are looking for a quick typeface creator, checkout http://www.myscriptfont.com.
They give you a template to place your text on, or even freehand if you like, 
Then you load it on their site. 

Check it out!

Neville Brody - star typographyer

How do the contribution of Neville Brody affect the study of typography?
 
Known for his anti-traditional views, Neville Brody was an English designer that encouraged the evolution of conventional typefaces to abandon the ridged structure of legibility. Brody quickly fell into the public eye in the 1980’s with his record cover designs. In the beginning he was his unique innovative use of architectural and visual elements set him apart from other designers.  His work for The Face magazine revealed his creative innovations in graphic design and “established his reputation as one of the worlds leading graphic designers” (FontShop, 2010).

It was his creative vision used in, The Face magazine, that shifted the way typography was viewed by society. Neville Brody paved the way and changed the look of traditional design with his radical concepts of how typography was incorporated into the design. Many magazines and advertisements quickly adopted and applied this innovative design concept. He continued search for new innovation in type, which led him to begin designing and developing his own typefaces.

Today Neville Brody has focused his attention on “electronic communication design” (FontShop, 2010). With his many advances and contributions to design and typography, Brody has earned that title, “star typographer”. He designed many well-known fonts like: “Arcadia, Industria, Insignia, FF Blur, FF Pop, FF Gothic, and FF Harlem” (Identifont, 2010).
Sample of Influence.
 
Work Cited:
Design Team Production | G321 XA.  Week Four Online Lecture: Typography A Quick History, 12 2010.
"Identifont." Identifont - Identify Fonts by Appearance, Find Fonts by Name. Web. 03 Dec. 2010.
"FontShop." FontShop. The World's Best Fonts. Web. 03 Dec. 2010.
"MyFonts." MyFonts. Web. 03 Dec. 2010.

Typography - Mixing typefaces

Designers should feel free to mix typefaces in design. In some situations using contrasting fonts will result in emphasis on certain words. Using complementary typefaces may help establish a clean visual hierarchy to organize the text and quickly lead the viewer through the layout. However, it is cautioned that using fonts that are too similar can cause a clash and be confusing to the viewer. An example of this would be using more than one script typefaces in a layout. At the same time there are a few things a designer may want to be mindful of when choosing typefaces to use in the same piece.

The first thing to consider in font selection for any piece is considering the intended audience. A brochure for in a pediatrician’s office could take on the look of a child like handwriting for the typeface, while it would be completely inappropriate in a cosmetic surgeons office. Keeping the intended audience in mind when choosing and mixing fonts is key to selecting a font that will enhance the design and communicate efficiently.

Another thing to keep in mind is the typography in most cases I the voice in the design. The look and feel of the typeface then becomes the tone or personality. In our culture today most people know that if you are using all caps in a text message or email, that the sender is shouting, yelling or angry. With this in mind it is important that the personality reflects the piece and enhances the communication.

In the lecture it mentioned how mixing typefaces would be a great way to show emphasis. Consider trying to whisper and shout in the same line. Using a thin font may whisper while a contrasting thick font may shout. One thing to keep in mind though when mixing fonts is leaving a dominant font to reduce confusion in the design.

Resources:
AIO Lecture Week 2

Typography Leading.

Leading:
What is leading? In typography it is best defined as the amount of added vertical spacing between lines of text.

A rule of thumb often used by designers who manually adjust leading is to set leading 1½ -to-2 points larger than the point size of the type.

 

http://www.planetoftunes.com/dtp/dtp_media/fonts_typography/leading.gif

TrueType Font Issues

TrueType Font Issues:

In spite of these impressive benefits, many designers may not use TrueType fonts. TrueType fonts have been known to have reputation of causing printing problems when TrueType fonts are interpreted through PostScript output devices. Another reason why TrueType is not the best choice is that experienced designers notice small quality issues in the structure of the TrueType characters. In addition the file size tends to “inflate” when TrueType fonts are included in a page layout file.

Type Classifications

For a large list of type classifications, go to the Adobe link on this page:
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/classifications.html

Typography Upper Case Components - FONTS

Typography Upper Case Sub-Groups

Typography Lower Case Components

Typography Lower Case Sub-groups

Typography Submiting A Font for Review

OBJECTIVE:
SUBMIT FONT FOR REVIEW:
Monotype Imaging, Inc.
500 Unicorn Park Drive
Woburn, MA 01801
 
Font Submission:

Name: Rapunzel
Design Foundry: Zero Designs
Designer: Fleming, Spyke
Classification: Decorative
Description:
Hair, Feathers, Whimsical, Organic, Growing.

Concept:
Rapunzel, Let Your Hair Down… is exactly what the typeface says. This whimsical ornate movement
created in the font shows the wild beauty of hair in the structure and consistency of a decorative font.
With a creative eye and extreme focus on detail this expressive typeface is have evolved to a very
expressive font.

Application:
This font is quite detailed and would be ideal for large format application or headline and title usage.

Click on images below to view larger
(Rapunzel font designed by Spyke Fleming)

Typography Growth Check

QUESTION:
How have your own concepts regarding contemporary typography grown or somehow changed as a result of your work in this course? Are there any concepts and practices encountered that you will apply to future design projects, either for school or in a professional setting? Explain your thoughts in detail.

This is actually the second class in which I was required to design my own typeface. Since I had done it before I was fairly confident I could do it again. One major thing that helped that I learned in this class that I had not used in the last class was the subcategories. I had a similar process in the last class that I developed on my own, but figuring out the subcategories early in the project helped greatly and creating characters consistently and quickly.

The other aspect that was a huge eye opener is how I was able to really create a huge mess by over designing each character. I learned the valuable lesson of SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY! I am also shocked to find some limits with Adobe Illustrator that I had never encountered before.
Another valuable aspect of this class that I was unaware of is the specimen sheet. I have one other font that is finished, and 2 other fonts started. I thought it would be great too finished these out and create 3 more specimen sheets for them. In terms of a portfolio I think that would look pretty solid to have 4 designed typefaces and specimen sheets to showcase the type.

Old font/Contemporary Design

OBJECTIVE:
Explore how an old, conservative, "non-contemporary" typeface might be presented in a contemporary fashion. Choose a short quote to style in a contemporary fashion, but using an older, more traditional typeface.

I used lyrics from one of my favorite bands “mewithoutyou”.
The words read: “She put on happiness like a loose dress over pain I'll never know”.
I used the font LaBrit Regular. It reminded me of the old English type of font. Since the phrase talked about female and a dress I used pink and created a simple dress to hang on the “PP” of happiness. The dress hangs over the “Pain” like the phrase describes.

Rapunzel Specimen Sheet

Q • In what ways is your final design similar or different to your original rough layout?
Despite popular demand of my classmates I went with my instructors suggestion of working from my third digital rough. I took another suggestion of trying colors purple and yellow from another classmate. Using digital rough 3 I used the basic grid for the design. A few changes I made were:
1. I had many complements on the large name upper and lower case that was placed on the cover of my last project submission. I though placing the name large at the top would be a great adjustment.
2. I used the entire alphabet upper and lower case to create the hair effect. I thought this was better than the enlarged characters in the rough. I liked how the shape had a similar look to the characters.
3. I removed some of the large letters to simplify the design. In stead uses repletion and a gradient to fade in to the focal point.
4. I added the number characters in a nice little space created at the top with a gradient.
5. I moved the symbols to the bottom.
This file crashed only 2 times when I was working on it. I found what worked best was to create symbols out of my different layer groups. This allowed me to keep the file much smaller.

Q • What influenced your choice to retain or change elements in your rough layout before rendering your final design?
I would say that my instructor’s suggestion to continue to refine this concept was the main draw. I initially liked this concept, but my classmates seemed to suggest other directions. With my instructors encouragement to continue to refine this concept as it had a great focal point and really captured the essence of the font. I knew is that I needed to simplify the look. I also had a fellow student suggest this color combination, which I think works well. I also wanted to have the name of the font very large and clean.

Q • What do you think are the strongest and weakest features of your specimen sheet design?
I really think the strongest part of the design is the focal point. The shape created by stacking all the characters in the alphabet, which created a sweeping hair shape. I also think the title that is very large and clear at the top of the page is another strong feature. I think the color scheme works, but if the file were more flexible I would have like to add a few more subtle color variations aid in leading the eye a bit better. I think the weakest part is the complexity of my font, which causes major issues with processing. I have found ways to make it slightly easier to work with, but it is defiantly not ideal.
I am not wild about the location of my symbols at the bottom. I think I should not have created so many. It made it difficult to fit them in the design.

Q • What was the most difficult aspect of designing a type specimen sheet?
Once again like a broken record, the complexity of the design and detail makes these characters very difficult to work with. I only had 3 crashes where I lost this project on those occasions and had to start over. This was better than the last project, but defiantly the most annoying and difficult part of this project.

Rapunzel Specimen Sheet
Designer: Spyke Fleming

click on image below to view larger.

Type Development Process 7 - Typeface Review- Rapunzel

Questions about your finished typeface: Rapunzel

Q 1. Did you achieve the level of quality you envisioned in the final polishing stage, or does your typeface require some additional refinement? Explain your answer.
I am actually slightly disappointed in the quality. My concept and vision is not reasonable with my current resources. I find even with a macbook pro with 4 gig of memory and no other programs running I continually crash Adobe Illustrator. I am actually shocked that my font has been such a challenge especially in a program I know quite well like illustrator. I find that even with my last revision to the typeface where I removed over half of the shapes, the characters still are not playing nice. I have actually done most of the assignments multiple times as when I try to save the final it crashes and corrupts the file.

I think the font could be refined more, In my opinion you can always put more work into any project, I do need to find a way to make the font play nice with the software.

Q 2. What did you learn through the experience of developing your typeface? Was there anything about the experience that was different than what you had anticipated?
This is actually the second typeface I have created. I am sad to say the first one went much better. I have learned that putting too much detail into characters can create huge problems with the font. It is better to use a simpler clean design. The interesting part is that is typically how I would design, and this experience was more out of my comfort zone.

Q 3. If given the opportunity to design another typeface, what about your process might be exactly the same or possibly different? Explain your answer.
If I had to design this typeface over, I would start probably digitally over my hand sketches. Trying to simulate the detail I created in my sketches was not hard, but it created other significant issues. Starting digitally would probably have kept me from doing such detail. I think one of the best things I learned was dividing the characters in to sub categories. This made creating the characters much easier and quicker.

Questions about your type specimen sheet roughs:
Q 1. Summarize the information you've gathered from the review of your project at this point.
An interesting point from one of my classmates was that my typeface is so detailed to begin with, a cleaner, simpler design for the specimen sheet may be in order. I think I may have been trying to go too creative and connecting too much in the specimen sheet instead of letting the font use its own voice.

Q 2. Discuss any major or minor changes you might make to your recommended design to improve its quality.
I think one of my 4 roughs is close. I just need to choose a direction and clean it up. This mostly would consist of adjusting the spacing, margins, colors and opacity of the design. I also may add some elements to help lead the viewer through the page.

Type Development Process 7 - Speciman Sheet Concpts- Rapunzel

OBJECTIVE: Specimen Sheet Development.


NAME:
Rapunzel
PREMISE:

The typeface I am developing is for the fairy tail “Rapunzel”. The basic concept is to create characters that reveal a wild whimsical batch of hair. I am using the climax of the story phase, “let your hair down”. While the original design was more involved I find myself simplifying it with ever assignment as the character as simply too detailed and make saving a very long and tedious process.
ROUGHS:

( * concepts were taken from thumb to digital rough)
* 1. Wrapping the top and Right:
Title and Phrase wrap the top and right edges of the page. The characters are stacked in the lower left corner and go up to the bottom of the headline. A large ‘R” character will interact as a subtle design element in the background.

* 2. Rapunzel on her balcony:
Using characters to assume basic shape. “A” will be used as a balcony as well as a torso and arms. “O” is for the head shape and an upside down “?” for a nose. The phrase is sweeping down through the space and breaking the upper case characters and lower case characters.

* 3. Head of hair:
Using the phrase repeated many times as well as the “I” and “O” characters I tried to simulate the back of a head and hair falling down. This is placed in the center of the layout. The phrase is then repeated in the background color to pop off the contrast of the repeating and overlapping text. “REPUNZEL” is then wrapping the head shape almost like a crown. Upper and lower case letters are side by side and symbols across the bottom.

4. Center Block:
A tight center block of characters. Upper, lower and numbers are contained in the block. Symbols will border the block. It is capped with the name and phase will fall down the right side. An over sized “R” will be used for background texture.

5. Simple Clean Approach:
Stacking groups of characters in the center with the title and phrase turned vertical on either end.

* 6. Word Search Puzzle:
Design is a word search puzzle. Top is upper case characters, which reveal the title in a diagonal in the puzzle, the name is circled or highlighted. A line of numbers, then lower case characters in the puzzle which reveal the phases. Symbols at the bottom.

Type Development Process 6 - Digital Edits- Rapunzel

Objective: Make Edits from Type Development Process 5:

I went through and cleaned up the entire alphabet (basically recreated the entire thing.) I was lucky and had some versions of all the strokes. This version is about half the size of the previous. Still it is way too large. I just spent the past 2 hours saving this out. Hopefully I upload in time.

The Title is Rapunzel, and the phrase I went with was, “Rapunzel, Let Your Hair Down!”

Click Image below to view in greater detail

New Font Strategies

OBJECTIVE:
Drawing on your own creative talents, suggest three new and unusual strategies that might be used as market fonts and explain the potential benefits of each strategy.


1. Streaming Fonts Site:
With the power of the web and high speed Internet connection one idea would be a subscription site. Designers could subscribe to a font site and have a direct stream that gives them access to all or certain categories subscribed to. This site would not actually download fonts to a subscriber’s computer, but rather use screen fonts for quick reference of proofs. Designers could quickly browse and experiment with a large selection of fonts in their layouts. Once a designer would decide on a font it would be downloaded to his computer in a specified folder. The advantage of this type of site would be the ability to browse thousands of fonts and actually have them applied visually to your design without actually having them on your computer. This site would really focus on specialty fonts that designers would probably only use once on a special project. – Marketing this product would be though graphic design magazines and possibly offering a trial period with graphic software.

2. Free Fonts CD banner ad/ Email blast.
Sending out a promo disc with a limited family would give designers a taste of what fonts are offered. The disk could be a offered through a “request your free font disk” banner ad through Google. A database of individuals requesting the disk could be collected for targeted email blast marketing. The disk would contain fonts that could be installed on a users computer for free, but would not have all the styles available in the family. Additional styles of the font would be available for purchase from a corresponding website. Special programming would post a link in the styles window to direct the user to the site and font for instant purchase. Discount codes could be sent to subscribers though email blast to encourage and remind users about fonts. – Additional Marketing could be in the form of bumper stickers, t-shirts, and referral perks that are sent out with a requested free fonts CD.

3. Annual Subscription RSS Feed.
Designers would subscribe to an RSS feed that would continually download the most recent fonts. When fonts are added to the system, a subscriber is prompted to download or decline. The subscription could add additional users, which would allow a designer to have fonts downloaded to multiple computers. This service could be advertised in graphic design magazines, billboards, and even commercials. This product could also be partnered with software companies and offered with software purchase.

4. Font sharing community-
A web community similar to istockphoto, but for fonts. This site would allow users to upload fonts for credits, or pay cash for credits to download fonts offered. This community would make fonts available for a very affordable price and if you are a font designer you could actually trade fonts for credits and get new fonts for free. – Marketing this product would be through web advertising, design magazines and networking

5. Web fonts source.
Although flash has improved the ability to use a larger variety of fonts, standard web coding has limited designers with their choice of fonts. Creating a web fonts source that web designers could browse and link to style sheets to add a large selection of fonts to a website would be a great way to expand creativity on the web. The site would basically be a host for fonts. Designers could program the link in the style sheet and have access to thousands of fonts that are browser friendly. Designers could even load or submit fonts to their account for use. – Marketing this product would be a large-scale advertising campaign. It would be very user friendly so the demand would be very high once people were aware. Airing commercials, billboards, and even direct mail would make the public aware of this great new product.

Type Development Process 5 - Digital Production Review - Rapunzel

Questions are answered referring to  Type Development Process 4:

Q • Do you think that all the characters of your typeface appear to belong to the group? If not, does the effect appear intentional? Tell us of any that you are not sure about.
I think the characters defiantly belong together. Each character has a similar look and feel many of the pieces of and families of subgroups use the same elements and show consistency, yet all have an organic feel.¬¬¬
Q • Does the relationship between the pairs of characters appear intentional and consistent? Tell us about any pair that you think is weak in this regard.
I feel pretty confident in most of my characters. The only ones that I feel may need some adjustment are “A” – simply because I don’t really like the space created for the eye. I think it is too small.
“M” – It looks a little thin in areas.
“V” – Also looks a little thin.
“W” – Angles need to be adjusted to make it not so wide.
Q • Comment on your headline tests. Is your text easy to read or difficult? How will this enhance or limit the effectiveness of your typeface?
It defiantly is not the easiest font to read. Comparing it to a clean sans serif font it does not stand a chance. This font is more of a decorative font. It will enhance when used in the correct context. For example, I will be using it for the book title relating to the hair. If the context was to relate to hair and the free organic movement of hair I believe it could be quite effective. It represents so well that it helps define with the imagery.
Q • What did you come to realize from this review stage that might affect your typeface design in a major or minor way?
The major issue I ran into is the size of the file. I have so many shapes for each character that my 3 headlines were 150 mb in an eps file. I could not get the file to actually save as a .pdf until I ran the .eps through acrobat distiller. I am hoping in the next edits to be able to use pathfinder and possibly the symbols pallet to reduce the size of my files. I guess the lesson learned is that I should be working at a more reasonable zoom. Instead of getting so close to each letter and making it looks perfect at a high zoom. For example My letters show the great detail at 800%, but at 100% you loose the detail

Type Development Process 4 - Digital Production - Rapunzel

Taking the font from the rough sketches to a digital format.

Process is using subgroups and develops a consistent look for the typeface. Using Illustrator Software.