When did the "Serif vs. Sans" derby started?
Hello, everyone!While I was writing some stuff, I began wondering when and how this idea that sans-serif type is more legible on screen started.Do any of you have an idea about it? Cheers!
View ArticleNoob question about Chaining Contexts
What I want to achieve is to substitute a glyph for a pair of letters, but only if it occurs after a numeral.Can I make a Ligature substitution lookup dependent upon a chaining context ?what I have at...
View ArticlePaul Renner’s Die Kunst der Typographie
Has this book ever been translated to English, or any other language? It piqued my interest because Christopher Burke opines in his book on Renner that it's a more practical manual than his earlier...
View ArticlePunchcutter's Facer (Facing Tool)
I had wanted to post some pictures of the "facer" in its different forms, but it turned out that there were too many for a posting of reasonable length. So I've put them in a page which is a kind of...
View ArticleDwiggins / Tippecanoe
In my research for reviving Tippecanoe, WAD's take on a Didone, I have received a lot of information from many generous and knowing designers, researchers and Dwiggins aficionado's. Still I find I am...
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My first steel punch
This is the first punch I've cut. The model was a Tavernier's Ascendonica T that is missing in the matrices kept at the Plantin Moretus Museum (MA 77) but can be found in printing in a number of...
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Sans serif critique, please
Hello everyone,I’m a beginner in type design, and here’s my first study typeface. Could you please point out mistakes that I’ve made here?It’s done by interpolation between Thin and Heavy, so Black is...
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Questions about Arabic Type
Hello! I have a few questions about arabic type and typography.First, what is your opinion on the type used in this publication: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/16948/Is it eurabic or true arabic? Is it...
View ArticleThe vinyl records of font formats
Someone told me a long time ago that Windows PostScript is the vinyl records of font formats. It has PostScript curves which are higher fidelity than TrueType curves for certain shapes the format...
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My first serif
Hello all,this is a text font that started as a FL blend between Calisto and Ariel. It turned out surprisingly well and I decided to refine the blend. I would like to get some critique on the basic...
View ArticleMultiple master/Designspace design workflow
Hey Typedrawers,I recently discovered fontmake and .designspace files. I want to port Cantarell, a font family I maintain (really only a regular and a bold face), from FontForge sources to UFO plus...
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Working method: l'indication
One of the many important things that Stan Nelson taught us at his 2016 Wells College punchcutting class was a working method that he had learned in his studies with Nelly Gable at l'Imprimerie...
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Color will be the new Italic. Color will be the new Bold.
Some time ago we asked ourselves the question: ‘Why do type designers traditionally think in black and white?’Why indeed? The world is colorful, the web is colorful, Hollywood does not produce any...
View ArticleMastering with Cyrillic default
Hello everyone.In the past I've mastered fonts that contain Cyrillic character sets, but always had Latin as the default script.I have a client that is asking for the Cyrillic script as the default on...
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Marsa Serif — type design critique
Hello everyone!My name is Cécile (czl) Lebleu. I'm studying solo to be a type designer. I'm new here, although I've been a reader for quite a while. I would like to get your critique and opinions on...
View ArticleHow much % is fair to pay to reseller companies?
Dear TypeDrawers friends and mates,Since many years that I'm on this business, I never see this topic discussed in anywhere, considering that this times are each time more connected, sometimes I try to...
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Punchcutting tools: miscellaneous
Not all punchcutter's tools will need their own discussion thread, so it might be useful to have a thread devoted to miscellaneous tools. Please add more!I've added several more tools to the page at:...
View ArticlePrivate use of name table entry
I'm "signing" my fonts by placing encrypted information in name table ID 32137 (chosen for no particular reason).The spec says:Name IDs 256 to 32767, inclusive, are reserved for font-specific names...
View ArticleType design assistance service
Since about a year ago, I owed a favour to a calligrapher friend, and the opportunity to pay him back didn't occur, so I decided to offer him that I will create a font for him from one of his designs....
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Punchcutting Tools: Gauges (and the Calibre)
Despite the fact that both Moxon and Fournier begin (more or less) with the construction of a gauge, there are fewer gauges used in punchcutting than one might expect. Some of the gauges commonly...
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