FontStruct | FontStruction Feed: Aragorn

Comment from Frodo7

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

It's a work in progress. After 2 and a half months of incubation I decided to release this work to public scrutiny. This is an experimental project to combine blackletter and modern serif elements, and see if the result is aesthetically pleasing. Any comment, critique is welcome.

Comment from fontcollector

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Frodo7, your work is always impeccable. Even though this font is unfinished, it still gets my 10.

Comment from SimonRobertson

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

looks great! ust one question, i thought slab serifs were close to the same weight as the stems, as the stems here have so much contrast, and the serifs take cues from the thin strokes, it seems more like a blackletter/modern (think didone) combo. just a thought, and of course i could be way off :-)

Comment from thalamic

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I may not say so for each of your creations, but there's some form of excellence in everything you share. Thank you for making us try harder. And, Aragorn, eh? If I remember my LotR, this looks more like Boromir to me. Then again, I only read the book once so I am probably missing some technical nuance. Enlighten us, please.

Comment from Frodo7

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you for your comments. No harsh critique so far, but I really need some feedback before I make decisions on some glyph variations. @SimonRobertson: Well, I'm not an expert type theorist. I only rely on some books written by experts. They describe at least seven different classes of serifs. And you are quite right about the slab serif, I was wrong. It is indeed a blackletter/modern serif, a.k.a. "abrubt contrast straight serif" combo. Thank you for the correction. @thalamic: Aragorn or Boromir? When you read the book, you imagine the scenes, the plot, the characters. To me Aragorn is tall, elegant and kingly, who was raised in Rivendell. He is learned in ancient law, valiant, merciful, wise and noble. Boromir, a captain of Gondor, is more of a soldier, strong and brave. In type terms Boromir would be a robust slab serif or a stencil font of military style, rather than a slender typeface like this one. Before selecting a particular name for this fontstruction it had a working title. I've spent some time considering various options before I chose the present name. I think the blackletter elements reflect his connection to the glorious past (he is the last member of an ancient royal dynasty), and the modern serif parts may refer to the future, he brings to mankind, the Age of Men. My only concern is that my design might not be good enough, worthy to his name.

Comment from p2pnut

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This has the makings of a real FS classic. Elegant and useable ... one could almost imagine it being used for ........

Comment from Frodo7

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@p2pnut: You are the most kind. After a hard day's work I came home and found your pic. It made me smile. It made my day. Thank you.

Comment from gferreira_admin

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Looking forward to the full set. :-) Do you know the work of Vojtěch Preissig?

Comment from Frodo7

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@gferreira: Yes, I know his works very well. The Czech Modernist set is featured in the first Indie Fonts book, p.215. I was fascinated by those letterforms, and experimented with some FS adaptation only to conclude the current set of bricks does not support those various angles. Yes, the m,n looks similar, but the present work is more of a continuation of my Nimrodel-Legolas line. At least the first primitive glyphs came from there.

Comment from gferreira_admin

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations! FontStruct Staff have deemed your FontStruction worthy of special mention. “Aragorn ” is now a Top Pick.

Comment from Frodo7

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Comment from intaglio

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This is coming along nicely. Faves: l/c a, cap Y, both g variants, ALL the ligs (they're so beautiful).

Comment from p2pnut

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

this is not a type ... it's enough to make ma grit ma teeth :)

Comment from aphoria

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This is really good frodo7. Keep up the great work.

Comment from Frodo7

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@p2pnut: I think you are the only one who understood my reference to René Magritte's famous work, La Trahison des images (Ceci n'est pas une pipe), 1929. (The betrayal/treachery of pictures, This is not a pipe). I just could not resist the opportunity of the obvious parallel: you are not seeing my type, but a picture/screenshot of it. Magritte teaches us that sometimes our perception fail, and there is a fundamental difference between the real thing and its pictorial representation. Sorry to bother you with lame philosophy.

Comment from intaglio

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

awww... you had to go and spoil it. Neat anagram, 'nut.

Comment from Hamzah

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Nice work

Comment from zen_killa

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

really cool work here !!! work really well on your sample "type"! Can't wait the full set zen