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Description:
This is the starting point for a project I'm running here on Fontstruct about collective development within type design. It is a part of my thesis project at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm, Sweden. I am interested in trying to push Fontstruct's limitations and try to make the "best" font possible due to readability. I am producing a catalogue about Open Source thinking whitin design. I want this catalogue to use this typeface for all the text. Since Fontstruct has the possibility to "Clone" typefaces it would be a good place to collectively try to develope a typeface. And since Fontstruct has an Open Source approach it would be a good platform to try out an experiment like this! You are welcome to join the project by cloning these sketches or make a new font. The goal is to make a typeface that will work good in longer texts. Name your submission "Open Text" and add your name or anything after to keep track of the different fonts in the project. Use the clone feature to develope other submissions to make this a collective thing! Publish your work even though it isn't a complete font set. Other people might get ideas from your work that will gain the quality of the project! I have posted invitations to join this project at different forums/blogs. Read the invitation here: www.selectedworks.se/opentext If you have any questions, please contact me at: aronkullander@gmail.com Hope you will join the project! Regards, Aron Kullander
Stats:
33 characters, 5 downloads
Created:
Wed, 15th April, 9:57 PM 2009
Last Edit:
Tue, 21st April, 7:10 PM 2009
Permalink:
http://fontstruct.com/fontstructions/show/171664
Tags:
Text, Legible, Clone, Collaborate, Collective, Open Source
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Discussion

Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Thu, 16th April, 2009

aphoria
aphoria Thu, 16th April, 2009

Hi Aron,

I have a few existing fontstucts that you might want to look at.

Proportional
Reed Sans
Reed Slab
Textual

Monospaced
Spaced Out Regular
Spaced Out Italic
Spaced Out Bold
Digi

aphoria
aphoria Thu, 16th April, 2009

To get a good idea of how they look at text sizes, click PXL in the viewer and select SAMPLE TEXT from the VIEW menu.

To get a good idea of how they look at text sizes, click PXL in the viewer and select SAMPLE TEXT from the VIEW menu.
Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Thu, 16th April, 2009

Hi Aphoria,

thanks for the examples! It looks like the Reed Sans could work for texts. Still it has a "gridnik" kind of look to it. I think one could do even smoother curves (as I did some tests on in these sketches). Then comes the question about serifs, are they really necessary in this case? And there's so many ways to form the letters even when the curves are smooth... Feel free to dig in and work towards the most legible font on fontstruct! :)

aphoria
aphoria Fri, 17th April, 2009

You can definitely do "smoother" curves (see Union), but the problem I've found is that if I use a large number of bricks, the fonts don't work well at smaller sizes.

Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Fri, 17th April, 2009

Ok! Thanks, this is the type of discussions I want.

When you say that it don't work well in smaller sizes, do you mean on the screen or when printed? I have worked further on some of the sketches in this font and made some test prints. It works great actually. I will post my results soon!

Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Fri, 17th April, 2009

Here's a picture of my testprint

Here's a picture of my testprint
aphoria
aphoria Fri, 17th April, 2009

Good point. I meant on the screen. I hadn't tried printing, so I did and it turned out surprisingly well. It must be the higher resolution of the printer.

Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Sat, 18th April, 2009

For those who don't know I found a great technique called "Brick-stacking" that allow you to layer different bricks to create new ones. Very usefull. The technique is described in the image attached that was made by user "djnippa". The technique was first discovered by William Leverette, aka "Williaum"

For those who don't know I found a great technique called "Brick-stacking" that allow you to layer different bricks to create new ones. Very usefull. The technique is described in the image attached that was made by user "djnippa". The technique was first discovered by William Leverette, aka "Williaum"
Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Tue, 21st April, 2009

I've uploaded my first attempt where I used sketches from this funtstruction to create a font. Check it out:

http://fontstruct.com/fontstructions/show/open_text_
rounded

geneus1
geneus1 Tue, 21st April, 2009

FYI, Brick stacking was discovered by William Leverette, aka Williaum, and made public around last August. It was discovered inadvertently, or should I say, miraculously. Although it works well, as an unintentional feature it cannot be technically supported by the FontStruct staff ... yet.

Aron Kullander
Aron Kullander Tue, 21st April, 2009

Thanks for the information!
It's a great technique. Will correct my wrong statement above