Formal Roman

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Balanced Rating: 8.72
Average Rating: 8.81
Click for more information about this rating. 8.72 36 votes

by caliopigio

296 2415749

An elegant and editorial serif font
Info:

Created on 9th May 2010. Last edited on 21st May 2010.
License:

Creative Commons
Categories:
- Serif
- Pixel Optimized
Sets:
Tag:

24 Comments

This is my first attempt of a serif font. It's base on the Minion Pro font.
I had in mind the kind of font found on old books. This isn't quite right, it's too stylish and light. But I can take a few lessons learned here.
I hope I'll have this finish by the weekend (if my boss and my conscious let me).
Enjoy, and please comment.

Comment by caliopigio 12th may 2010

Wow. Valiant effort! I admire you for going where I would never dare, no matter how tempting it is. This definitely took some stamina and careful studying. It really looks beautiful and convincing at smaller sizes. The only characters that really feel disproportionate are all of the angled ones… A V W… but you already know this, and I understand exactly why they are. Really nice work. Way to make FS your beyatch!

Comment by fugitiveglue 12th may 2010

Thanks.
One of the lessons I learned is that I have to construct the font around the "v, w, x, y, z". But I learned too late, I would have to retool all the other letters to do so.
Maybe next time.

Comment by caliopigio 12th may 2010

The enhanced composition make miracles for all those ugly wide letters.

Comment by caliopigio 15th may 2010

A nice effort, but it is exactly like Minion Pro, as you mentioned. As an idea - instead of copying something directly, which is a good excercise, why not do another version with more of your own style, flair and creativity on it.

Comment by djnippa 16th may 2010

Thanks Nippa for the comments. 'formal' was a way to find out if I could make a serif roman font in FS. I choose an already design font to avoid that work and focus on the building, and also learn and explore the possibilities of the new features of FS 2.0.
I hope I can impress you more with my next project.

Comment by caliopigio 16th may 2010

It's a noble quest, and a great achievement. Congratulations, but that's probably the closest you can get with FS to Bezier curves. At small sizes it looks almost like the original, but at close up some glyphs are too rugged; not your fault. BTW, Minion Pro is one of the most overused fonts around. I fully agree with djnippa. Having successfully mastered the Fontstructor, now it's time for your own designs. 10/10 for technical merit.

Comment by Frodo7 16th may 2010

Very impressive. Another almost shocking display of what's possible with FontStruct 2.0. I like the inevitable ruggedness of the curves.

Comment by Rob Meek (meek) 16th may 2010

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

Comment by afrojet 18th may 2010

thank you all for the good feedback. Now I just want to finish this up (I hope to have the time to do it this week).

Comment by caliopigio 18th may 2010

This is exceedingly impressive. I am tempted to clone it to see what you did, but cloning sometimes makes the bricks disappear in the original, so I'll refrain from doing so. But very well done. The amount of beautiful detailing is just unbelivable. The tail bulge of the 'y', the slight bent in the angle in the '7', the sweep in the K joint, flare in the 'v', etc., etc. I could go on and on. Good job.

Comment by thalamic 19th may 2010

... and I bet it increased your love for Minion. There's nothing like copying a masterpiece for increasing your appreciation for it.

And I daresay, you've learned all the areas of quicksand that Fontstruct leads us into if we don't look we're we're walking first! I say this mostly to myself -- I'm always being swallowed up in some new treacherous ground I thought was safe.

Comment by intaglio 19th may 2010

@intaglio : I am not convinced that the dictatorship of a font makes it a masterpiece : In every book, newspaper, magazine, even placards I look at, it is always the same Minion, Times new roman, Helvetica, Arial, Garamond, Futura, and other Univers. Desperately boring, weak, if not ugly (Minion and Times new roman are beautifully drawn I must admit, but Arial is for me one of ugliest fonts ever drawn and I really do not understand how the hell million of lobotomised people can use it.)
My interest in typography originated when discovering other more exciting ways were possible, some of these also became classics and are very much used in the world. For me the only real "classic" font to deserve the masterpiece appellation is the marvellous OCR-A which in fact with its scientific technical approach broke all the barriers of its predecessors and created what I could name "a new form of beauty". OCR-A is really the only font I can see everywhere and not being bored or annoyed. But it's surely the exception. Generally all of the other mass-used fonts have so many compromises to deal with they can only be so much restrained esthetically that any strength disappears, I am still intrigued that a so much extreme font like OCR-A could become one of these mass-used fonts, maybe because the compromises were linked to technical computer machines limitations and not to human brain !

Comment by Abneurone Fluid Types 19th may 2010

Congratulations to your second TP. Well done. Just to see how amazingly works on any text I've made a sample, by your leave (My Favorite Things, lyrics, as performed by the little angel, Connie Talbot).

Comment by Frodo7 19th may 2010

thank you all. You overwhelm me.

Comment by caliopigio 20th may 2010

The Latin Basic set is done.

Comment by caliopigio 20th may 2010

Nice work - and a well earned TP :)

Comment by p2pnut 20th may 2010

Look out, ground! Here comes my jaw!

Comment by Logan Thomason (xenophilius) 15th march 2011

@neurone_error:

I agree about Arial. And I think Helvetica is far better.

Comment by Agent Demonic Ladybug 7th june 2011

Beautiful font.

Comment by opipik 8th january 2013

@AFT: Arial SUCKS! It looks horrible, like some retarded, blind version of Helvetica. Whenever I see Arial on a poster I feel like ripping up the poster and drawing up a new one using better fonts. And yes, Minion and Times are rather well designed but much too overused! Seriously guys, use some better fonts!

Comment by Noah F. Ross (winty5) 7th april 2013

Lol, that was a total rant.

Comment by Noah F. Ross (winty5) 7th april 2013