inspired by neue machina and lack
added fun alternates in the private use area
This is a clone of Thinlyn (#nfnw)Small-grid doodle which creates new combinatorial forms.
I considered this design rather rough and unappealing until I gave it negative spacing. This caused the forms to merge together in unpredictable and interesting ways. The lesson here is that sometimes the metrics, not the aesthetics, are what "make" or "save" a design.
Version 0.5
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A font made for a LuneKnight, a Terraria mod by yours truly. It gets its name because parts of it remind me of halberd, partisan, and/or axe heads. I designed this to have the vaguely authoritation look of a Didone as well as a borderline-gaudy look that prevents this from being taken too seriously. These changes lent some much-needed character to the prototypical Didone from which this design evolved. The uppercase letters are more heavily ornamented, as if to suggest that they are letters from an illuminated manuscript.
The main texture is a diamond pattern inspired by vent holes in medieval armor. These were often made with a square punch, and help the font look more handmade. Actually, most of the quirks this font possesses are present to help present a handmade look.
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Notes
The wider letters are incised, which seems to lessen their perceived wideness by breaking up the shapes. For me this effect lent a more natural flow to the reading.
The ornamentation rules are complicated and factor in lettershapes, English letter frequency, and the existing design parameters. One thing I can concisely explain is that glyphs which normally look fairly plain are ornamented to such an extent that they make others look plain instead (CGJLT1 among others).
I decided to make a design which incorporated the thinnest/lightest weight lines possible in FontStruct. This is the result; I'll add more if people like it.
These 1/32 lines cannot be accurately nudged, so a unique line has to be built for each vertical position where I want a line. These lines also cannot be centered on a place where two curves meet (such as the middle of B or R). This introduces some unintentional asymmetry to the design, but I like it, so I'll keep it.
There is also the problem that forming a diagonal line of the same line weight is nearly impossible. While angled 1/32 lines can be formed, their angles are all close to 0. No method exists for making a line which slants at 45 degrees while also being 1/32 weight. So, I had to make some thicker lines in certain areas. I don't think they detract from the design, but if you scrutinize this enough, you'll notice them.