112145527
Published: 3rd September, 2011
Last edited: 14th September, 2011
Created: 10th February, 2010
This fontstruction was started a long time ago. Yesterday, being bored (or something), I randomly clicked on page 7 of My FontStructions and found this. Being bored (or something), I clicked Edit.
Back in February 2010, I was able to take this fs only so far and came to a halt owing to geometry and FontStructor limitations. Those limitations, for the most part, seemed to have disappeared in the intervening time. I must've felt encouraged as I've been working on this fs all day today. As it turns out, when you work on something long enough, something will emerge. Et voilà. (I jest. ;)
Oh the soap box syndrome!
Visual aesthetics require two elements, namely, art and design. Let's examine each, shall we, the better to understand whence this came from and to what purpose.
Art has as many meanings as there are people giving them. For me, art is that visual that appeals to one, the stress being on 'one', and serves no practical purpose. Design, on the other hand, by definition*, must serve some purpose, must be reasonably attractive to those for who it is intended, and must stay within the limitation (whether explicit or implicit) of all that is (or will be) involved.
This and every other fontstruction, being visual in nature, has an element of art in it. Keeping the above art definition in mind, and as far as this fs is concerned, the art was my personal aspiration to try to do a diagonal stem of the A and the M and have the rest of the letters in such formation so that they fit like a glove with the A and M (without any effort on the user's part — but that jumps ahead to design). The February 2010 version of the FontStructor allowed me to achieve that very well. The art part was a start (yes, sorry, I couldn't resist the rhyme).
In my experience, any visual thing, no matter how simple or complex; no matter how involved or not; how unique or generic; how &c. and &c. may be termed art as if any one person appreciates it, it is art, albeit to that person only. So, I am satisfied how this fs looks, so the art is done. Also as per my personal experience, design is a much harder, difficult, involved element of getting something done right that also requires appropriate technical know-how to see it to fruition. The February 2010 version of the FontStructor did not allow the 'fit like a glove without user intervention' part. This morning when I started working on this fs, the September 2011 version of the FontStructor allowed me to do almost all that I wanted it to. (I say 'almost' because there were one or two custom bricks I required that I was unable to achieve, quite possibly due to my own inability).
The design confine [—if art gets a rhyme, so shall design—], with every letter overlapping just so, required quite a lot of geometric manipulation (not particularly apparent) to make sure any two letters fitted in properly. It got tedious quick fast in-a-hurry typing out manual kerning pairs (AM, ST, &c.). I had to type out all kerning pairs (AB, AC…RI, RJ, RK…SM, SN, SO…VS, VT, VY…ZZ…&c.) in Word (utilizing handy Replace functionality to speed kerning pair creation) and test every possible pair (even ones that are likely never to be used in reality—QK, for instance).
This being a design exercise, there had to be a purpose. My thinking was, staying within the limitations created by the art part, the font should work as an instant logo delivery system. Type a word in fs Instant—and, hey presto!, Logo (a gogo). It’s up to you to decide if I succeeded.
541517329
Published: 27th April, 2011
Last edited: 17th June, 2012
Created: 27th April, 2011
This project was inspired by early 20th century constructivism, and especially the works of El Lissitzky. This is a clone
41339018
Published: 18th April, 2011
Last edited: 13th August, 2014
Created: 14th April, 2011
So here is the reworked TESTAMENT version of my entry which won a price. As it is part of FS HIstory, i updated the initial file and did not make a new one as for the rest of the series. This always amazed me this one won as for me it was surely not the strongest of my 3 entries, maybe it was because this one had more to do with a designer work with its pictogrammatic esthetic...This is a clone
109464461
Published: 2nd April, 2011
Last edited: 3rd December, 2016
Created: 2nd April, 2011
Initials decorated by the same fractal pattern. A supplement to Sierpinski Black. A few alternative characters are placed to the lower case.This is a clone of Sierpinski White Initials
102177139
Published: 29th March, 2011
Last edited: 29th March, 2011
Created: 28th March, 2011
Nearly complete Katakana character set. Midori means green in Japanese.
We (the place where I work) are attempting to brand ourselves because our field is getting a bit too crowded and we don't want to get lost in the clutter. In the process, we are exploring a lot of different styles. Not that we are unsure how we want to proceed or what our positioning will be, we want to ensure nothing obvious is overlooked. In the process, a lot of ideas are generated, some discarded outright while others —as long are they support the planned positioning— are pursued long enough to recognize if they are worth exploring further...or not.
Some letters from this font were developed as part of one of the proposed wordmark. Overall, it works without breaking any of our internally established rules. The problem is one of extensibility and adaptability for unforeseen future needs which this font is prone to cause owing to its personality. The logo work was done in Illustrator, of course. However, to see if the typeface has potential beyond the few glyphs of the wordmark (and not in small part due to its modular nature), I worked out the remainder of the letters here in the fontstructor. :-)
I'd appreciate it if I could have your constructive criticism on each or any of the glyphs and how they could be improved. Specifically, I am trying to avoid awkwardness in the coming together of any two letters. As you can see, it's very much a work-in-progress.
2469740
Published: 24th January, 2011
Last edited: 24th January, 2011
Created: 9th January, 2011
the file that contained the original glyph - B - was started back in late Oct 2009, so this one has taken me some time to finish :)
1545418
Published: 16th October, 2010
Last edited: 11th October, 2010
Created: 11th October, 2010
an updated version of Werner Paperclip made possible by the new arc bricks and a little bit of compositing.This is a clone
2185514
Published: 15th October, 2010
Last edited: 11th October, 2010
Created: 9th October, 2010
Erector Set was the first released from the Pop Arc series. This one is the name sake. There are a few more to follow :)This is a clone
16121056
Published: 14th October, 2010
Last edited: 12th October, 2010
Created: 14th August, 2010
Another one that didn't make the grade for the Handmade Comp.
Inspired by old fashioned enamel and cast iron signage, where the screw holes are embedded with the font.
I decided to move the screw holes to the edge to create a more unique look.This is a clone
56124117
Published: 7th October, 2010
Last edited: 7th October, 2010
Created: 17th September, 2010
Keeping to the sewing theme. I designed this to look like letters that have been either weaved, stitched, or screen printed onto the fabric to create a patchwork quilt effect.
This seems to work best using a sack cloth effect.
Although it works equally as well as a wire fence/ chequered steel/ tread plate / diamond plate flooring effect.
In an ideal world there would be more empty weaves at the top and bottom of each character. I would also prefer a different style Q.
Due to comp rules I have had to omit the lower case, and others, as this just squeezes into the 32 pixel height limit.
All comments and criticism appreciated.
2283617
Published: 5th October, 2010
Last edited: 21st March, 2012
Created: 3rd October, 2010
a type of woodcut script i suppose :) the ` glyph is a starting period.
511311733
Published: 3rd October, 2010
Last edited: 3rd October, 2010
Created: 2nd August, 2010
Fresh baked. [Not inspired by Nike®]
Each character is max. 32 grid blocks tall. However, the total height of the fontstruction exceeds that. Couldn't be helped; the curves just make it so. Maybe that disqualifies it from the competition, which is OK, but the design had to take precedence over the rules.
This fs has been in the works for a while and was not specifically begun for the handmadecomp. It started off quite crude...and evolved into the baroque-ness over time. With all the shape possibilities, it may never be 'done' done.
159558
Published: 19th September, 2010
Last edited: 19th September, 2010
Created: 18th September, 2010
it means scissor cut french fries in German. lc looks like crinkle-cut french fries :)