Typophile

Need Guidance on Designing Type

designjacob

Hello,

I am new here and typedesign in general.

I have been sketching characters in trying to create my own typeface and been researching on various websites and books.

I was just wondering what all of you do in starting to design a typeface as books and resources i have found all have different ideas which has just left me a bit stuck on how i should progress and what typeface i should design.

So far i have just been sketching i started of with the lowercase n and liked the look so have started to progress to other characters in no particular order or fashion.

Is there certain characters that use the same elements e.g n and h (should i start with these?)

Also i just started sketching without thinking if the typeface would lend itself to display, text etc is this a bad idea and should you think of its purpose first before starting to design a font?

Thanks

Hrant H Papazian

Related: http://typophile.com/node/97606

hhp

phrostbyte64

The question depends entirely on what final outcome you expect.

designjacob

Thanks for the info.

I have decided to start with a display font to be used in print.

• When designing a display typeface what is usually the best size to design to would it be around 24pt?
• Is there a specific width that makes the font roman or bold or is it just dependant on the visual difference between each.

Thanks,
~J

phrostbyte64

You should always work and test in the point size you expect the font to be used in. This is tricky for signs ;)

For display, you might consider 48 to 60 points.

Marc Oxborrow

It's ancient in Internet years, but I found the advice at Gunnlaugur Briem's site very useful as I designed my first (and only, to date) typeface.

http://briem.net

Briem is a veteran designer, and the site is essentially the syllabus and notes from a type design course he taught.

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