> I don't even read any more

Then you're in! :-)

But don't start from individual glyphs and try to form a font, go the other way: develop a feeling (or if you have to, Rules) for the whole* and then try to figure out what the individual glyphs need to be - because a font (especially a text font) is only its parts out of necessity, not as a goal. On the other hand, it's also very common (I do it a lot) to start with some actual glyphs out of the blue (since their tangibility makes them so attractive), and get the feeling/rules from there, but only if you leave open the possibility (even probability) of changing or even dumping those initial seeds.

* And absobing history and existing designs like you're doing is a great catalyst.

Handwriting (or "chirography", in the realm of type) is a good start only if you want a quick and easy way of producing something mainstream. The best source is what's inside you as a person, not any physical tool.

One "precedent" you should definitely mind though is what readers expect. Don't let it be a straightjacket, but do factor it in, like when you decide what stems need to be thick and which ones thin - precedent will often dispell much of the arbitrariness in design.

And don't push inspiration. When it comes naturally it will all just fall into place.

> homework

You're in luck!
http://typophile.com/articles/
(Bottom-Right)

hhp

Brant, I've made one real attempt at designing a text face and I know exactly how you feel. I made it through the LC and UC alphabet and had some experiences that may help you go further.

1) Get a chisel-tip pen and some ink and a 'basic calligraphy' book. Start to write the alphabet, but also play around with the line quality and curves. If you're holding the pen at the proper angle, using the recommended strokes, and controlling proportions, a lot of the characters will start to seem intuitive (this requires a lot of repition, but as a scrutinizer of type, you have a leg up on the rest of the world). Now, I realize that this is a stylistically limited exercise, but it really helped me to see the glyphs for what they are. Using a tool that can modulate stroke-width on the fly is very illuminating.

2) Trace the skeletons of some fonts. Don't focus on stroke-width or fillets of serifs, just draw the monoline structure of the characters. You'll start to see the commonalities and differences in periods and styles. I'm sure there's a book that can give you the 'accepted method' for determining this underlying structure. I would print out big ol' 12 pica alphabets (UC & LC) and lay tracing paper over them to do this.

I'm not sure if either of these are Official Type Designing Methods, but they helped illuminate many of the subtlties of type and letters for me. I recommend avoiding beziers and the computer for learing to draw these forms. For me, I do my best bezier manipulating when it's over a strong drawing I've scanned in.

Brant,

One big thing that helped me understand letterforms was simply copying from specimen books. I'd take a pencil and paper and draw a complete alphabet -- Caslon, for instance. This made me pay attention to details that I normally wouldn't see. If my "a" didn't look like the specimen "a", I would study it further to understand why. This also helps you understand relationships among letterforms when you draw them together, all the same size, on one page.

Get as many specimens as you can, and not just old ones. Some foundries will mail a free specimen of their types and others have PDF specimens you can download.

The Hoefler Foundry

The Enchede Font Foundry

Storm Type Foundry (PDFs on the left)

Terminal Design (Each font has a PDF specimen)

Fountain Type (Some have PDF specimens)

PsyOps (The bottom of each showing has a PDF specimen)

Anyway, I'm sure you're aware of all the online type foundries.

Hrant and Chris offer good advice as well -- I decided to draw letters because my writing sucks. Drawing letters digitally is a whole new ballgame, and I'm still struggling with that.

The Typophile courses Hrant pointed out are great, too. They're done by the great Mr. Hoefler.

Good luck,
Addison