Very tasty, Kris.

My only comments at this time are as follows:

* The 6 and the 9 seem a bit off balance. Perhaps trimming the tails a bit would help. I just get the feeling that they're leaning over.

* The ear of the 'g' is softer than it needs to be with respect to the other serifs.

* It's probably just me, but the curved transition on the top of the 't' feels out of place.

Very lovely Kris, as always. Were you
influenced by Unger's Oranda at all?

You did that in two days?! Wow. Very polished already.

It sort of looks familiar (although I'm not saying you swiped anything) - I guess it reminds me of Caecilia, although it's less humanist (which I think is working great).

The "g" is really nice! I do see a bit too much humanism in it though (compared to the rest), so maybe make the joins (especially between the head and bottom) more rigid.

For the "t", try making the curve two straight segments instead. And maybe cut the finial like the "e".

The "s" seems to be leaning a hair forward.

> I have found a (subtle) slab very fulfilling to make, don't quite know why.

Probably because you feel surrounded by hipocrisy, and straight lines & abrupt shifts are more "honest" - if also less interesting. Wedge serifs can be a great compromise.

hhp

Kris,

This is really nice. I think it warrants pursuing. I like the slope on the slabs, and the stature of the letters f-r-a-i-n especially. They seem somehow both secure and proud.

If it's not too early to indicate specifics: I agree with Grant 'n' Hrant that the curved transition in the 't' doesn't fit and you might want to look at making straight segments here instead. To my eyes the 'e' leans a little right too much.

Please show more as time permits.

Jon

Thanks for the Feedback. Amazing, I have been looking
closely at Oranda and PMN Caecilia, as well as Officina
and Silica. (Is it that obvious?) I am trying for something
structurally quite sound, that has a intial feel of a sturdy
slab, but a bit more subtle. I find Caecilia too sharp, and
Oranda too soft. But those would be my only slights
against two excellent types!

I feel I have to qualify the made in two days thing. I used
another of mine

This has wonderful qualities: assured, balanced, graceful. I would like to see it in text setting in PDF. I agree with folks that the 6 and 9 need fixing, and the g and t made more harmonious with the rest. If the top of the loop of the 'g' were made more horizontal would it harmonize with the rest of the face better?

HI Kris.

Nicely done. I've got a slab in the cooker too. I like what you
have started!

Here are some thoughts:
The width seems inconsistent to me. The glyph that first drew
my attention was the n. Looks wide. Then maybe the m a little
too. Maybe the u a hair, b mabe a little narrow. Ok, enough of that!

The bracketing in the top of the t is out of character.

Keep an eye on your serifs. Many of them look equal on left and
right. This is sometimes best, but often not. Consider your n.
Part the width issue is that the inward halfs of the serifs equal
the outer halfs. You can shave the insiders down, maintaing the
white space and while allowing you to narrow the glyph. Also
check your v. It's like the n in reverse. The inner halfs can afford
to be longer, but the outer halfs need to be as short as you can
manage. Otherwise the spacing will be a nightmare. Some of this
will become more evident as you begin spacing.

Old Style Figures:
Do they have serifs? Where?
Does a four sit on the baseline?
Does a four descend to the depth of a five? How close?
Do the top of the five and seven line up?
Is a nine a rotated six?

These are all questions to ask. I think the answers are: it
depends. OSF are a weird animal. Look at a wide gamut of OSF.
Attached are 6/9 comparisons for a handfull of fonts. In Caecilia
the 6 is exactly a rotated 9. In other cases, the only adjustment
is for ascender descender height (Sauna). Sometimes it is vastly
different. It seems the more upright the stance, the less
adjusting is needed. All of that said, I think yours look pretty
good. (Maybe snip back the tail on the nine and round out the
tail curve a bit more.)

More please!

Randy

6v9.pdf (189.1 k)

Kris, keep going! More weights and small caps, please!

Randy, I hope you're keeping an archive of all these tidbits of info you give out. You need to write a book. Seriously.

-Addison

Here is a pdf setting with all the bits that
I have done so far. Sorry about the crossbars
on the A's, I forgot to apple-f10 in fontlab.

I did lots of the things suggested, but can't
quite remember exactly what. I plan to create
a condensed version, which is looking ok so far.

Slabb_01.pdf (60.1 k)

i love your font, but i usually work with a italic condensed (not only the version slanted).

if you compress a little more your italic, you will have other gray.

i cant print your pdf in this moment, but seeing the proporsions, i will hope a similar gray in both versions (regular and italic).

if you are looking for a version to emphasize a text in your block, i think you have obtain another gray.

JP

Kris, I'm lusting after both of these (slab and sans). Any ideas when they'll be ready?

Rob

In your shoes I would not worry about making a "humanist slab-serif" "too similar" to your models.
There are such a few being good, the best thing probably is stopping looking at them (if not for spacing) from this point on.

I'm not enough qualified to comment a lot, but I would try to make the tail of your lc "y" thicker instead of thinner.

The numerals (my cup of tea) you used in the setting seem unbalanced. If you wish to keep them non-lining someway, I'd reduce the "short" ones (0, 1, 2) and adjust the others' position accordingly. Otherwise, if you wish them to be more lining, keep the ascending and descending ones subtler. And condense that zero.

Best luck!

Kris,
Love your lawyers letter dummy text, it is a scream :-)

Seriously, The font is a beauty too.

ChrisL

Hi Rob,
I am bot too sure exactly when these will be
finished and ready. I have a full-time job now,
and it is getting a bit tricky to squeeze in some
time for type. I think most of the slabb book
weight is done, but the italics for Klim Sans
are proving a bit tricky. I want to do them right
you see, I couldn;t bear releasing a 'flawed' font.
I'll keep you posted though.

Cheers Claudio. The numerals are the first sketch,
and I don't know whether to make them "hybrid"
or not. Any advice?

best, kris.

Cheers Chris! I get so many of those
bloody emails and needed some dummy
copy

>I get so many of those
bloody emails and needed some dummy
copy<

Good thing you were not getting any of the "Enlarge your penis" Spams, instead of the lawyer stuff :-)

Well, maybe if you wanted to make some really BIG type, it might work as dummy text:-)

>>. I want to do them right
you see, I couldn;t bear releasing a 'flawed' font.
I'll keep you posted though.

Wouldn't have it any other way kris, and thanks.

Rob

My personal taste is in having the lowercase (oldstyle) numerals as first choice. Even if you choose an hybrid my observations still hold value: you need to reduce the height of the numerals, and adjust the zero width, I think. I don't recall which but there are good text faces with "hybrid" numerals.

Weiss' numerals, for example, are pretty lower in height (although I don't like Weiss too much, except the Italic), but I don't recall other examples right now.