Typophile

Hebrew to match Centaur

girafastyle0 votes

Hi All,

I'm having some difficulty finding a Hebrew face that works well with Centaur. I'd like to find a Hebrew font that has some of the similar character of Centaur, but reads well. I'm using Centaur all caps letter spaced for the family name of a grave marker, but I need to add in Hebrew. Of course, I'll run the design by the family Rabbi, but since I can't read Hebrew I need a little help. I'm thinking something in the calligraphic tradition without having the traditional "Hebrew wave". I'd like it to be clean and elegant in a early 20th century romantic way, with a little "woodiness". Is that a word, "woodiness"? I mean the way that Centaur has the tree branch look.

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

girafastyle0 votes

Forgot to mention... I'm leaning towards Narkisim.

david h0 votes

> but since I can’t read Hebrew I need a little help.

help with what?

Hrant H Papazian0 votes

I'm curious, what is the "Hebrew wave"?

hhp

girafastyle0 votes

David: Maybe I need to be more specific... Since I don't read Hebrew, I feel that I need to be cautious in picking a font. Something that looks elegant to me, might look like a silly letterform to someone that is familiar with Hebrew. It's not really a problem, that I can't read it, but more of an issue with cultural nuance.

Hrant: "Hebrew wave" is definitely not an exact term. I use it to describe the stroke flourishes that cap the letterforms and indicate forward movement. It seems that the more traditional calligraphic forms have wavier forms and that the modern calligraphic forms are more subtle. See Margaliot as an example of the wavy forms. All this being said, maybe the traditional calligraphy would be a better match to Centaur.

Hrant H Papazian0 votes

> maybe the traditional calligraphy would be a better match to Centaur.

I think so - if it's not overdone.
Narkisim is a bit stiff here - a better match for something like Bembo.

hhp

John Hudson0 votes

Narkis Classic might be an option and comes in a Light weight that might harmonise reasonably well with Centaur.

http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/masterfont/narkis-classic-mf/

girafastyle0 votes

Thanks John! I'll give it a go and see how it looks.

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