I finally figured out that to build a nice quirky sans face, the first thing you have to do is figure out the curves in the letters 'b, c, d. g, j, o, p, q, r, and s' Once you get those curves down, then you are in business. I wish somebody would have told me this months ago.
Back to the post about 'how do you build a face,' I would suggest making a lot of elliptical and rounded square shapes (unite/pathfinder a semi-circle on the end of a square). Then empty the fill and work off the stroke, but don't create outlines....always keep the outlines so the weight can stay consistent. When the face is finished, make sure your weights are consistent before you join and outline, or outline and unite.
Always save a copy of the beziers off to the side for tweaking.
Here's apollo sans. Any feedback is welcome.
bj
apollo.swf (22 k) |