Quite good for a simple beginning!

I think you should decide if you want diagonals in your font or not.
X and Y look like they are from different fonts.

My opinion is you should get rid of the diagonals.
Try to build the X with the upper part of the Y. The Z could look similar to the 2.
The (vertical) leg of the R could have a similar joining like in M.

And maybe E, F and 3 could do with slightly longer crossbars.

Set your letters in words and phrases. That will help you decide if, for example, the spaces that open up with /C/J/L/T/7/ are okay, or need adjustments to fill in the blank spots (as I suspect).

I think if /B/D/N/ etc. have a hard upper left corner, I would expect the same from /P/ and /R/.

An asymmetrical /Y/ (with a bottom like that of /J/) could work here.

I wouldn't throw out diagonals just yet, but I agree that it may be the most pressing question you have to decide. It might help with the /V/ problem you identify, and help you develop a /K/ and a more convincing /2/.

Just make sure it's different enough from the overly-famous Industria:
http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/industria/
(Which itself might be derived from an old German design).

hhp

I agree. Having no diagonals is just the easier, but maybe less interesting way ;-)

Have a look at Iwan Reschniev, it’s similar to your design, mixed with more diagonal forms.

I think the X is subtly brilliant. It's a departure from the construction grid, but somehow cleaves to the spirit of the face anyway, and I think you'll find that it works surprisingly well in the context of words. V is begging for a similar treatment. Z, however, hasn't captured that essence yet. Explorations I would suggest to achieve this include pointed corners or rounded ones.

Awesome feedback! Thanks everyone! Where do I start? :)

@cerulean - I agree the diagonal X, while a departure, still seems to work. I'm trying a diagonal V and X, however retained the original M and N (with some potential diagonal alternates up my sleeve). I've started the 'K' - but it's not quite there yet.

@hrant - I think it it's sufficiently different from Industria. What do you think?

Someone has since pointed me to another similar face, Mekanik, that has a diagonal V (but not X), together with vertical M, N- http://www.identifont.com/similar?31A - not sure I'm into the rounded 'X' like that.

@Linus - agreed the crossbars could be longer - I've already changed the '3' and will look at matching the 'F' with the 'E'

@eliason - I've been playing around with a lot of words and sentences. Pretty happy with the results. I had since made some changes (based on some offline feedback), dropping the crossbars a touch, lightening the horizontals, lengthening terminals, and a much improved '7'. I think the new terminals go some way to addressing the space issues. I think I may drop the vertical arm of the '4' a touch too. I'm pretty happy with the '2'.

Another thing I need to work on is compensating for the perceived smaller size of some glyphs - adjusting the baseline and heights of 'A', 'C', 'G' 'O' etc. I'm finding this quite difficult.

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate all your advice. I'm on a massive learning curve!

I've got a modified example here: http://finelysliced.com.au/progress/

A candidate for the 'Z':

Too much slant to the left.
And I would invert /B vertically. Yes, it's cute when bars align, but it's monotonic and hurts legibility.

Still working away on this. It doesn't seem to work so well at smaller sizes, but that's OK I think - it was always intended as a display face.

I have chosen a name for it: Hydraulic.

I feel like I've just started a new epic life journey - learning how to create type!

Might be worth studying Paul Renner’s Steile Futura.

Thanks frode frank. I just found this lengthy post on Steile Futura - http://typophile.com/node/18227

I particularly like the Renner Grotesk specimen referenced.

Can see where I can perhaps narrow the /L and /J, and the /T.

Just wanted to say thanks again for all your feedback. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel in this process now :)

I have been working on the lowercase, and attached a couple of examples of the alphanumerics here.

Note the /k has evolved between the two shots :)

The descenders are pretty long! I think that they accentuate the overall feel, but perhaps could be reduced a smidgen.

Glyph sample:

In use (poster):