Randomness

This is a weird concept that got brought about in a conversation I was having with Roel Niskens about different OpenType features, and how they could be used to make a typeface more versatile… or perhaps, better yet, customizable for the end user.  Every once in a while the concept of ligatures comes up. In the past, I’ve made a lot of fonts with extra (even excessive) discretionary ligatures, and I feel that they can add to the value of the font being sold commercially. I’ve even bought fonts based on such features myself. However, there are a few things that kinda suck about ligatures. They don’t respond well (or at all) to tracking or kerning changes. If you want to track out your spacing, or even tighten it up a bit, the ligatures aren’t having any of that. They’re set. Think of them as their own letters. Even if…    read more 

For a while I’ve been collecting movie posters. They’re a great reference if you’re looking for a very large specimen of type. Often times, when I photograph pieces of lettering from catalogs or magazines you get a jagged effect from the half-toning. Theoretically, if your sample is bigger, then you have less chance of that finding it’s way into your typeface. A few months ago I had purchased a couple of poster lots that had interesting lettering, and I figured I could make some cool fonts. So, you unfold them and take a picture, and fold them back up. Then you put them in a box or envelope with a pile of other posters. You forget where they are. You forget what you have. Terrible problems I know. I had a few press books in the past that I picked up over the years. Then I figured that because the…    read more