The Iconic Font Project, Pt.1 - Materials and Inspiration
Before I Can Begin…
Gathering Materials
What kinds of tools and equipment does the average font maker require? From my limited research so far, I’ve been able to devise a rudimentary plan that includes the following:
The Paper:
A surface to think up and draw rough drafts on, is definitely my first requirement. Ordinarily, I’d say “let’s use paper,” however, I think an ability to edit on-the-fly, non-destructively, will be preferable in this circumstance, so I think I’ll be going the digital route with this project, by using my iPad Pro, and a drawing app, (likely Clip Studio Paint as it is my favorite drawing app, by far.)
The Pencils/Brushes/Inkers:
After I create rough drafts of the letters in digital pencil, I’ll likely want to make a first pass at inking them, and begin to transfer them into something called a vector format, (this basically means that I will be able to edit, reshape, and resize them more easily.)
*Also, it’s worth noting that this format is required, in order to import my drawings into most font making utilities.
This leads me to my next tool…
The Software:
There’s a wonderful font making program for Mac, called Glyphs App, and the pro version of it costs about 350 dollars.
Obviously, that is WAAY too expensive for me to invest in at the moment, but after looking around at their website, I found out they offer a stripped down app for hobbyists, called Glyphs Mini.
I’m not sure if Glyphs Mini will offer all the tools necessary for me to create the particular letter styles I currently have in mind, but I’m going to give it a shot, and see how far I can take my vision in the cheaper software, before I decide to save up for the full version.
Glyphs Mini is roughly 50 dollars, which in the scheme of things, isn’t that much, and I think Glyphs has an offer where if you upgrade, you get credit for already having paid for Glyphs Mini, so that’s a plus, should I choose to upgrade at some point!
I’m sure there will be hiccups and more tools to acquire along the way, but I’ll just battle those when I get there. It’s time to move forward.
Font School, Day One.
The Initial Inspiration
Beginning this project, I have a number of questions to ask myself. For example, what kind of general typography style do I have in mind? When I think of what I want my letter style to be, what associations do I think of. What are the things that are inspiring this new font of mine?
It’s time to brainstorm a little bit.
The Visual Associations & Inspirations
Things that inspire me.
Hobbiton & Bilbo Baggins
Calligraphy
Celtic & Gaelic alphabets
Medieval textbooks
Leather field journals
Feather inking quills
Mossy ferns & botanical drawings
Healing crystals
Herbal medicine textbooks
Faeries by Brian Froud (Book)
Daniel Reeves (Calligrapher)
The ending credits of Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. (Movie)
Visible Brushstrokes in painted signatures.
Here’s a great example of the look I’d like to achieve. This is the cover page for Faeries, by Brian Froud and Alan Lee.
I love the magical feeling that exudes from the font used for the “Faeries” text, and also the hand-lettered feeling of the pencil writing used in the sub-headers. Granted, the sub-header text used here, is not a font. (*Every subtitle was actually individually hand-written, and though it looks BEAUTIFUL in this book, this isn’t a practical approach for lettering on a website.)
Still, it will be useful to have this feeling of hand-lettering on my mind as I approach making my new font.
It’s important to also note that music plays a MAJOR role in what inspires me. I often listen to movie scores and other instrumental music while I write and draw, (sometimes even popular music, but that’s for another blog post.)
*Basically, any music that gets me into the frame of mind/mood of whatever particular theme or nuance I’m aiming for, is fair game.
Musical Associations
More things that inspire me.
The opening score to Legends of the Fall, around 2:00 when the horns come in.
And also from that same score, “The Ludlows.”
“The Shire” from The Lord of The Rings (Score)
“Goodnight Sweet Possums” from Ice Age: The Meltdown (Score)
Strezov Sampling’s “Arva” Children’s Choir Sample Library
Final Thoughts
I know there is a lot to take in here, but this is how my mind works. I have many inspirations from multiple sources, and to most people, my thought pattern and my ideas might seem like a jumbled mess, but hopefully through my pinterest board, and this blog post with all it’s music clippings, I’ve given you a more clear picture of where my mind is at the moment, and also, the effect I’m hoping to achieve with this font.
The inspiration is the easy part though.
This first font I intend to create, will be a display font, and, as I’ve said, I’d like it to have the look and feel of hand lettering. So, in the next post I’ll begin doing some initial research to get an idea of how other artists and calligraphers approach their own lettering, and begin to get myself accustomed to the actual process and act of letter creation.
