TASK - Using the principles processes and resources introduced in the first three studio sessions, develop a series of practical investigations into the development of new letterforms and fonts.
My chosen font to modify is Times New Roman, a serif typeface with a stone origin. I will modify this by making the letters more square i.e. I will square of the serifs, bowls and counter and make the font more restricted. I have also modified this by increasing the line weight throughout the letter to make all the letterform equal.
I have started my font family research by looking into modified type and how drastic or simple it can be. Below is a subtle change in which the designer has taken off the flourishes like the terminals of the letters. I think this is done to remove any unnecessary embellishments, while still making the type readable but in a more simpler way. However whether this is down to personal preference, but I find the type before modification easier to read as I find it creates more of a distinction to the letter. I do prefer subtle changes to type like this though, rather than the extreme cases of modifying fonts:
Different to the previous modified type, this below has drastic changes. I do not like this type but it is interesting to see just how far I could go with my modification while still making the type readable and legible. The type below is visually unsuccessful and has no real purpose for the triangles on the type. I feel there is no clear rule within this font, which makes all the letters in my opinion, inconsistent with one another. There seems to be a variety of triangles which makes the font seem very chaotic, I feel it would work better as a overall font is the triangles had some system in which they work with letter however these below seem random:
With my modification I have squared the type to try and create a more block font. I have looked into typefaces with a 'square' theme to see if I have resembled them successfully in some way. I have looked at both simple uses of geometric fonts and extreme cases. I started by looking at http://www.linotype.com/3396/geometricfonts.html as they have interesting sections of different geometric fonts. I have looked deeper into a few of there examples of what seem to be square based fonts.
These below I feel have a simplistic but clear theme of squares. The 'Blair ITC' has a low spacial framework which makes the type look compressed and condensed, creating the idea of a square. This is shown further by the type as it uses uppercase letters even for the lowercase, which is a smaller version of the upper. It has no flourishes within the type which adds to the restriction of looking square. It is simple but effective. The 'Eurostile' typeface has a higher framework but still successfully shows a geometric theme. This is due to, like the 'Blair ITC', having restricted curves which do not flow but are quite blunt. Letters such as the 'S' have minimal curves but still enough to represent the flow of the letter:
'Blair ITC' (Above) and 'Eurostile' (Below)
I have then looked on http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=301 to see the extreme cases of representing a square themed font. I found some examples of which I do not like but are interesting to see, as this allows me to look into just how far I should not go with modifying my typeface.
The fonts below are a over-exaggeration of the square, blocked theme I am attempting. The 'Minecrafter' font I feel is quite difficult to read straight away, due to the jagged edges on certain parts of some of the letters. I feel this is a inconsistent type as some of the letters have the jagged edges however letters like the 'F' and 'E' do not. I feel as a overall type it would not work as some do not fit in with one another. This kind of type could only be used for headers etc and so would this limit the font? This is similar to the 'cubic' font, it would never work as body copy as it is too chaotic and would not be very legible at a smaller point size. Due to how this type has been created, some of the letters are smaller. This again creates inconsistency as it reads well spelling 'cubic' but would this type work with every word or would it look un-proportioned? These two fonts obviously show a block/square theme but I feel it has gone way too far into the 'theme' to the point where, in my opinion, looks aesthetically unpleasing:
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