{"id":234,"date":"2024-01-06T19:41:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T03:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/?p=234"},"modified":"2024-01-10T21:29:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T05:29:58","slug":"wintersquash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wintersquash\/","title":{"rendered":"Wintersquash: An Adventure in Type Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been wanting to create a typeface for ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember in high school finding out that there was software for making fonts, but after realizing how much the software cost, I forgot about it and moved on to other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometime last year I stumbled upon Glyphs and Glyphs Mini again, which was about two years into my current (ongoing) nerd-out session over everything design. I fumbled around in Glyphs Mini, making a few quick stabs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I had a lot of different personal projects happening at the same time and it ultimately took the back burner for a while, but my obsession with typography only grew\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So last month I stumbled upon a YouTube video1<\/a><\/sup> by Daniel Nisbet<\/a>. I highly recommend his videos to anyone who wants to learn the technical side of type design. Before stumbling on his video I had spent countless hours reading books and watching other videos, all of which were instrumental in learning the letter mechanics and the theory behind typeface design. My studies of typography along with this particular tutorial provided directionality and know-how for the development of my first functional2<\/a><\/sup> typeface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing Wintersquash3<\/a><\/sup>, the beta edition of my first sans-serif font. I\u2019m not completely happy with it yet; it needs more glyphs and extra kerning massage. The \u2018H\u2019 and \u2018L\u2019, deceptively simplistic, don\u2019t look right yet. I\u2019m also not sure about the dot on the \u2018i\u2019, and I\u2019m sure there are other flaws I haven\u2019t noticed, but I am happy with it so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once I get to a passable stage, I\u2019ll upload the working font online somewhere. I\u2019ve decided to include ink traps<\/a>, which is probably not the best idea for a beginning type designer. Either I love a challenge or I\u2019m a glutton for punishment. Probably both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I know I have a lot to learn, but I\u2019m hooked on type design. Maybe I have this alter ego that loves to obsess for hours over details that barely anyone would notice. I don\u2019t care, I\u2019m having fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have the beginnings of two other typefaces: one alphabet I sketched in Procreate in October, and another I started working on last year in Illustrator using photos I took in Pondicherry<\/a> as references. Once those projects are a little further along in their development I\u2019ll probably (definitely) write about them too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Typeface design scratches an itch for me that has been there most of my life. It\u2019s the same aspect of my personality that had me deliberating on a major when I first went to university, leading to my fascination with film and cognitive science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This passion has led me to a strange nebulous space between art and engineering called design. It stems from a love for all things art, combined with an aptitude for science and mathematics.4<\/a><\/sup> For now these inclinations meet within the space of visual design, UX\/UI, typography, illustration, animation, and writing. Let’s see what comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more I learn the more I love design in all of its many incarnations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Designing Your First Font In Glyphs Mini<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. It\u2019s still in beta and doesn\u2019t have numerals yet but you get the picture. You can type in it, it has some basic punctuation. Time to get even further into the weeds with kerning. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Winter Squash is the working title, it might end up being Wintersquash or another name I haven’t thought of yet. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. For years I had straddled these two realms, not wanting to forgo one in pursuit of the other. It is with relief that I have found an area of interest that works so well with who I am as a person. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019ve been wanting to create a typeface for ages. I remember in high school finding out that there was software for making fonts, but after realizing how much the software cost, I forgot about it and moved on to other things. Sometime last year I stumbled upon Glyphs and Glyphs Mini again, which was about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Designing Your First Font In Glyphs Mini<\/a>\",\"id\":\"13bd9866-6e21-48d6-8520-a63f2ece68a6\"},{\"content\":\"It\u2019s still in beta and doesn\u2019t have numerals yet but you get the picture. You can type in it, it has some basic punctuation. Time to get even further into the weeds with kerning.\",\"id\":\"fbbd699e-e942-42a4-8be1-f99cd7e14180\"},{\"content\":\"Winter Squash is the working title, it might end up being Wintersquash or another name I haven't thought of yet.\",\"id\":\"8c6b310f-a514-4db1-ba06-e040962aab26\"},{\"content\":\"For years I had straddled these two realms, not wanting to forgo one in pursuit of the other. It is with relief that I have found an area of interest that works so well with who I am as a person.\",\"id\":\"09d9b40f-6eb5-477f-ba83-32b4b536ef41\"}]"},"categories":[35,37,36],"tags":[43,42,40,41,38,39],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","category-type-design","category-typography","tag-design","tag-fonts","tag-type-design","tag-typeface-design","tag-typography","tag-wintersquash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288,"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions\/288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidcali.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}