06 October 2010

[font_design] Made In Oregon Font: Sketchbook Scratchings

2505.
For those who detected a bit of opinionation in the last missive there, allow me to demonstrate the depth of my conviction. On the way to that drawing there, was, in part, these explorations on the pages of my sketchbook:



There is a kinesthesic part of designing that is absolutely essential. The biggest benefit of a sketchbook is a sandbox in which to play. The making of marks not only is a physical and kinetic way to learn how to feel the marks you're making, you're teaching your hand how to make the marks you need to make on a consistent basis. Your body remembers these things. Eventually, knowing how to curve a line is as much a thing of visual perception as it is motor memory - and when you're trying to create a font, which has to be consistent within itself, you have to acquire some consistency of style amongst the glyphs.

As can be seen, the rough ink scratchings up top have acquired some small bit of polish by the time you get to the bottom. Also, I'm working out the x-height and whas sort of slant works best. This information was fed back into the system by the kinetic sense as well as the visual sense and fed into the more finished drawing in the last chapter.

All that said, I'm still not too sure on that miniscule "f", there. But these things get worked out like you wouldn't believe.

Art is as much physical as it is mental. Maybe, in its way, even more.

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