Type design

[raphaelbastide]

Steps of my researches so far:

1. Initially, I wanted to experiment how a serif monospace could evolve with a squared x height, and on a square-based grid. Serifs could really help for the reading and give the typeface a «neo-littéraire» style.
2. Along side of paper sketched, I tried Metapolator and stopped because of the lack of features of the current versions. I also tried Ocr-PBI and realized A. It could be an adapted tool for the project because the resulting fonts are parametric B. Coding (drawing) the master requires an important amount of time and there is no interface to draw it visually (yet). which is a really interesting tool, especially for txtblock. C. There is also plenty of existing libre metafont source to play with. I just need to spend more time on it.
3. Inspired by Linux Libertine Mono, I quickly sketched some attempts, trying to understand how serifs can fit with the constraints of a monospace. I found that multiple serif sizes could be a solution. Ideally, I would like to A. Get rid of the serifs an go for a more traditional monospace font B. Keep the serif, maybe slab it or make it more mechanical. I think the final text’s gray has to be quite rigorous with light lyrical details.
4. There is now multiple possible futures and the grant will decide what design path is the best. I have plenty of shapes and tools I want to explore but I think it is too early to take a real decision before having a clear idea of the resources we have.

1

2 hehehe (Ocr-PBI)

3 Linux Libertine Mono

First vector shapes