Design and Proof a Custom Typeface

A proof showing exploration of alternate forms.

The Design process for me is about problem-solving. It’s when I explore different letter constructions and solutions to find the right fit for the project. This stage can sometimes create a little anxiety, as I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but trusting in my process allows me to take the time it needs to figure out what feels right.

It’s when I consider the size of the character set and what alternates I might want to include. I keep my character set lean when it comes to alternates and ligatures. Adding an extra glyph can be enticing, but it can come back to bite at a later stage.

Proof showing how many extra drawings are needed if you add two alternate glyphs.

Adding an alternate a and g here means eight extra glyphs to draw, space, and kern, adding hours to my workflow, so it has to be worth the effort.

Going back to sketching to figure solve a problem.

During the design phase, I often return to pen and paper to quickly figure out different options, selecting shapes that fit better into the system. It is much quicker than fumbling around in a digital environment.

A collection of proof pages for each part of the character-set.

I break my character set down into small, manageable groups and progress in an order that allows me to proof every glyph in context. This prevents me from getting lost or overwhelmed by a seemingly endless character set. It doesn’t mean I can’t revisit some decisions I’ve made, but when I do, I know where I’m at and the consequences the change will have.

Often I will be unsure of the construction of a particular letter. When this occurs I continue to move to the next section knowing that something there might offer a solution.

The proofing text I use was developed by Jonathan Hoefler. You can find it here. It contains proofing text for Lowercase, Uppercase, and Small Caps.

An example of how to locate each letter of the alphabet in a text setting.

Here’s an example of some of the lowercase from Jonathan’s text. The way it’s set out makes it easy to find the letter you want to proof by simply looking for the sentence starting with that letter.

Showing the G sentence and surrounding flat and round forms.

Let’s say I’m proofing my lowercase g, I look for the g sentence where it shows an example of a cap G next to a flat letter, then the lowercase g next to a flat, next to a round, between flats, and between rounds, at the end of a word after a flat, after a round, and also as a double. This makes it super efficient and saves a lot of time looking for that letter in context.

A proof page showing the characters in context.

Every glyph in my typeface is shown in context so I can proof it and mark up any changes I need to make on the art page of the proof. It typically takes me three or four passes of a proof before I move on to the next, depending on how complex the characters are in a particular section.

A Glyphs App screen-shot showing text for kerning.

The final part of my design stage is kerning. I like to kern my pairs in words and proof in text rather than an endless list of single pairs, but this does take a lot of extra time. A well kerned typeface is really worth it though, so this is an investment of time that I like to make.

I kern in Glyphs App, which allows me to view my pairs in a lot of context and kern all of my masters at the same time. By grouping my letter shapes, I can expect similar-shaped pairs to have similar kerns, helping me make quicker decisions across multiple styles. I start with the most important parts of the character set, my Alphabetics, then move on to the Figures and Punctuation.

The next stage in my type design process is Engineering.