Friday, November 28, 2008

what you knew i'd try someday...



I like fonts. I like handwriting. I write in fonts - sometimes intentionally, and sometimes it just happens. Yesterday, I decided to try out fontifier.com, which was incredibly simple, and about ten minutes and nine dollars later, I can now type in my own handwriting.

Here is what I can tell you if you want to make your own font on Fontifier:

1.Use a felt tip pen. I tried a font using a rollerball pen the first time (not shown above). It was okay, but when I used an Ultra Fine Point sharpie, it worked much better (first font above), and a Pigma Micron pen worked best of all (second and third fonts above).

2.Use a light box, if you have one, to clarify the position of your letters, and monitor how tall they are in relation to each other (...if you care about that). On the first font above, the lowercase L seems shorter than it should be. Looks a little weird now, but using a light box and graph paper may have solved that problem. I suppose now it’s just quirky.

3.When you’re able to preview the font before purchase, before purchasing your font, pay attention to the spaces before and after the letters. On the same first (practice) font, there is some crazy space before the lower case F that ALREADY DRIVES ME CRAZY but I bought it so now I’m stuck with it. I've learned since that the tiniest speck of dust or ink or paper imperfection is perceived as part of the letter. So if you notice it in the preview, check your paper and see if it is fixable before you purchase - or just make a new template, if you can't figure out what's wrong.

4. Know that if you are a fan of handwriting and/or text (as I am), this could become addictive.

5. There is an international template on fontifier where you can create special characters for languages other than English. Also, instead of creating a character for something you may rarely use, maybe the vertical line key, you can draw a picture.

8. I AM TOTALLY MAKING A FONT OF DOODLE DINGBATS. Soon.

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