Font Pro 3: Designer Type/Font Pro 3 - Designer Type (Wayzata Technology)(1994).bin/pc/descript.ion

Text File | 1994-12-08 | 28KB | 530 lines

AlbertBetenbuch (Plain)
The inspiration for AlbertBetenbuch came from a typeface drawn by
Albert Dƒrer, and an interpretation of that face in Arthur Baker's
Historic Calligraphic Alphabets (Dover, 1980). The characteristic
common to AlbertBetenbuch and the faces inspiring it is the
decorative zig-zag with the upper-case letters.
AlbertBetenbuch can be considered for use whenever an ornate
calligraphic face or an elegant "Old English" or medieval style is
called for.

Anarckhie (Plain, Italic, Bold, BoldItalic)
Anarckhie is a square-serifed typeface in which the horizontal
elements of the upper-case letters are below their midpoint, and the
x-height of the lower-case letters is unusually small. There is some
variation in the weights of the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal
elements. The small x-height makes this typeface appear smaller
than its point size would indicate, so text set in 12-point Anarckhie
will appear much smaller than text set in 12-point BetterTypeRight.
If you find it a little too unusual to use for straight text, consider it
for text that needs a decorative touch.
The italic version of this typeface is at least as interesting as the
plain version. The italics version may actually be more readable at
small point sizes than the plain version, and the small x-height
allows it to have long ascenders and descenders, and they give it a
decorative look. It almost has the feel of a calligraphic face. Consider
it when you need a very readable face but you also want something
that is pretty and friendly.


AndrewAndreas (Thin, Plain, Bold)
AndrewAndreas is a plain, geometric sans-serif typeface in three
weights. Each of those weights is uniform, that is, there is little
weight variation in the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal elements.
AndrewAndreas is an all-purpose typeface useful for both text and
display. Though it can be used for many purposes, there are a
number of similar typefaces, including the ever-popular Helvetica,
which also satisfy these uses.

Balboat (Plain, Bold)
 This informal calligraphic face was constructed for Font Pro Vol 2,
but was completed too late to be included in the main collection. It is
rather plain, with a very small x-height. Contrast it to Handana and
GretchenHello, which are other informal calligraphic faces.

BearButteT (Plain, Bold, Italic, BoldItalic, Special)
BearButteT is a square-serifed typeface derived from Medieval
Gunslinger. The bold version was developed first as a display
typeface, and the rest of the family was developed later. Nonetheless
the plain version is readable at small point sizes and can be used as a
text face.
BearButteT comes as a complete family, with plain, bold, italic, and
bolditalic styles. In addition, a fifth member of the family includes
swash caps on the upper-case keys and small caps on the lower case
keys.
About the name: Square serifs were popular in the nineteenth
century and are often associated with an Old-West look. Therefore a
Western name seemed appropriate. Bear Butte is a strange little
mountain, sacred to some of the Plains Indians, just north of the
Black Hills of South Dakota. It is one of my favorite places in the
West. I could not resist adding the T.

BetterTypeRight (Plain,  Bold, Italic, BoldItalic; Medium, SpecialPlain,
SpecialBold, Thin, ThinItalic)

BetterTypeRight is an semi-formal (or semi-informal) text face with
large serifs. It has some variation between horizontal and diagonal
elements, but not a great deal, and it has a very high x-height. It has
the feel of a typewriter typeface, but it is not monospaced.
This face works well as a text face in informal places, that is, in
places where you want something a bit more elegant than a
typewriter face but not quite as formal as traditional book faces.
In addition to the standard family members of plain, bold, italic, and
bolditalic, BetterTypeRight has several other members. There are
thinner versions of both the book and italic styles, and a medium
version of the book style. This medium version was the first
completed, but was a bit too heavy for normal text use. The Plain and
Bold versions were derived from it. Finally, there are special variants
in plain and bold weights. The special styles have swash caps on the
upper-case keys and small caps on the lower case keys.

ConcavexCaps (Plain)
ConcavexCaps is a bold display face. Though it does not have true
serifs, the ends of the vertical stems fatten out and give it a semi-
serif look (if there is such a classification). As the name suggests, it
does not have a true lower case, though some of the letters on the
lower-case keys differ from those on the upper-case keys. This
typeface is close to unreadable at small point sizes; use it only at
larger sizes.

DavidFarewell (Medium, Bold)
DavidFarewell is a medium-weight, sans-serif typeface that was
derived from Tuskcandy. There is a substantial amount of variation
in the weights of the diagonals and vertical, and it has a fairly large
x-height. It is an attractive face that you can try as a text face at
small sizes, though some may find it a bit too bold for extensive use
at small sizes.

EdwardEdwin (Plain, Bold)
When a formal script is drawn by hand, the calligrapher must make
the downstroke heavy and and the upstroke light and must give the
letters a pronounced rightward slant. EdwardEdwin-Plain a is fairly
simple version of this style, with little ornamentation.
I found this a challenging typeface to draw because many of the
letter shapes are not intuitive and look strange in isolation. I relied
heavily on the guidelines in several books which explain how to
draw this style with a pen. The bold style is not only heavier than
the plain style, but has less variation between the thin and thick
elements.
There are a large number of formal scripts available in PostScript
format. Every major type foundry has several. Some are better
drawn than EdwardEdwin, but none will match the output of a truly
skilled calligrapher because a calligrapher can adjust the connections
between letters in ways a typeface cannot.
Formal scripts are used for documents such as invitations and for a
variety of display situations. At small point sizes this style of type is
difficult to read.
The other decorative script face (in which the letters join) in this
collection is VunderScript.

FeggoliteHatched
This typeface is derived from FeggoliteMono using a program called
Incubator Pro 2.0 (published by Type Solutions). The hatched version
has a higher x-height than the original which means the ascenders
(on letters such as b, h, and k) and descenders (on letters such as j, p
and q) are shorter. There is also contrast between the vertical and
horizontal elements. Also, several of the letters have been
redesigned. The typeface is still monospaced, but the letters are now
skewed or slanted to the left. (This typeface is the only one on Font
Pro Vol 3 with this characteristic.) If you would like to have this
typeface in an upright version, try italicizing it in your word-
processors Style Menu.
Incubator Pro takes an existing typeface and lets the user change
some of its characteristics. Unfortunately, to get the altered typeface
into useable form usually requires that one use another typeface
program to get into the typeface and fix up some of the characters.
This cleaning up of the letters is not trivial, but takes hours of work.
If Incubator Pro produced cleaner results, you would undoubtedly
see a great many "hatched" versions of typefaces in this collection.
(The only other one is QuidicHatched.)

FeggoliteMono (Plain, Bold)
It is easy to dislike monospaced typefaces. Because they force all
letters to have the same width, they are inevitably ugly (though we
have gotten so used to them we usually do not notice this ugliness.)
However, they pose an interesting challenge to the type designer.
How does one design a face so that the m and w are no wider than
the i? With FeggoliteMono, I set out to design a monospaced font
with had a very small x-height and long descenders. I know of no
typewriter with such a face, but if there were one, perhaps it might
resemble this unusual construction. Consider it when you want an
unusual but decorative touch.

Gothamburg (Regular, Bold)
Gothamburg is a blackletter or square gothic face. The shapes of
many of the letters were inspired by sets of letters in Oscar Ogg's The
26 Letters (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1963, 1948) illustrating the
gothic style of the middle ages.
The Plain and Thin versions differ not just in pen width, but also in
pen angle. The Thin version has less contrast between the thin and
thick strokes.
Today medieval styles are used only for display. Their fall from
favor is unfortunate because these styles have tremendous character
and there are so many interesting variations that are possible.

Grandecort (Plain, Bold)
This typeface is derived from the OakPark family. It has lost the
serifs, and has moved to a more traditional look. The upper case
letters are a bit heavier than the lower case letters, but overall the
letter shapes are fairly conventional for a bold, display face.
For a further development of this theme, see the Qualettee family.

GretchenHello (Plain, Bold)
GretchenHello is an informal cursive face which looks as if it were
written with a calligraphic pen. Some calligraphic faces are elegant,
meant to be used in formal places such as invitations. GretchenHello
is not elegant but rather pedestrian. It seems to work best at point
sizes from about 15 to 32.

Handana (Plain, Bold)
Handana is an informal calligraphic face which was designed for Font
Pro Vol 2 but which completed too late to be included in the main
collection. It is a cursive face, in which the letters look hand drawn,
but in which they do not connect. It has a slight slant to the left, and
it is stiffer and less rounded than GretchenHello, which is another
informal calligraphic face.

HippityDippity (Plain, Bold, Inline)
HippityDippity has squiggly serifs and no straight lines or smooth
circles. Looking like it has smoked something strange, it comes in two
weights and an inline variation
The inline style is usable only at larger (at least 36) point sizes, but
the plain and bold are fairly easy to read at small point sizes.
However, the most likely uses for this odd typeface are for display at
larger sizes.

IggoliteMono (Plain)
IggoliteMono is a monospaced script face. It was designed more for
the challenge than for any particular use, but if you ever need a
monospaced script, here it is.

JetJaneMono (Thin, ThinItalic, Plain, PlainItalic, Bold, BoldItalic, Caps-
Thin, Caps-Plain, Caps-Bold)

JetJaneMono is a very large family of sans-serif faces which are
mono-spaced, as are typefaces used in typewriters and cheap
computer printers. There are three weights in the extended family:
Thin, Plain, and Bold. In addition there is an italics version in the
same weights which is close to the "book" version, with some
differences in lower-case letters and symbols. Finally, there is an all-
caps version in which the lower-case letters have been replaced with
scaled versions of the upper-case letters.
JetJane is meant to give the look and feel of the typefaces used in
dot-matrix printers, though it is not modeled on any particular one.
It is best used at lower point sizes, such as 10, 11, or 12.

KampFriendship (Plain, Bold, Italic, BoldItalic)
KampFriendship is a casual, informal, fairly relaxed serifed typeface
which almost looks handwritten. Yahosch is similar in many ways,
but without the serifs. Use KampFriendship for letters to friends, or
anywhere a very readable but definitely informal serifed typeface is
needed.
This name of this typeface recalls a place I was employed in the '60s,
a casual, informal, and very enjoyable place to work.

Letrinth (Plain)
Letrinth is a bold, informal sans-serif face. Its lower case is unusual
in design; some of the characters are scaled versions of the upper-
case letters.
Letrinth had an unusual origin. I have spent considerable time
during the past several years developing a maze construction set,
which consists of a program to generate mazes and a set of
specialized typefaces to print the mazes. (Dover is planning
publication of a maze book which I wrote with the aid of this
construction set. It will be called Fascinating Mazes, and was due out
by the end of 1993 but delays have pushed back the date. If you like
mazes, buy it.) One design for constructing a maze involved making
the paths from the interior of letters. Letrinth (LETters for a
labyRINTH) comes from the letters I used for this purpose.
Letrinth should be used at large point sizes for display purposes.

Letuncial (Plain, Bold, Inline)
Letuncial is a display typeface that, despite its modernistic look, was
inspired by ancient letter forms. In the early medieval period a style
of writing known as uncial developed. At this time there was no
distinction between upper and lower case, and in fact the uncial style
was part of the evolution which led to the lower-case letters.
Letuncial is a sans serif typeface which has been heavily influenced
by the uncial style. Like it, it has no true upper-case letters. Rather it
has two sets of letters which are somewhat interchangeable.
Letuncial is one of three typefaces in this collection which includes
an inline style. The other two are HippityDippity and Tuskcandy.

MedievalGunslinger (Plain)
What would happen if one merged a squared-serifed, plain typeface
with a gothic face such as Fractur? Maybe the result would be
MedievalGunslinger. This unique and distinctive typeface comes in
only one weight, and is meant for larger point sizes.
MedievalGunslinger is a display typeface guaranteed to attract
attention.
(BearButteT is a less decorative and more mainstream descendant of
this typeface.)

Mushmellow (Plain, Bold, Outline)
An informal typeface without serifs, Mushmellow has few straight
lines. Its ends are rounded, and it looks like it might have been
written by hand. In addition to the plain and bold weights, it also has
an outlined version.
Mushmellow is readable at small point sizes, but is probably more
useful for display purposes at larger sizes.

NeuAltischShadowed
NeuAltisch is a typeface I designed for Font Pro Vol 2, Types of
Distinction. It was one of the designs which I liked a great deal, and I
have embellished it with a shadow for this collection. It is derived
from the Fractur style, which is a medieval style developed in
Germany. The detail in this typeface is only apparent at larger point
sizes.

NewNerdish (Thin, Plain, Bold)
A sans-serif face in which the circular elements have become almost
square, NewNerdish resembles a number of typefaces which have
become associated with a modernistic, computer look. NewNerdish
comes in three weights: Thin, Plain, and Bold. There is little or no
variation in the weight of horizontals, diagonals, and verticals.
Though NewNerdish can be read at small point sizes, it is too unusual
to be used for anything other than display.

OakParkAve
OakParkBlvd
OakParkSpeckled
OakParkZiggy
OakParkSquaRe
OakParkSTripes
In the 19th century a popular style was one in which the serifs
where were very fat and the horizontal strokes where very thin. In
the early 20th century the opposite style of very thin horizontal
strokes and very fat verticals became fashionable. Many of these
were sans serif, and some had interior decoration, which becomes
very inviting because there are big spaces that can be filled. Most of
these styles are associated with the Art Deco movement.
OakParkAve and OakParkBlvd are closely related, but Blvd has a true
set of lower-case letters and Ave does not. The Speckled, SquaRe,
STripes, and Ziggy versions have decorated interiors, and none has
true lower-case letters. Instead, the lower-case slots have been used
to house a second set of filled capitals, but with a different interior
design.
All of the OakParks are attractive display faces with a bold Art Deco
look. The adventuous might try mixing filled characters from several
of these typefaces; the results can be quite interesting. In addition to
use on signs, posters, etc., these letters can make eye-catching initial
caps.
(The Grandecort family has some closely related type, but in a sans-
serif format.)

PatColumRow
PatColumRow is a dingbat font of pattern parts. As the name
suggests, the parts are meant to be formed in columns or rows. Thus
to get a pattern which makes sense, one could type in AAAA for the
first line, then aaaa for the second line, and they repeat this
sequence as many times as desired. Most of the patterns are row
patterns, as in the above example. All the letter keys have the
sequences on the upper and lower case keys, and all are row
patterns. The column patterns are on the number keys and on the `,
-, +, [, and ] keys. To see them, a sequence such as 1!1!1!, repeated for
as many lines as one likes, is needed. Note that this is very different
from the checkerboard patterns on PatCzeckers. In PatCzeckers, the
second line would be !1!1!1.
One cannot see what the effects will be unless one tries out the
patterns. Some are quite geometrical because many of the patterns
were taken from the literature on tiling, which is a subtopic of
mathematics.

PatCzeckers
PatCzeckers contains pictures, not letters. The pictures make little
sense in themselves because they are meant to be used to create
patterns.  In PatCzeckers the characters are meant to be combined in
a checkerboard pattern, as the name suggests. The layout of the
characters is simple; the parts of the pattern are on the same key,
one on the lower-case selection and one on the upper-case selection.
To form a pattern, one must type in a sequence such as AaAaAa on
the first line, then aAaAaA on the second line. This pattern can be
repeated as many times as one wants. It is not as confusing as it
sounds, and the effect is very interesting.
The characters on the number keys are more complex, because they
are in an enhanced checkerboard pattern. The complete pattern is
made up of four pieces, two of which are in the character set above
127.

PeterPierre (Thin, Plain, Bold)
PeterPierreCondensed (Plain)
PeterPierre is a sans serif face in which the vertical elements
dominate even though there is little or no variation in stroke width.
The plain version is readable at small point sizes, and could be used
where a condensed typeface is appropriate. However, it is more
likely to be useful for display purposes.
The condensed version was the first of this group to be developed
and the rest were derived from it. It is useful only at larger point
sizes.

PhederFrack-Shadowed
PhederFrack-Shadowed is an elaboration of a typeface designed for
Font Pro Vol 2. It is in the Germanic, Fractur tradition, and it features
a decorative line-shadow placed to the right and above the
characters. (The other face shadowed in a similar manner,
NeuAltisch, is also a Germanic, Fractur face, but it has the line-
shadow to the right and below the characters.) Typefaces in this
medieval, semi-calligraphic style often are decorated with additional
detail; it is part of the history of the style. To see the detail in the
letters of PhederFrack-Shadowed, it must be used at larger sizes, in
excess of 36 point.

Qualettee (Plain, Bold, Xbold)
The Qualettee family is derived from the Grandecort family. The
letters have been regularized a bit more, and the weight of the upper
case now matches the lower case. In addition, the family has much
thinner members, and the Plain style can be used as a sans serif text
face.
Qualettee is an attractive, sans-serif face in which the strokes have
some variation of weight. This variation is much more pronounced in
the heavier members than in the Plain style.

QuidicHatched
This typeface is derived from Quidic, a typeface I designed for Font
Pro Vol 2, using Incubator Pro 2 (published by Type Solutions). It is
an extended version of the original, which means that each letter is
wider. After the transformation was done with Incubator Pro, the
typeface was cleaned up in Fontographer 4.0. (See the remarks with
FeggoliteHatched.)
QuidicHatched has an unusual set of upper case letters which make it
useful for display purposes.

Rundigsburg (Plain, Medium, Bold, ShadowRight, ShadowLeft)
One of the sources of the very popular sans-serif faces which so
dominate the Twentieth century was the old gothic faces from the
middle ages. In fact the term "gothic" has often been used instead of
"sans serif." Rundigsburg is a medieval face on the way to becoming
sans serif. The letters are still a bit angular and a few retain definite
traces of older letter forms, but the ornamentation is gone.
Rundigsburg-Plain is moderately readable at smaller point sizes and
can also be used at larger point sizes for display. One possible way to
use it is to combine it with more ornamental medieval faces, with the
more ornate faces used for the larger print and Rundigsburg used for
the smaller.
Rundigsburg is one of three families which features shadowed
members of the family. (The other two are in the Wyoming cluster.)
The Shadowed versions are only readable at large point sizes.

RundigPencil (Thin, Plain, Bold)
RundigPencil has a semi-informal, but very neat and rigidly upright
handwritten look. It has a hint of the Germanic in some of the letters.
It was derived from Rundigsburg, but most of the sharp angles of
that face have been smoothed in RundigPencil. It is very readable at
small point sizes.

SternStella (Bright, Night)
SternStella is a dingbat or picture font of stars and star-like objects
constructed using the star tool of Fontographer 4. The Bright style
features asterisms with white interiors, while the Night style has
filled or solid characters. The characters are decorative and many can
be used as dividers or as bullets.

Talloween (Plain)
Talloween is a bizarre typeface in which the letters have a gothic
form, but looks as it they had been made of wax which has partially
melted.

TiredOfCourier (Thin, Plain, Bold, ThinItalic, Italic, BoldItalic)
TiredOfCourier is a typeface I constructed for Font Pro Vol 2, Types
of Distinction. Because it emulates a typewriter, it is monospaced,
which means that all the characters have the same width. Courier is
by the far the most popular typewriter face. It was developed for the
electric typewriters in the 1950s and is built into most laser printers.
TiredOfCourier was meant as an alternative, with a look which is
reminiscent of the older, manual typewriters.
While preparing this collection of typefaces, I read selections from
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, the Bible of amateur astronomers.
This book is typeset in a monospaced, typewriter-looking typeface,
but it uses a true italics Because I found this effect appealing, I
decided to add italics to TiredOfCourier.
The addition of the italics significantly increases the usefulness and
attractiveness of this typeface family. It may even give people a
reason to use it instead of Courier, which does not have a true italics
in the versions I have seen.
(While preparing the italics versions of TiredOfCourier, I altered the
other members of this family. In particular, I completed the
character sets and corrected a few minor mistakes.)

Tuskcandy (Plain, Bold, Inline)
If a font has slit serifs, it is a Tuscan. This type style was wildly
popular in the 19th century, when scores of them were produced and
heavily used. They have dropped out of style in the 20th century, so
that the style now evokes images of the 19th century.
Tuskcandy-Plain is a Tuscan of medium weight with serifs which
split and form little balls. In addition to a bold version, the family
contains an inline member in which each letter is surrounded by a
"halo". The inline version only works at large point sizes (at least 36
pt.), and is very much in the spirit of the Nineteenth Century.

VunderScript (Plain, Bold)
This script typeface is based on an established style in which the
lower-case letters connect but have little slant, and the upper case is
related to the German Fractur style. VunderScript is a calligraphic
exploration of the style. Consider it when you need a decorative and
rather formal script face.

WurstchenDotted
WurstchenDotted is made up up of sausage segments. It does not
have true lower-case letters, but rather variants of the upper-case
letters instead. As all novelty fonts, it is useful in small doses for
display.

WyomingSpagetti (Plain, Bold)
Typefaces with very thin verticals and fat, square serifs were
popular in the 19th century for display. Hollywood helped associate
this style with the Old West, but reference books identify some of it
as Italian style. WyomingSpaghetti, which was the first of a series of
faces, has a name which combines these two associations
Wyoming Spaghetti comes in two flavors, Plain and Bold. Both are
square-serifed typefaces in which the verticals are thin relative to
the serifs.  Most typefaces of this type are very condensed, but these
are not. The letter o is nearly circular, which is rather unusual in this
style.
Obviously these are for display purposes and should be used at
larger point sizes.
The theme in these typeface was further developed in the other
Wyoming families

WyomingMacroni (Plain, Pegged, Shadowed, ShadLeft)
WyomingMacroni develops WyomingSpagetti by splitting the serifs,
which was popular in the Nineteenth century. (See the discussion of
Tuskcandy.) The Pegged version adds a horizontal spike through the
middle of the stems, which has been a popular variation of this style.
Finally, there are two versions which are shadowed. In them the
letter is white on a black outline and shadow.

WyomingPastad (Plain, Shadowed, ShadRight)
WyomingPastad simplifies the WyomingSpaghetti style. The round
letter shapes of WyomingSpagetti have moved toward squareness.
The overall effect is that WyomingPastad no longer looks much like
an "Old West" face. Rather it looks quite modern.
There are two shadowed versions of this face. As with all shadowed
variations, they are useable only at larger point sizes.

WyomingStrudel
WyomingStrudel piles Victorianism on Victorianism. Typefaces which
have thick serifs are associated with an "Old West" or nineteenth
century look and feel. Another popular style of the period was
Tuscan, in which the serifs were split. In WyomingStrudel Tuscan
split serif has been placed inside the fat square serif as interior
decoration. It is an interesting typeface when you do not want to be
subtle.

Xahosch (Plain)
Xahosch is an informal calligraphic face based on the letter forms of
Yahosch.

Yahosch(Plain, Bold, Medium)
This informal typeface is based on egg-shaped circular elements,
with the larger part of the oval on the bottom. It comes in three
weights: regular, medium, and bold. The thin is very readable even
at smaller point sizes where it appears very much like neat hand
printing.

Zumbelsburg (Plain, Thin)
Zumbelsburg is an exuberant, calligraphic typeface. Its lower-case
letters are fairly standard blackletter characters, but the upper-case
letters are not. They are very ornamental and some are quite wide
with large flourishes. Zumbelsburg is a possible choice when a
decorative calligraphic typeface is desired.