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Pixeltrap
Posted by Jared Benson in
29 Aug 2003 — 2:32pm
29 Aug 2003 — 2:32pm
It's been a while since I've posted anything, so lest you think I actually know what I'm doing, I'll post a little sum'n sum'n I've been working on. This was built entirely in Bitfonter by FontLab.
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29 Aug 2003 — 3:14pm
Yeah, it's very good, imo, nice work.
Like best, the lc y and g, but all of them grab your attention.
It seems to me that pixel display (bigger than 8 or 9 px)
is a niche that is not being fully served and it'd be nice to
see more faces like this.
bj
29 Aug 2003 — 3:17pm
Also, I am familiar with Miguel's amazing work,
I'd just like to see some other people jump in, too.
bj
29 Aug 2003 — 3:22pm
Hi Jared,
Nice font specimen. I think that the tails of f, g and y are too decorative. I like the optical internal greys, looks great. BTW, I want to buy a Bitfonter that can produce pixel fonts optimised for flash, and maybe a new version who can generate super pixel fonts, vector with greys. I am a windows user, but if bitfonter can offer a new version for those who design pixelfonts...it would be great! I never knew if Bitfonter was a sucess of sales for Pyrus anyway..
MH.
29 Aug 2003 — 4:38pm
Miguel said: I think that the tails of f, g and y are too decorative.
I like those tails Jared, but they do look a bit out of context with the rest of the face. Perhaps you could derive two versions of the characters: one that is a straighter gothic sans; and one that is more decorative - sort of a sans w/swash lowercase.
Or, whatever.
Regardless, it looks swell.
1 Sep 2003 — 9:59pm
Has it been 72 hours? I really can't hold it in any more... ;-)
I personally like large pixelfonts in general, not least because there are so few of them! This is a strange one (in a good way), and the main question about it seems to be: what's it for?
If it's for good performance in video, then the trapping is going to look strange versus "display" usage, but OK functionally. So if you're shooting for the former, you'll have to put in more traps (like in the "I" - yes, I can see the trickiness there), but if it's for the latter you'd probably need to balance them aesthetically (generally by reducing the trapping in some glyphs).
As to the somewhat unorthodox glyphs (like the "g" and "y"), I honestly can't figure out if they should stay or go... One thing about the "g" though: it's too wide, and leaning rightward - try to make the join to the tail thinner and within the left bound of the head.
hhp
30 Nov 2003 — 1:54am
The starstruck g and y are fine to my eye, maybe because they look great from 5 feet away. A fitter quote might go, "Pixeltrap attains its shape at a distance of 5', or 120 dpi, whichever comes first."
I am not teasing. Photonic analog interference is wild and real between the viewer and the display. Only those with digital eyes will see strange lighttraps.
<self-serving> maybe some of them want to be gray. </sans>
30 Nov 2003 — 10:49am
Grayscale bitmaps are in fact naturals for trapping.
hhp
29 Aug 2003 — 3:13pm
I think the only glyphs that don't work are those with too
many traps, like the 'o' and 'e'. What happens if you only
do two corners (on opposite ends)? It's really nice, Jared.
'g' seems a bit wide. Maybe reign in the bottom half
one pixel from the left.
2 Sep 2003 — 1:30pm
Thanks everyone for your feedback! I've been refining as you've been posting and will post another sample later this week when I get a window of time.
jb
29 Aug 2003 — 2:42pm
Kewl. You know, I don't usually comment on pixel fonts (not my bag) but . . . One thought: I think either you should also notch the shoulder of the 'h', or else remove the "underarm" pixel. That stem-arch joint just seems too solid.
-- K.