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An entertaining font, and refreshing to see something of a slab-serif when most bitmaps we see lately are sans.
Looking at the word "Pfospfor," it appears to have a jumping rhythm due to the f and p not lining up with the other characters. I suppose this feature really stands out because the serifs create such horizontal movement.
Why truncate the ascenders and descenders? Allowing them to increase by one pixel will open up the design and allow the p, q, g, f, and t to hit their appropriate marks on the baseline and xheight.
I've taken the liberty to test it- Here is a comparison...
The other challenge here is spacing. Because of the variety of shapes, one can't assume that each character would have one pixel of spacing between it and the next. Some characters might require 1 pixel, and others wouldn't require any because of the serifs.
Where do you see the design going? Do you have any other weights or sizes in mind?
jb
29 Nov 2001 — 7:24am
Those ligs work great! It helps having a
small x-height. Your "THE" lig's the best.
hhp
11 Dec 2001 — 7:17am
Very nice. It's not often that one sees an altogether well-designed serifed bitmap font.
-Jonathan
20 Feb 2002 — 11:58pm
this must be one of the finest screen serif
types, i saw until now... smart + lovely...
10 Apr 2002 — 8:39am
Is this going to be available to the public? I would love a copy, ASAP!
3 Oct 2001 — 6:29am
I like it very much. Your idea is great.
29 Nov 2001 — 12:12am
I've made some modifications to hopefully
make it more usable. I've "softened" the rigid
edges and tamed some of the serifs).
Also, I couldn't resist trying out some
ligatures.
//joe
29 Nov 2001 — 7:59pm
Wow... I love the new lc "g". And Hrant is right -- those ligatures work really well.
It's nice to see that even the bitmap world can accommodate the quirky "ggy" ligature (it's a favorite of mine).... ;]
30 Nov 2001 — 3:29pm
Here goes. A ligature set for those
common web file extensions.
Plus some minor edits like the lc r and some
adjustments to the figures.
//joe
3 Dec 2001 — 6:54am
Hey, cool!
Has a bit of a goth taste to it!
When will it be available?
*L*
11 Dec 2001 — 2:37pm
Thanks. Serifs are hard to justify when
economy of pixels is key.
//joe
24 May 2001 — 10:29pm
Your advice to add a pixel to the ascenders and descenders is helpful.
It seems there are two directions I could take...
One is to add the pixels you prescribe, which adds overall height to the face. Good for readability but not always optimal in bitmap font design.
The alternative would be to make the x-height consistent, like you suggest, and eliminate key serifs to accommodate the short height. (So, for example, the ascender on the lc f doesn't run into it's own cross stroke.)
Don't even talk to me about kerning yet. Heh.
And weights? I started a 10 point but thought I'd hold off until I get the smallest size (7 point) completed since the most constraints exist at the smallest sizes...
//jp