Documenting my experiments building my own typeface: the What? the Why?, and the How? Follow Peter here: petertait.com/ twitter.com/peter_tait github.com/petertait

1. Making
letters.

4. Why?
Type nerd.
Learn something new.
Why not?

5. Where did I
start?
Keep it simple
stupid!

6. Pokey

7. Draw it.

8. I am Pokey!
A handwritten font,
designed to be a bit silly.

9. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ
RSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrst
uvwxyz
0123456789!?:/.,-=

10. Time to make
a proper
typeface.

11. Decide the
purpose and style
Body
DISPLAY
Decorative or fun
Sans-serif
Serif
Monospace
Grotesque
Neo-grotesque
Geometric
Humanist
Slab Serif

12. Stylistic choices
closed or semi-open or open 4?
three-line or two-line Y?
descended or base-lined J?
two-storey or one-storey g?
two-storey or one-storey a?
crossed or joined or rounded W?

13. Find inspiration

14. Begin
creating!

15. Draw it.

16. Illustrator!

17. Geometric

19. Glyphs!

20. Fun 3 Features
1. Mega precise positioning!
2. Reusable letter parts!
3. Auto interpolation!

22. iterate.

23. Spot the difference.

24. Spot the difference.

25. Kerning :(
Toy Thoy
Avour Amen
Vaseline Vital

26. Test it.

30. AmericanAirlines
AmericanAirlines

31. Pack my box with five
dozen liquor jugs.
Dharma and greg environmentalism
roseanne barr free willy nickelodeon
TGIF lineup. Kenan & kel yo-yos catsuit
ford taurus hootie and the blowfish air
jordans. Seattle supersonics nike nafta
uncle phil.

32. ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnop
qrstuvwxyz
0123456789
Metrik

33. Challenges
Kerning is hard.
Consistency is hard.
Have patience…

34. What next?
Rebuild using Glyphs’
reusable components
feature.
All the weights!

35. Thanks.
Questions?