Monarchia A Review

I've been testing a freebie font I downloaded called Monarchia.

Here's an ABC sampler.

My opinion should be fun to use for drop caps and do experiment with adding color but the designer really should have used a more modern AS IN LEGIBLE form of the letters C W X and Z especially in the lower case.

So if you're typo designer or calligrapher enjoy using this sampler image as a starting point and see if you can come up with an improved version!

PLEASE!

A Brief History of Gothic Script

A Brief History of Gothic Script.

Gothic scripts derives from Caroline Minuscule which first appears in manuscripts of the 12th century.

The next stage seems to be Textura Quadrata used from 1200 to 1500 and named after the squared off  four cornered letter shapes with a variant form called Quadrata prescisus vel sine pedibus.

Basically the same but no diamond points at the bottom of letters.

Then there's Quadrata minuscule from the end of the Middle ages and  the more cursive Secretary hand used by scribes from the 13th to 17th centuries which has a modern simplified version.

Fraktur style Goth scripts and fonts date back to 1400 and are still in use today.

There's also Schwabacher and a French script called Batarde .

Rudolf Koch encouraged the revival of Gothic script with his modern Gothic minuscule script and Gothic Capitals and reworkings of several types of Gothic scripts into simpler elegant modern forms for calligraphy and typography.

Now I've given you lots of key words to use for your own research.

Enjoy looking for beautiful letter forms be they Gothic or other!

Gothic Fonts - Two

Gothic Fonts - Two

Man y of us have computers with Old English font and the 2 related fonts Wide and Nue. How often do we think abuut the differences?

Here's some calligraphy using Gothic script so you can compare a printed  typeface with pen.

and finally how the strokes are formed.

compare the 2 images and think about how to sue Gothic whether you use a computer or a pen and color.

Gothic Fonts - ONE

The popularity of Gothic Scripts typefaces and fonts has shifted over the centuries.

Originally invented by scribes and then condemned as barbaric hence the name Gothic then revived in the 19th century certain political events reduced their popularity but they survive.

Here's a image of several variants!

and a image contrasting the letter shapes with Italic forms.

More next time!

Ostrakons Some Images

OSTRAKONS some images

In an era when scraps of papyrus were rare and paper or parchment hadnt been invented yet shreds of ceramics were often used for notes.

The Name on this one is Themisthokles

A example with Coptic writing.

an apology apparently I scheduled the dates wrong hence the long gap between posts!

Pen and brush

PEN AND BRUSH
More samples to consider.

I created this image in Inkscape and then changed it to a png for uploading to the blog.

Ugh I left an I  out of handwriting.

Now consider this though the scribes who created the uncial forms that American Uncial is based on cut and used their pens or quills at a different angle to those who developed the Italic scripts elegant derives from.

An ACTUAL handwritten version of the Bradley hand example could vary in shape depending on whether it was written with a reed pen or quill or metal nib and whether the nib was square cut or round or cut at an angle.

Brushed font well a "DRY" brush effect not a fully loaded really wet brush

Segoe that looks rather similar to modern felt tip liner pens?

Try an experiment type the same word in several font types and then write the word on a variety of pens or brushes, reed, metal nib, felt tip pen, lettering brush.

The letter shapes will vary.

Try it!?

Brush versus Pen

Brush Versus Pen

have you ever considered how much difference the shape of a tool makes to a letter and how a change of tool changes letter shapes?

This first image is modern typography. You could do this by hand but the use of layers and computers means you do not have to worry about white designer color or gouache or poster paint  not drying to a consistent smoothness for photographic reproduction and transfer to metal plates.

Next a design for a book plate a kind of small sticker to be placed in a book.

This one is early 20th century!

Finally while it was created digitally this logo from a sadly now defunct Geocities page is based on Gothic a script originally hand written in which the letter forms are made up of combined strokes on ink. 

Using modern technology makes us tend to focus on type as image.

Now please follow on to the next blog post in this sequence!?