This article concerns a sans serif typeface I have been working on for a few years. It was going to be called MAGNESIUM; however somebody else has already brought out a typeface with that name so I'm settling for the cheerful-sounding:
 

I have always liked sans serif typefaces from the 1920s and 30s. There are a myriad of different styles of such typefaces from this period; today, there are digital versions if the classic fonts, and also recreations of various fonts from the period. The classic faces, such as Futura and Gill (both from around 1928) combine style with simplicity and legibility. However, recreations of other sans serif typefaces from the period often tend to be fussy, or let down by certain letters. I decided to try and create a new typeface, using some of the distinctive elements from typefaces of the period which I particularly like, and which are rarely found in more recent sans serif typefaces. At the same time, I wanted my typeface to be influenced by the clean style and legibility found in some of the classic faces from the period.

So far, I have designed all the capital letters and the numbers, and am working on the punctuation marks. The ‘&’ symbol is complete. I have some ideas for a lowercase alphabet, but for now it is an uppercase face only.

It all started with the letter A. I had seen various posters from the 20s, for example, and advertisement for voyages on ocean liners. The strokes met in a sharp point at the top of the letter, and the bar across the A was positioned quite low. I began to look for digital typefaces with such an A; however, those I found were never quite what I wanted. Some were let down by the design of other letters, some were too condensed, some were too ornate. Eventually I decided that if I couldn't find what I wanted, I would have to design it myself.

Having designed an A as described above, I used the steep angle of the strokes to create other letters, such as the M. I wanted to ensure the central strokes formed a point at the base of the M. This couples with the vertical edges to create a slightly narrow, but powerful shape. The same steep angle for the central strokes is used in the wider W, the V (Basically the A upside-down), the Y and the leg of the R. The K, N, X, Z, and the tail of the Q use a less steep angle. Angled tips end in sharp points which break the ascender or base lines.

Curves are nearly always based on a circle, and I wanted letters such as the O and G to be full and round, contrasting with narrower letters with no curves. Curves were made from sections of a circle; the one exception being the letter S. Typefaces based on simple geometry often use an S created from two half-circles. Cut an outline circle down the middle, then move the right-hand half down so the top of the curve joins with the base of the left half. The join will not appear smooth; especially if the outline is thick. Even if this is cleaned up, the shape of the S will be unbalanced. Normally a good S is based on complex curves based on many different circles.

My own approach was simply to create an S which looked right. First I looked at the letter S in various typefaces. Worth mentioning is the S in Johnston (designed for London Transport in 1916), where the top part of the S is smaller than the base, displaying balance and elegance. I tried to fashion an S influenced by these qualities, using the pen tool in Illustrator to create a basic shape, and then carefully adjusting each node to change the shape of the curves. This takes forever and is a bit like fashioning something out of jelly. Still, I'm quite pleased with the result. The problem with tweaking letters like this is the temptation to keep adjusting the shape by minute amounts. Eventually you have to finalise the design.

alec@hairyhighlandcow.net

Sunbeam Typeface © Alec Hole 1998-2004