Designing Multiple Master Typefaces

Retrieved on 2017 January 08 from http://web.archive.org/web/20050125221823/http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/font/5091.Design\_MM\_Fonts.pdf Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii Introduction .................................................................................................................1 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................................... 2 Part 1: Technical Guidelines for Designing Multiple Master Typefaces ...........................................................5 ............................................................................................................................... .......5 Chapter 1: Overview of Multiple Master Typefaces..........................5 Determining Design Axes and Their Dynamic Ranges ................................................ 7 Chapter 2: Technical Design Guidelines...........................................7 Arranging Master Designs in a Conceptual Design Space ............................................ 9 Master Design Compatibility for Interpolation.......................................................... 12 Element Compatibility ......................................................................................... 13 Start-Point Consistency ........................................................................................ 13 Subpaths and Path Order Consistency ................................................................. 13 Point Placement for Interpolation.............................................................................. 14 Designing Optically Adjusted Master Designs............................................................ 17 Fine Tuning the Optical Size Axis ............................................................................... 19 Selecting Primary Fonts .............................................................................................. 20 General Technical Considerations .............................................................................. 22 Design Strategy ..................................................................................................... 22 Macintosh Typeface Name Restrictions ............................................................... 23 Multiple Master Typeface File Size (in Bytes) ....................................................... 24 Objectives of the Alphanumeric Naming System ...................................................... 27 Chapter 3: Multiple Master Font Naming Conventions.................27 The Alphanumeric Font Naming System ................................................................... 29 Design Axis Abbreviations .................................................................................... 31 Primary Font Label Abbreviations ........................................................................ 32 Assigning Design Coordinate Ranges to Weight and Width Axes ............................. 33 Assigning Coordinate Values to the Extremes of Each Design Axis .................... 33 Assigning Design Coordinate Values to Primary Fonts .............................................. 36 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 37 Chapter 4: Application Support .....................................................37 Adobe’s Multiple Master Typeface Design Process ..................................................... 39 Part 2: Adobe’s Typeface Design Process .......................................39 Overview ............................................................................................................... 40 Stage 1: Research and Concept Development ...................................................... 40 Stage 2: Keyword Exploration............................................................................... 43 Stages 3 and 4: Preliminary and Full Character Sets ............................................ 45 Design Considerations at the Master Design Level .................................................... 47 Character Heights ................................................................................................. 47 Individual Character Weights and Overall Typeface Color ................................. 49 Individual Character Proportions and Overall Typeface Width .......................... 50 Stroke Contrast ..................................................................................................... 52 Companion Italic Designs .................................................................................... 53 Letter Spacing ....................................................................................................... 53 Design Considerations at the Multiple Master Typeface Level .................................. 57 Typeface Function ................................................................................................ 57 Master Design Compatibility................................................................................ 57 Design Axis Ranges ............................................................................................... 58 Interpolated Instances and Primary Fonts ........................................................... 58 Typeface Production ................................................................................................... 59 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 60 Typeface Guidelines.............................................................................................. 61 Appendix A: Type 1 Point Placement Basics ..................................61 Points at Extremes ................................................................................................ 62 Smooth Transitions............................................................................................... 62 Triangle Guideline ................................................................................................ 63 Vertical Stems........................................................................................................ 64 Economy of Points................................................................................................ 64 Appendix B: Glossary ......................................................................65 Appendix C: Bibliography...............................................................67 Part 1: .................................................................................................................... 68 Part 2: .................................................................................................................... 68 Appendix D: References ..................................................................68 Appendix E: Standard Kerning Pairs .............................................69 Full Character Set ........................................................................................................ 70 Appendix F: Sample Tests ...............................................................70 “Hamburgevons” Keyword Text ................................................................................. 71 Spacing Test................................................................................................................. 72 Two-Axis Multiple Master Text Interpolations (3 x 3 grid of instances) .............................................................................................. 75