Briem’s notes on type design: Type design basics¶

Doesn’t everybody know?¶

This section deals with facts that may seem too obvious to mention. Skip it if you like. Puzzles of optical illusion are a part of childhood. Orderly work is merely common sense in action.

You’ve got a head start if you know how to write with a broad-nib pen. If you don’t, learn the basics. Long ago and far away, Alfred Fairbank’s Handwriting Manual got me going. It’s a good book.

I assume you can use a computer. And I hope you already know your way around Bézier curves. If you prefer to work with paper and pencil, that’s fine. A drawing-board with a T-square is not a bad place to start. What counts is the end result. For 500 years, people created typefaces with simple metalworking tools. Some were masterpieces.

You can help me. If I don’t explain properly, please let me know. I’ll try harder. If I’m wrong, kindly say so.