Mark Stokes' post looking for a Jack Daniels font got me thinking about the challenge of making an alphabet from the clues in the logo. I downloaded an image from the web as reference, and here is what I came up with last night. I drew all the small caps, and then stretched the large caps, with small adjustments:
If you see anything that can be improved, please feel free to comment. I know the upper-case J isn't the same as in the logo.
[ April 03, 2007, 10:28 AM: Message edited by: Russ McMullin ]
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
Dang Russ, when will that be ready to bootle...er ... download?
I think that looks cool!
Posted by Jon Jantz (Member # 6137) on :
I love it Russ... I want it too. When you gonna have it for sale?? I got a name for it too... either "Jack Russell" or even just "Jack Russ." Posted by William DeBekker (Member # 3848) on :
Nice Font.. I will buy a copy also.
Posted by Kelly Thorson (Member # 2958) on :
Tonight Russ is going to post how he got fired for falling asleep on the job. It looks good Russ, now the fun part....the kerning! I can see an opportunity for a couple of alternates...like the G and the S. I always like fonts that offer alternates, seems like icing on the cake. Now lets see you do that "bouncy" one I sent. Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
I could also make a Jack Daniel's font but you'd have to drink plenty of it before it looked as good as the one Russ came up with.
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
Kelly... bouncy...
my mind is racing... my senses are reeling...
Posted by Kelly Thorson (Member # 2958) on :
Like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh?????? He sure is bouncy! Now behave and quit hijacking Russ' post! Posted by Ricky Jackson (Member # 5082) on :
I'll drink to that Russ! Man that's nice. Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Excellent job of interpretation. Overall, the only thing that might be tweaked is the "S". The angylar thick stroke appears to be just a tad thinner than the other thick strokes on the other characters. Perhaps if that were to have an ever-so slight curve and just a tiny bit more weight ?
I'd also be interested in acquiring a copy...let me know the price.
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Oooh, now I have to go out and buy a bottle of Jack Daniels, so I can check if you did a good job. Smalltown, you know - there'll be some talking...
Posted by Patrick Whatley (Member # 2008) on :
Russ, you're obviously not spending enough time drinking and playing golf.
Posted by Mark Stokes (Member # 5351) on :
Awesome great work
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
I daresay the font will cost a bottle! Nice work! It reminds me of a font of similar 'condensedness' I saw in signcraft maybe four years ago.
Posted by Rodger MacMunn (Member # 4316) on :
Great Russ......... now you've got Lotti taking up drinking. Nice font - I'd like to buy it as well. TR
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
Thanks for all the great feedback. I didn't have much time to make the suggested tweaks today, but in the next few days I hope to have something worth using. I'll keep you posted.
Is this a sign that I have no life? I really do need to get out and do some golfing. The weather has been amazing. As for the drinking, I'll leave the whiskey sipping to... Lotti? Posted by Dawn Ellis (Member # 3529) on :
It's a beautiful font Russ. You are so talented. Now go and play some golf!!!
Posted by Bruce Williams (Member # 691) on :
I think you got it. You're always careful about letterforms. Good work.
Posted by Bob Parsons (Member # 1034) on :
Russ, Nice work. Two or three things.
1. The X needs the negative space in the bottom triangle to appear a millionth larger than the top.
2. I think the bottom serifs on the straight strokes look different left and right sides, like the curve is not the same. Is that just me?
3. The S does need attention, and that is a tough one. Two thoughts there. The bottom serif can be taller than the top. And you have a theme with some of the curved letters, C and J, that you could incorporate into a "swoopie" bottom terminal for the S.
What program did you do this in?
I've done several fonts in my day. It's a lot of work to get it to this stage, even more to produce the finals in Fontographer... Way to go
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
I started out doing a search on Google images for the Jack Daniel's logo. I found a large image with clear lines:
From there I pulled it into photoshop, selected each letter and rotated them to look as perpendicular to the baseline as possible - they were designed to be on a curve.
Once I had all the letters in a row, and on the same baseline, I opened the file in Illustrator and started tracing them. The "I" was probably the first letter I did. I used the "I" as the main component for the majority of the letters.
With Fontographer I made a functional draft of the font. I lacks a set of numbers, and has only limited punctuation. I worked a little more on it yesterday.
The "J" in the logo seemed too fancy for the rest of the alphabet, so I borrowed the tail on the C to make it more plain. It would be cool to have a set of fancy caps, which would include the original "J".
Thanks Bob, and others, for taking the time to point out areas that need improving. I will make those changes.
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