I am working on a design for a logo/sign package right now and need a font with a Native American look/feel. I searched around but can't find anything to spur ideas. Customer showed me a font that they like but, well, you know how that goes....... I have tried the Papyrus font, but not sure that has the look I want. Any other ideas?
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
How "authentic" do you want to go ??
If you're going for a genuine look that's as authentic as you can get, you could use the Cherokee Alphabet ( yes, it is an alphabet that was written by the Cherokee Nation and still is in usage today )
Note, that the actual alphabet has been "Romanized" for lack of a better term, but there's a guide to the proper usage and pronunciations.
Other tribes used pictographic images to communicate ideas and messages. If you do a "Google Search for "Pictographs North American", you should get some good reference sites.
Hope this helps.
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
that link will give you the authentic alphabet, but here's the fully "Romanized/English" version that I made to appeal to the local "Cherokee Pride," as I am smack dab in the center of Cherokee Nation--and married to a blonde-haired Cherokee!!!
Show this to your client and tell them this is the only authentic native american alphabet there is. And then go from there. Should you actually need the font file, let me know. I'll give it free to anybody who wants it.
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
quote:Originally posted by Michael Gene Adkins:
Show this to your client and tell them this is the only authentic native american alphabet there is. And then go from there.
Actually, Gene, there is another one. The Innuit peoples ( also known as Eskimos ) also have their own alphabet, but it's primarily used in the high Arctic areas of Northern Canada and Alaska. I thought that the Cherokee one would be more suitable, given the original poster's location.
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
Ken,
Is there a place to look at their (Innuit) alphabet? Images, etc? Sounds interesting! I did not know that! I'd always been told the Cherokee alphabet was the "only" one. Guess they weren't counting outside the contiguous states. Did it get Romanized or did it stay true to form?
also ... wanna bet the Cherokee alphabet will be too much for Mike's client? Car tags is about as far as it ever goes around here. Too many people in my area can actually read the actual alphabet, and to use my fully romanized and altered version on a full-blown sign would create chaos and confusion.
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Hi Michael.
Here's a link that'll provide you with a lot of information on the Innuit Alphabet. Apparently there are different versions depending on where the Innuit people hail from ( Russia, Greenland, Canada, Alaska )
Lacking a better way to describe it, that is just too cool-!!! And best yet, the shapes don't remind me of anything roman, cyrillic, etc. Maybe greek, perhaps, or even better, the X-files-!!!
I love the uniformity-!!! I think Mike should get a translation done and build his sign with that font-!!! LOL-ing
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i did this years ago in sarasota. closest indian style i could get. Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Mike, I'd certainly like that font
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
It's yours Rick --- I am firing it your way about 11:45 pm central time.
be warned --- the complete set is 26 UC characters and that is it. I never made numbers, punctuation, etc. This was strictly cartags and names on windows only, not a commmercial/business oriented venture.
have fun with it!
Posted by Bill Lynch (Member # 3815) on :
The look should depend on which nation your client belonds to... an Inuit will look different fron Sioux will look different from Hopi... Look at their color and decoration used on their traditional pottery, clothing, jewelry etc for ideas.
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
Ooh me too! Pretty please with a cherry on top? Love....Jill
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
I should have just sent Jill a copy first-!!! like she wouldn't want it!
Back on the topic of what font to use for native american stuff---
The cherokee nation's signage in this part of the country usually relies on strong, wide romans with thin strokes such as americana, or even heavy romans with a more rudimentary shape, such as albertus and goudy old style and garamond and others.
also: my fellow font designer James L Stirling designed a font called Keetoowah while working at a print shop in Tahlequah, OK (seat of the cherokee nation). It is a fun face for shirts, license plates, etc. It was quite popular but was hardly practical for the corporate identity side of things.
Don't know if any of this will help, but something to consider is that the more classic the roman, the more it tends to get used to identify native american related topics. At least in my neck of the woods.
well, gotta go email jill her font-!!!!
Posted by Mike Murray (Member # 840) on :
Thanks everyone for the replies. This doesn't have to be authentic as far as the font goes. None of the people involved with the company are Indian, in fact they are probably as far from it as you could get. It's just the name, "Indian Creek", that made me want it to have the Indian "feel".
I did learn some interesting facts with some of the other posts along the way here though......
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
Then how 'bout this?
boy--this board is just full of advice, ain't it?
Posted by Bob Noyes (Member # 8317) on :
Hey Mike, I'd love to have copy of your font. I'm working on a montage project right now that would be perfect to your font with.
Thanks,
Posted by Sonny Franks (Member # 588) on :
I used a typeface called Lithos Black (from Signlab) on a sign for "Indian Acres". It's somewhat similar to Joe and Michael's posted above, but much simpler - it worked very well with a repeated triangle and horizontal bar border.
Thanks to both Mikes, one for posting this question and one for the free font! By the way, I really like that second font too Mike... hahaha And Sonny, Lithos might look good on a sign with that theme. There's a motel in a town north of here called the Eagle Rock Motel, I swear it used all-caps Rickshaw with a totem-pole-looking eagle on it, and it works somehow. http://www.searchfreefonts.com/free/rickshaw.htm It's listed as Chinese Takeaway here: http://simplythebest.net/fonts/asian_fonts.html Love....Jill
Posted by Mike Murray (Member # 840) on :
Michael, what is the name of that font? I may try that one out.
Sonny, I started a design with a font similar to Lithos, just called Informal. I'll post it when I get somewhat happy with the design.
Hey Jill, is this logo? If it is, I agree, it does work somehow.
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
It's an Alf R Becker font/alphabet that I never finished. It's called Jitter Display and hails from Signs of the Times Magazine, December 1939. All it has is uppercase, numbers, a comma, a period and a hyphen.
It's yours if you need it. It was meant for scary halloween stuff, but I think it could work as a "campground" font.
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
That's it, Mike. See what I mean? And thanks to the "other Mike" again, you know I love me some Alf Becker. Love....Jill
Posted by Mike Murray (Member # 840) on :
Michael, I'd like to have that font. Thanks in advance!
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
