There's a fellow who calls himself Dr Type who says he can ID over 1000 fonts on sight.
When there are requests here for font identification, someone usually names it pretty quick.
Just curious how many of you are really really good at font identification, and what tips or tricks you have that might help the rest of us.
Vic G
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
If you spend most of the day working with fonts, matching existing typestyles and recreating logos, you eventually become quite proficient at identifying them on sight. One of the biggest headaches these days is some fonts have naming issues: major type-foundrys have their fonts trademarked which includes the name, someone comes along and knocks it off and changes the name slightly and voila! lots of fonts that resemble each other but not exactly. Then you have a bazillion new fonts being added to the web each day with all kinds of bizarre names, alot of those fonts are variations of existing fonts, so you have to wade thru those.
Back when I was in college, in our typography classes, we had access to type foundry spec books: a big catalog with the fonts printed out. from there we had to pick certain fonts and then recreate all the characters by hand, rendering them in pen and ink. You end up learning more than you ever want to know about typefaces!
As far as tips or tricks, I try to identify characteristics of a few special characters and try to match those. "a,s,e,g,etc..." usually they have a unique style, and then I look thru lots of font books that have the full range of characters printed out. Once you go thru this process a couple of times, you can spout off font names with the best of them!
"My name is Michael, and I'm a font-a-holic...."
Posted by Ernie&DianeBalch (Member # 1301) on :
Every software package seems to have hundreds of fonts. I don't know one from another, except the ones I bought from the letterhead-font site.
Paying for a font has a way of getting your attention.
ernie
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I used to know at least a hundred, and now I'm not real sure of any.
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
I only remember the ones I've paid for...
Posted by Carl Wood (Member # 1223) on :
Right off hand - probly 400 - 700- - didn't waste 15 yrs. in Graphic Arts for nudin; did I?
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
I only remember my favorites. Seems like there are so many similar letterstyles now~a~days....I remember the unique ones and wacky ones.
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
I can recognize tons of them and find them in the directory by remembering that a certain font starts with a "p" and so on. I remember most names of fonts from the distant past, but the short term memory is gone. I'm glad my browser remembers my name and password or I would have to look that up. Starts with a "d" I think.
Posted by Mike Languein (Member # 319) on :
My first job was in a typesetting shop - we did sub work for printers. I learned a lot of typefaces in those days and still recognize and can name most of them - but not by their 'puter based names - and there are thousands of variations now on the old timers thanks to the hackers.
