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If I have unpublished letter fonts in my head, what steps do I take to bring them to a market, besides taking them out of my head to visual?
Paul Hetrick
-------------------- Paul Hetrick Paul's Hand Lettering Service 1525 Marshall Dr., Plant City, FL 813-754-1764 Posts: 2 | From: Plant City, FL | Registered: Aug 2011
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I would suggest you buy the Logo, Font & Lettering Bible by Leslie Cabarga. Learn what's in that book then speak to Chuck Davis or some of the other font designers who've actually created the beautiful fonts at Letterheadfonts.com
-------------------- Bob Sauls Sauls Signs & Designs Tallahassee, Fl
"Today I'll meet nice people and draw for them!" Posts: 765 | From: Tallahassee, Fl | Registered: Jun 2009
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Michael Gene Adkins is the man you need to be talking to. He is very sharp, extremely friendly, and knows all about fonts. http://www.thefontry.com/
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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Hi Paul - I noticed this is your first post in Letterville. Where ya been hiding? If you have the skills to design your own fonts (and hand-letter them) then we need you here. Don't be a stranger and we'd really like to see the font when you finish....
-------------------- www.signcreations.net Sonny Franks Lilburn, GA 770-923-9933 Posts: 4115 | From: Lilburn, GA USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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Thanks to those of you who respond so quickly and with sage advice...I shall follow up and keep you informed!
Paul Hetrick
-------------------- Paul Hetrick Paul's Hand Lettering Service 1525 Marshall Dr., Plant City, FL 813-754-1764 Posts: 2 | From: Plant City, FL | Registered: Aug 2011
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You'll want FontLab - which has a bit of learning curve. I totally agree with Bob Sauls about the Logo, Font & Lettering Bible by Leslie Cabarga. It's the best!
You'll also want a copy of Learn FontLab Fast by Leslie Cabarga. When you phone his toll free number he actually answers the phone - imagine that! In a few days you'll get an autographed copy.
Dan
-------------------- Marilin Armeneau Jaguar Design 44 Neal Close, Red Deer, AB T4P 1N4 Posts: 10 | From: Red Deer, AB | Registered: Jul 2010
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Ditto on Marilin's comments. If you render the fonts yourself you will want FontLab Studio, and Leslie Cabarga has the best documentation for beating the learning curve.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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Have a lot of time on your hands and really get good at vector editing, managing the tools for making smooth curves and taking advantage of copying similar stroke features. I made a couple fonts and some of them turned out ugly to me...
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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Paul, it certainly doesn't hurt to know how to draw the vectors yourself, but it isn't absolutely necessary. If you can provide good scans or copies, someone else can do it for you.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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You mean there's a book you can buy? That shows me how to use FontLab? I should have bought the book first, software second!!! hahahaha
FontLab is indeed a dangerous creature without some instructions to follow, especially if you're a novice.
But the biggest thing I see when advising others on fonts? Two things actually. First is lack of commitment. It takes a while to do a font correctly, anywhere from hours to days, maybe even weeks. My buddy James is putting the finishing touch on a mega font family he's been working on since January!!!
Second is the "where's my glory?" expectation. Let me just tell ya right now ... sometimes there ain't no glory in font design. There also sometimes ain't no money. And sadly, success is not dictated by effort. I've had fonts with the least amount of effort put into them become my best sellers, while the one I killed myself on absolutely tanks.
Oh, sure ... your font might make it to a billboard, a movie, even a national advertising campaign ... but unless you are really lucky and come up with the bloody cowpoke font or a package full of Greek faces for the fraternity and sorority crowd, more than likely you'll just be another "face" without a name.
On the other hand, if you are just putting a font together for the gratification of doing it all for you, then I think that goal is as grand and praiseworthy as any. But it will still be a lot harder than you expect. And that shouldn't stop you. Just try to have fun with it and don't let it overwhelm you. And should you have any questions, Letterville is open 24 hours a day.
-------------------- Michael Gene Adkins The Fontry 1576 S Hwy 59 Watts OK 74964 Posts: 845 | From: Watts, OK USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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I have half a font designed. A customer we've done quite a bit of work for wanted to use their logotype on awnings in front of their restaurant. The eight letters on their typestyle were designed just for the logo. I came up with a few more and now have thirteen letters. Then, I decided to use the same style for numerals on their other signs and now have nine numerals. Some day, I might decide to finish the thing. It's a much nicer typeface than the spastic colon stovepipe thing I came up with thirty years ago.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hi Paul, If I can be of any help feel free to give me a call or email. -Charles
-------------------- Charles Borges de Oliveira Borges Lettering & Design Snohomish WA Posts: 352 | From: Snohomish WA | Registered: Mar 2003
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