posted
I have a client that is bound and determined to use Old English in her 4' diameter sign. At least it is not all upper case!! The "By Appointment Only" and a 10 digit phone number is 2" high sandblasted into HDU is gonna drive me NUTS by the time it is all said and done. I have already bumped the price up 75% just due to the type style. Other than outlining and picking it apart, which I have done, is there a better solution??
[ March 27, 2002, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: John Smith ]
-------------------- John Smith Kings Bay Signs (Retired) Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 817 | From: Central Florida - The Sunshine State | Registered: Jan 2000
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I ran into the same thing with University Roman-----too skinny for what I wanted.
On a lettersize of about 4 inches I set the cut to do a contour cut about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thicker than the original letter. Worked for me and gave the letters the "heft" they needed to be more readable.
-------------------- Bill Preston Fly Creek, N.Y. USA Posts: 943 | From: Fly Creek, N.Y. USA | Registered: Jan 2000
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Try putting an outline on the letters, then weld. When I do this, I usually kern the letters apart before doing the outline and adjust the kern after I'm happy with the thickness of the stroke.
Cher.
-------------------- Co-Host: SANDCASTLE Panel Jam 'a Dixie Letterhead Reunion' Fort Myers, Florida
Cheryl Lucas a/k/a "Shag" on mIRC Vital Signs & Graphics, Etc. Cape Coral, Florida 239-574-4713 VSignsNgraphics@aol.com Posts: 987 | From: Cape Coral, FL USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
John- Engravers Old English has a med and bd version. Or, you could try substituting Cloister Black or Fette Gotilch D. These are both bolder and dont have the extreme thins of Old English. I'd bet the ranch the customer wont know the diff.
-------------------- Jay Nichols ALPHABET SOUP
~the large print giveth and the small print taketh away~ Posts: 176 | From: SW Florida | Registered: Mar 2002
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I wish I knew of your dilemna when I was down there. Calligraphy was my first love, well after oil painting, hehehe. I coulda knocked out some thumbs and hand cut it for you whilst I was there!
It sounds like you have good advice from a technology type of view.
Back in the day, I had to put out a lot of Old English and read-ability and execution (without pulling out the old hair) were always an issue.
Basically standing back and squinting at it after you've simplified the repetitive serifs (as much as the customer will let you get away with) and add some flourish (kinda like scrollwork) to Ascenders, descenders or capital letters to balance out the deafening roar of negative space and give it a dancing quality was sompn they could live with.
That's how I got so much practice with a calligraphy pen. It can be done. Sure it's a pain in the butt, but it's possible. It's kinda like laying vinyl on rivets, or painting on corrugated metal hehehe.
You're skilled enough to do it, I've got faith in you.
posted
Just today I saw a car decal (cut vinyl) with Old English for the Capitalized first letter & some basic block style for the l.c. characters. It is a locally popular design I have seen before & only noticed today the 2 fonts. I'd use something a little classier then they did if I tried this, but for small secondary copy, it seemed like another possible way to deal with this challenge.
posted
John, would you consider using the german version of old english, Fette Fraktur?. It is a nice font with much less thin strokes than old english.
-------------------- Drane Signs Sunshine Coast Nambour, Qld. dranesigns@bigpond.com Downunder "To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer" Posts: 965 | From: Nambour, Qld. Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
What has always been called Old English is nothing more than a German Text Letter and one of the best in computer grafics is Frankenstein it is quite bold and very legible...altho ther are a few letters that could use some work.
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
posted
Okay, I got it folks. I used O.E. regular and outlined it then went back and cut off what was too thin, bumped up the skinny parts, kerned back to somewhat legible format. Another hour added to her design. Now, her "simple" 4' dia round sign with some gold is up to $1936.00. Other than that, she is easy to work with!! Now, if I can only match the exact mauve of her kitchen curtains and the nice teal in her bathroom tile!! Thank all of you for your help !
-------------------- John Smith Kings Bay Signs (Retired) Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 817 | From: Central Florida - The Sunshine State | Registered: Jan 2000
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