This blog was never intended to be so very comic book geared, but as it has become that way, I feel well within my rights as the guy who pays for the hosting, in talking about something of an unlikely obsession for me. I like fonts.
I’m not a particularly gifted letterer, admittedly, and my lettering, like my art, is a bit stark, really. Obviously, I like it that way, or I wouldn’t do it that way, but it’s not for everyone, and I don’t think it needs to be. I am, however, branching out and doing more, and so, to that end, I took advantage of a sale at Comicraft to purchase a few new fonts [NOTE: the sale ends today, so chance are that this may end up seeming like gloating, rather than being informative, unless a lonely confused letterer should stumble onto my blog by complete accident before midnight].
Admittedly, I feel a little bit odd, as I’ve always been a Blambot guy. Blambot, for those of you who don’t know, is pretty invaluable for anyone starting off in lettering. They offer a number of free fonts, for use in non-commercial projects (okay, basically any project that is self-published), and a number of pay fonts (including my own personal over used favorite, 10 cent comics). Nate definitely has a great eye for fonts, but I’ve always wanted to play around with some of Comicraft’s fonts as well.
Comicraft wrote the book on computerized lettering (literally I own it, it’s a fun read). The work that they did on “Age of Apocalypse,” really revolutionized the industry of lettering, which has always been one of those parts of the comic assembly line that gets forgotten, rather than made fun of (like inking) by people who don’t understand. For years letterers were asked to do something that even monks gave up when Gutenberg came along and modified a wine press to print Bibles in a hurry. It’s a very important part of the process, and these guys were responsible for the words making sense, and being readable.
I envy that, because while my handwriting isn’t exactly chicken scratch, I am working to improve it to the point at which it can be called chicken scratch. My lettering is even less impressive. I’ve worked with a lettering guide, and spent a long time on the basics, but anything I have lettered by hand, I had to re-do via computer (with the exception of the occasional single word on a shirt). It’s faster, looks better, and allows me to blame the computer if I misspell something.
So, I guess the next big project I take on, after the one I’m working on currently (to be posted at some point in the future, some place on the web) will be done in the Tim Sale font . It’s got lower case! I’m easily amused… next week I’ll try and post on small sharp shiney objects.