And I believe it’s in a finished-enough state that I can release it as a proof of concept. While there do remain some areas in the system with deficiencies or aspects I would like to remedy or revamp somewhat, overall it’s still a very useful system as it currently exists. It was only after another 10 to 15 years of experience that the ideas floating around in my head about how to do things better finally began to gel into the overarching system that became FontCompass. Then, the idea was to make it easier to scan the collection and get a good overview of what was available. I actually started playing with classifying fonts as a freelance typographer in the early 1990s when publishing my business’s font library list for clients. Because I am no different than other designers when it comes to trying to discover the specific visual look and feel I want for a project. I would suggest instead it’s specifically because of all those years of experience, and hammering away at the issue of finding “just the right font” for many projects over many years, that the light gradually dawned about how to finally make such a system work - both for me, and for others. And while some might contend that’s easy for me to say as a typographer of 30+ years’ standing, I don’t think so. That said, it does require a bit of education about font design - but that’s something easily learned as you use the system. It’s practical, it’s been honed over time, and it just works. But in fact, it can be done, and in a way that takes both those considerations into account.įontCompass is now a tried-and-true system I’ve used on the job week in and week out for close to 10 years. “They” say there are too many ways fonts can be classified, and too many fonts are hybrids that don’t fit neatly into any one category. Or at least not done well in an orderly, logical way that makes sense and is easy to use. Whenever the subject of a universal, comprehensive typeface classification system comes up in font forums, you will typically hear typophiles say it can’t be done. (See examples of my car tag design work.) Second, finding a font, or fonts, with just the right “flavor” or appearance for any given design project - especially car tags where large lettering usually contributes at least half, and sometimes all, of the “look and feel” - is a key factor in the success of the design. Even if they could, the resolution is too coarse when such images are enlarged enough for use as license plate artwork.) (Bitmaps like JPGs, PNGs, and GIFs can’t be used for screen-printed license plates. The best they can furnish is often no better than a low-resolution bitmap image from their organization’s website, which can serve only as a template for rebuilding the logo from scratch. Half the time customers do not have their original, high-resolution logo artwork available. F ontCompass is a comprehensive typeface classification system I created over a period of one and a half years in the mid-2000s for two closely related reasons.įirst, to help quickly identify fonts when rebuilding logos as vector artwork in Adobe Illustrator for Leeward Productions, the custom license plates business I operate.
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