Opera Slab: Type Design

First, I would like to say how much I enjoyed this project, one of the most fun and challenging things I have worked on in a while! I love typography! We started this project by refreshing our memory on type anatomy and classification. We then took a trip to the special collections Library to do research and gather inspiration. I was incredibly inspired by all of it, but the typeface that really caught my eye was from an Italian Opera poster from the year 1868.

Next I began to more closely study and analyze the typeaface in attemtps to better understand it so I could set perameters for my typeface. This typeface was incredibly condensed with a high x-height and relatively short ascenders and descenders. There was moderate contrast between thich and thin and the letters were adorned with slab serifs. With my parameters established I entered the sketching phase.

After completing my sketches,  I began to vectorize my typeface. I did this using glyphsapp. We were taught to create letters in a specific order which allowed us to create more cohesion between the letters. 

After alot of developement, I had completed the alphabet. The next step was to improve legibility and consistnecy among letterforms and establish the left and right side bearings for each letter. Things like the blur test simulate what the font would look like from a distance while the phrase “onon” is a kerning pair used to set bearings between curved and straight letterforms.

The final application was to design a tpe specimen book to display my typeface. I chose to use the Risograph machine.