Designing A Text Page

[sgotr]

During your work with lettering have you had to do a full page of text or a near full page of text? Or a text page with a figure illustration to one side of the page or one side of the page top or bottom (about 1/4 page)? What type of fonts would best best to use for large amounts of text?

[Kep!]

It would depend entirely on what sort of piece you're doing, but in the case of a letters page (which fits what you're describing), a nice serif font will do the job grand. Try to use something more interesting than Times Roman (New or Otherwise). Personally, I gravitate towards Caslon and Jenson for a book layout. Another option would be to find something more comic like but still formal...a Grotesk might be a nice choice. Try several...post a few options here if you like, we'll give you our thoughts...and probably a few things that aren't fonts either.

[sgotr]

Thanks Kep! some of those font names are like an alien landscape to me. I'll put something together.
I should add what the font size should be for a page of text for reading.


BTW I have instant notify turn on on a lot of posts but I have not recieved any notifications of post(s) when posted.

[Kep!]

Chuckle, I meant YOU should do some layouts and we'd be happy to help you figure out what works and what doesn't.

As to the formatting getting stripped, that's because you didn't save it as a JPG. Try that and try again.

As to what font? I assume you're trying not to by one...SO! in the interest of free fonts that will help fit your mood, go check out this fontographer, he specializes in recreating historical fonts (like 200-1000 year old historical): http://moorstation.org/typoasis/designers/klein/index.htm there's a lot of germanic and blacklettering, but there's also several others, you just have to dig for them. good luck!

[sgotr]

Thanks Kep! I edited message of the writing text.

What I posted was from a part (the book is about 4 parts) and it reads like fantasy but the book is science fiction. Just to let you know as the text did not reveal that and I did not state the genere is science fiction. I was thinking font and size of font and forgot the genre influences the font.

Thanks for the link to the fonts :thumbs:

BTW what are Rep points?

[Kep!]

Glad to be of help, i hpe it sets you down the right path. As to font size, sorry, but every font is different...you'll have to practice getting the right eye for it...takes practice, but worth it.

Rep points are silly, and a bit of a joke. It's the green boxes under your post number on the left. You give and get them by hitting the white scales at the bottom of the persons box. Very silly indeed.

[sgotr]

LOL a DW game but not as much fun as PacMan :)

[Clem Robins]

this is probably not of any help to you, but you might find what follows interesting.

i don't know if anybody remembers this, but in the old Vertigo comic Preacher there was a sub-plot involving Arseface as a rock'n'roll idol. his manager was a thinly veiled Colonel Parker, who stole the kid blind. finally he takes off and leaves a note for poor ol' Assface, and the note took up almost the entire page.

sometimes one must go all out for great moments like this, even if it means losing money.

i have never been comfortable writing in cursive, and didn't want to attempt it for that page. computer fonts are generally too mechanically perfect to pass for handwriting. and this Colonel Parker guy was a hugely funny character whose departure was a classic moment.

so i hired a calligrapher friend named Wesley Cavanaugh, and described the character to him. what i had in mind was a southern gentleman, who would write in a very flowery and flamboyant Palmer script. Wesley understood what i had in mind and came up with exactly the sort of handwriting that this sort of bastard would have cultivated.

the letter had to be in perspective, and if i remember correctly, Assface's thumb covered up part of the paper. so i typeset the letter, and threw it into perspective, allowing for the presence of the thumb in how i laid out the type. i gave this to Wesley, and he used it as a guide. he placed a sheet of vellum over the typeset version and wrote the letter for me, with each character in perfect perspective.

neither he nor i made much money on the deal. i just gave him my page rate for that page, which means he probably made ten bucks an hour on the project if you allow for his having to drive to my studio and consult with me. but it was a classic moment, probably my favorite single experience on that comic. in his own way, Wesley fleshed out the character even more than Steve Dillon was able to.

in, i think, the final issue of Preacher, the story opens with a letter Jesse writes to Tulip. i followed the same procedure in doing this, typesetting the letter, throwing it into perspective, and using this as a template. this time i didn't job out the page, but just used the same handwriting i would normally use for a shopping list. it seemed to work well enough for Jesse's character.

it's not often that a letterer has the chance to, essentially, act out a character's part. if you ever do get the chance, make it an epic moment for yourself and don't use a computer for it.

[sgotr]

Clem Robins I find that very interesting and helpful. After reading it it gave me the ideal of having a character or charters interacting with the text as pages through out the text of the graphic novel.
Thanks for the story :)