From: John Hudson (tiro@tiro.com)
Date: Wed May 07 2003 - 13:29:24 EDT
At 04:35 AM 5/7/2003, William Overington wrote:
> > or the inappropriateness of your design to e.g. typesetting Middle
>English
>
>Please explain what you mean. As far as I know the required characters are
>all in the font.
Your design is a bad example of 'computerised' lettering suited only, if to
anything, to retro 1980s nightclub signage. The idea that a font is useful
for typesetting a language simply because it supports a particular set of
characters evidences a total lack of appreciation for typography in someone
pretending to be a type designer. Frankly, your typeface is so bad that I
wouldn't use it for anything, but I wouldn't use even a good typeface in
the same style for typesetting mediaeval English. It is culturally and
aesthetically inappropriate.
> > I suggest you get your hands on the MS Font Validator*
>
>Thank you for the suggestion and the link. However, I am using Windows 98
>and that program appears to be for later operating systems.
Get an upgrade.
I will send you, offlist, the Font Validator report for your font.
Hopefully you have some piece of software, e.g. a recent version of
Internet Explorer, in which you can view the report. You probably won't be
able to fix all the bugs using Softy, but you should at least be able to
deal with the overlapping outlines.
>Well, I would if I could. I was unaware of such tests or any need for them.
>I am happy to learn. The Quest Text font performs well in Word 97 and
>WordPad on a Windows 98 platform. Any other information on which platforms
>the font is being successfully used will be welcome please. In view of you
>saying that the font has errors, maybe Word 97 and WordPad, or maybe the
>Windows 98 platform, are finding the errors and automatically working round
>them, yet the font looks good in display.
Some systems and applications are more forgiving than others: they need to
be, since a bad font can crash an OS. Just because your system can handle
the bugs in your font okay, does not mean it is okay for you to ship fonts
full of bugs. That's just bad software development, and irresponsible. A
bad font can easily crash a system, and if it doesn't crash yours it may
still crash someone else's.
> >I used to have a freeware music program, but it didn't make me a composer.
>
>Ah.
>
>Creativity is from the human mind. Pen, paper, clay, paint, musical
>instruments and computer packages can help in expressing that creativity,
>yet do not produce creativity, though the availability of the tools and
>materials can inspire creativity and influence the way in which it is
>expressed.
Obviously I need to spell this out: the fact that you have a copy of Softy
does not make you a type designer. Frankly, the idea that anyone with a
piece of (bad) software and an inflated sense of his own creativity can
make a typeface is insulting.
John Hudson
Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com
Vancouver, BC tiro@tiro.com
As for the technique of trimming the nib,
Do not be greedy!
I will not reveal its nuances; I withhold its secrets.
- Ibn al-Bawwab, Ra'iyyah
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