Happy Friday y’all!
How are you all faring in the circus that is life?? I am coming to you with a regular old update! Now that Yolker is done, I want to talk about what’s coming next at TDN! I have resumed working on Weightless. If you’ve been around for a while, you may remember it from Week 50 of the 52 Fonts Project. It’s a revival of the Olympus typewriter font, Senatorial.
Despite searching high and low, I have never seen a digital version of it. There’s something about it that I have been absolutely hooked on since I saw it in a zine in Palm Springs a few years ago. It’s such an oddly old school yet futuristic typeface — I couldn’t resist.
Weightless keeps coming back up for me is because, admittedly, it’s one of the few text weight typefaces I have in my library. And I often reach for it in my own design work because it scratches a similar itch that Courier did back in my Myspace/AIM days. It has that emo yet sophisticated feeling that all us mysterious weirdos were always trying to evoke online.
I definitely carried my love for Courier into my college graphic design years and it’s still one of my fave system fonts to this day. Its just got something going on!! I don’t know how to explain it. My goal for Weightless is to fill a similar role. I want it to look good in text but also halfway decent if you blow that sucker up to a display size. This is perhaps a lofty goal but your girl dgaf!!
If you’re here for a more technical discussion, then here it is! If this will bore you, you can skip to my 5 things now. <3
I am going to level with you, I really thought that Weightless was a lot closer to being done but I made a robust proof and gave it a once-over with fresh eyes. Unfortunately, she needs a bit of an overhaul! Because I made it during the 52 Fonts project, it was made quickly and therefore some things aren’t up to my current typographic standard.
One of the main aspects to revisit is the rounded corners. I am pretty sure I just ran it all through the filter Glyphs has and it didn’t bug me before. But now that I working on it again, I really want to change it. It’s a matter of adjusting the bezier handles but unfortunately this will be for every! Single! Glyph! Ugh.
There have also some things that have bugged me about the joins for letters like b, d, n, m, p, q, etc. The original source had flat, square joins but for my modern sensibilities, I’d prefer some contrast there. I don’t know if I have found the correct amount of contrast yet but it’s feeling better already.
Besides those overall changes, I have a few small things I want to make better. I am excited about the possibilities of this typeface and I am excited to get it out into the world. I don’t have a timeline yet but I am riding the high of releasing Yolker and am feeling good about getting Weightless out there!!
Lastly, I wanted to mention that I started using a sketchbook last June and have kept it up (for the most part!) as a daily practice. I haven’t shared much about it because I didn’t want the pressure. Most days, I use it to start work and it is a great way to settle in. While it’s been a positive experience, I want to note that I only like 4 spreads of the 50ish that I have completed! It’s a truly humbling experience to make bad art but also it feels good to see the progress.
I don’t limit myself to doing letter-based drawings — sometimes I draw from observation or make collages. It’s just a space for me to follow my gut and make a little mess to start my day! I highly recommend it.
5 Things I Am Into Right Now
Every so often, I have to switch up how I eat eggs so they don’t gross me out and my current method is what I call Fancy Egg Toast. It’s toast (I like mine buttered because butter makes my gluten free bread taste better) topped with hummus, capers, chili crisp, these delicious (and overpriced) fried shallots, and an egg fried over-hard. It’s v good!
I have taken up snowboarding since moving back to Minnesota as an excuse to go outside and learn something new. I used to do it as a teen and it’s been an adjustment for my 30s body. I will say though, athletic people are onto something…
I am almost done reading Onyx Storm (the third book in the Fourth Wing series) and I am having mixed feelings! If you’ve read it, can we dish?? I have no one to discuss it with right now!!
I am currently watching Severance and loving it! This means we have Apple TV+ for the moment and so Alex and I started watching Silo last night and I am hooked after only 2 episodes.
I have a love/hate relationship with this app called Opal. It’s one of those apps that blocks you from using social media. It works a lot better than other ones I’ve tried because you have to click through a lot of things to turn it off or have 15 minutes of app time. But it is saving me from doom scrolling all day and has definitely improved my well being!
Have a great weekend everyone,
Libbie
me trying desperately to spot the difference between the before and afters...