TYPETR Upgrade

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The making of Upgrade

Some design notes

TYPETR Upgrade was made with RoboFont, the type-design tool developed by Frederik Berlaen. The application is entirely written in Python, which allows designers to “hack in” at any level of their tools.

RoboFont runs on top of a number of other code libraries, such as Tal Leming’s Vanilla and Defcon, Just van Rossum’s FontTools (now fully supported and maintained by Google), Adobe’s FDK, and Erik van Blokland’s “MutatorMath”, to name a few.

The community of professional type designers is relatively small, and its tasks are so diverse, that any comparison to applications like PhotoShop and InDesign fails. For the most part, type designers need to create their own tools to support the design and production of their typefaces. Any existing, canned solution is likely to be used by graphic designers, too. They don’t need type designers for that.

Scripting

The same applies to the development of TYPETR Upgrade. Almost all design and production work was done with Robofont, but over fifty different scripts were used to accomplish specific tasks, such as the automatic creation of characters, testing tension in curvature, testing symmetrical spacing, testing the compatibility of similar shapes, creating proof specimens, automatic kerning where possible, and interpolation and conversion to various output formats.

The main reason for developing scripts during the design process is to create short production cycles, so that one can easily test the final result at any stage. Otherwise, wrong guesses can eat up a lot of valuable time.

The FontWindow in RoboFont gives an overview of the complete glyph set. Shown here: Upgrade Semibold.
Zooming the FontWindow reveals more details about the layering and spacing of glyphs, still as an overview. Shown here: Upgrade UltraBlack Italic.
The main EditWindow in RoboFont looks like this. A single letter (Semibold glyph) is shown as an outline, with markers on the position of the points drawn by the designer. Also visible in this window is the addition of a set of Type Network tools that draw the blue accent cloud, the analyzed metrics of the drawing, and some other weights (Hairline and Light) in the background for comparison.
The Type Network application TextCenter—running within RoboFont—is used to finalize the side bearings of all glyphs, while they can be viewed in the context of a page. Upgrade Hairline’s spacing is shown here.
Subsequently, kerning is applied. The most important glyph pairs (or groups of glyphs that have a similar shape on the side) can have their own correction value in addition to the spacing. Kerning values can be positive and negative.
Here, the spacing process is shown for the Upgrade Semibold style; some pairs, such as To, always need negative kerning. The o moves partly under the roof of the T.

Design workshops

  • Do you want to learn how to design and produce typefaces like Upgrade, directly from the makers? Design Design Space offers a flexible choice of courses and workshops, where participants can define their individual goals.

  • Python scripting for type designers (four weeks, February 5–March 5, online, six spaces left)

    During this monthlong course, type designers learn from scratch how to script micro and macro tasks during their type-design process. In a series of short specific assignments that are closely related to their daily tasks (if possible), designers learn to recognize patterns that can be automated, breaking them down into existing functions and ones that need to be developed. Read more...

  • Python scripting for type designers (three days, March 10–12. Special Robothon edition, on location in Delft, eleven spaces left

    Right after Robothon, as a condensed version of the monthlong “Scripting for type designers” course (February 5–March 5), this three-day course will address the highlights in order to set type designers on the right path. The goal of this abridged course is to give designers an overview of their potential toolset to further develop themselves in their design practice. Upon request, special emphasis can be placed on the development of scripting for variable-font design and proofing. Read more...

  • Or, if you want to learn how to make Python PageBot scripts (like the ones that created the images on this website), let us know you are interested. Together we can probably find an appropriate strategy for such a course of study.

  • Generally speaking, Design Design Space encourages students to study the design of their process, independent of context, domain, or purpose of the designs.

Learn more
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