Part 1. Illustrations

It’s hard for me to imagine something more enjoyable than sitting in front of a computer, next to my snoring dogs, tinkering with curves – I knew a formal script would require a lot of that – so designing a font based on 18th century copperplate seemed like a practical project idea. I got started by hand lettering each form’s structure and then combined them into words to help visualize spacing.

Copperplate makes use of twelve principal strokes; six lowercase and six uppercase, giving the style a structured appearance. Within the lowercase, a variety of connections occur.

Letterforms connect with either an upstroke; that directly connects to the following form (ab above), or with an ogee curve (lm above), where an upstroke connects to a hairline entry stroke, which can be thought of as an indirect connection.

When writing, ogee curves are tightened up, so that the space does not appear noticeably larger than the more common, direct connections. Harmonious mimics this calligraphic writing technique by automatically reducing the width of lowercase letters that make up an ogee connection. This feature makes the font’s spacing uniform and rhythmic, despite the assorted connection types.

Part 2. Characteristics

The font delicately balances traditional characteristics from writing’s golden age, which is considered by many to be the 18th century, with contemporary ideas that improve legibility and balance.

• Dynamic forms – Whenever possible, dynamic forms take priority over more traditional options. The three uppercase Bs are a good example (below), where the most fluid is the default and the two, more traditional forms, are its alternates.
• Elongated teardrop-shaped terminals – Terminals dramatically spring off horizontal boundaries (x-height, cap-height, and baseline). This makes the forms more dynamic and helps create even coloring.
• Uniform proportions – The predictability created by the close-to-uniform width of the uppercase and numbers makes for enjoyable reading.