I recently saw this set of golden angels on the Bay and immediately thought that the lettering was similar to that used by Hover for their miniature space toys. See below for the Space Glider. Anyone know what these fonts are called?
Most obvious way to spot that is if identical characters don't look identical in shape (look at the E f ex). In any mechanical or digital font (at the time that would've been Letraset or possibly embryonic photosetting for display texts) every individual character will always look identical all through the text (a few fancy fonts excepted that would offer alternative shapes for certain characters). In hand-drawn texts there's always a difference to a greater or lesser degree.
A previous employer was old enough to stil do lettering by hand (esp in logos), and he'd always draw the same character differently depending on where it was in a word and which characters were on either side - making sure they felt 'comfortable' as he put it. His was an art that's now largely lost, certainly in commercial applications. Whereas at the time it was cheaper and easier for an artist to quickly draw a text like that. Go figure.
Thy cartoon or comic in the fancy section of DAFont
http://www.dafont.com/mtheme.php?id=1
Both Lettraset and Mecanorama used to have fonts like this, you could use matching tape to extend letters, these days you'd chuck the near-ready artwork into Photoshop or Fireworks!
If you've never used DA, click on one you like, find the download option you're happy with and download it. Then find your 'Fonts' folder (computer-local disc (C:)-windows-fonts) and throw it in the folder...it should load automatically (XP and newer ?) and show-up in your Word, Picasa, Photoshop &etc. font-option drop-downs. They also have some lovely Anderson stuff under 'dingbats'!
That's hand-drawn lettering, Paul, in both cases.
ReplyDeleteMost obvious way to spot that is if identical characters don't look identical in shape (look at the E f ex). In any mechanical or digital font (at the time that would've been Letraset or possibly embryonic photosetting for display texts) every individual character will always look identical all through the text (a few fancy fonts excepted that would offer alternative shapes for certain characters). In hand-drawn texts there's always a difference to a greater or lesser degree.
A previous employer was old enough to stil do lettering by hand (esp in logos), and he'd always draw the same character differently depending on where it was in a word and which characters were on either side - making sure they felt 'comfortable' as he put it. His was an art that's now largely lost, certainly in commercial applications. Whereas at the time it was cheaper and easier for an artist to quickly draw a text like that. Go figure.
Best -- Paul
Thy cartoon or comic in the fancy section of DAFont
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dafont.com/mtheme.php?id=1
Both Lettraset and Mecanorama used to have fonts like this, you could use matching tape to extend letters, these days you'd chuck the near-ready artwork into Photoshop or Fireworks!
If you've never used DA, click on one you like, find the download option you're happy with and download it. Then find your 'Fonts' folder (computer-local disc (C:)-windows-fonts) and throw it in the folder...it should load automatically (XP and newer ?) and show-up in your Word, Picasa, Photoshop &etc. font-option drop-downs. They also have some lovely Anderson stuff under 'dingbats'!
Try,,,not thy! I'm typing in the dark!
ReplyDeleteFascinating stuff guys. Thanks for the insights. Hand painted lettering sounds like a true art form Paul. Those dingbats are great Hugh, cheers.
ReplyDelete