SPECIMEN
WELCOME OUTLANDER A s t yl i s h , m o d e rn , a n d fu tu ri s ti c typeface, Outl ander i s a geometri c face w i th strai ght edges , ro u n d e d c u rv e s , a n d a square-l i ke shape. It i s currentl y avai l abl e i n a regul ar s iz e w i th a l l ma j u s c u l e s , m i n u s c ul es, numbers, sel ect punctuati ons, and choi ce alt er n a te ma j u s c u l e a n d mi n u s cul e characters. Outlander is best used as a display face - ideal for video games, television shows, movies, and other forms of media with a science fiction genre.
All stock images are courtesy of Scott Jones. All other pictures belong to their respected artist and companies.
Outlander is copyright of Ashley Readler
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
THE BEGINNING
6
THE PROCESS
10
ISSUES / PROBLEMS
12 SOLUTIONS 14 MAJUSCULES 15 MINUSCULES 16
NUMBERS / PUNCTUATION
17
ALTERNATES / OUTLANDER 1.5
18
TEST DRIVE
26 FAREWELL
CONCEPTION O ut la n d e r w a s c o n c e p tu a l i z e d a nd created i n 2012 by mysel f, A shl ey R eadl er. It w as dir ectl y i n s p i re d b y my l o n g l a s ti ng l ove for sci ence fi cti on vi deo games - such as t he M a s s Effe c t s e ri e s , Po rta l 1 and 2 , D ead S pace, and sci ence fi cti on movi es l i ke S er en i ty a n d th e te l e v i s i o n s e ri e s Fi refl y. In the early stages of this project, I was originally planning on creating a serif typeface inspired by gothic cathedrals, but a lack of interest spun me in a completely different direction. On a whim, I started sketching sharp, open characters with sections of their forms missing. My inspiration really gained momentum after I received positive feedback from my roommate and other science fiction fans - I knew I had something and that I was going in the right direction.
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MY SKETCH BOOK
Here you can see my early sketches of how I envisioned my typeface and what it would be used for.
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DRAFTING After I was done conceptualizing, I would need graphing paper, a ruler, and a pencil so I could start drafting out my letterforms. This part of the process was very time consuming and diffucult to complete, but once I was able to draw the shapes of a few of my majuscule and minuscule forms, I was able to trace those shapes for my remaining letterforms through the drafting paper.
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DRAFTING
This is the part of the process where I really started to realize and feel out the shape of my letterforms.
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DIGITAL PATHING Once I was finished drafting my letterforms, I was able to start digitally tracing them. First, I individually scanned each majuscule and minuscule pair into my laptop and created an Illustrator file with an art board for each pair of letters. After I was done p l a c i n g e a c h s c a n n e d p a i r o f l e t t e r f o r m s i n t o t h e i r a r t b o a r d s , I u s e d I l l u s t r a t o r ’s p e n t o o l t o d i g i t a l l y p a t h e a c h l e t t e r. S i m i l a r t o t h e d r a f t i n g p r o c e s s , o n c e I w a s able to trace out a few of my curves and shapes, I could use them repeatedly in all of my letterforms.
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DIGITAL PATHING
This part of the process took a lot less time to complete than I thought it would, which I was very happy about.
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PROBLEMS A s wi th a n y p ro j e c t I ra n i n to s everal probl ems al ong the w ay: P RO BL E M 1 / Il l n e s s I bec a me v e ry s i c k d u ri n g th e d rafti ng process of thi s proj ect. I w as i n and out of t he ho s p i ta l tw i c e a n d It w a s a l most i mpossi bl e for me to w ork. I fel l behi nd on dev el o p i n g m y l e tte rfo rm s a l m o st an enti re w eek. P RO BL E M 2 / L e tte rfo rm s H o w w o u l d I s h a p e m y ‘ A’ ? S h o u l d m y l e t t e r s m e e t a t a p o i n t , o r a s q u a r e d - o ff edge? What kind of curve would I use in my letterforms? How round would my ‘O’ be? Which letters would have pieces of their form missing? I was stumped on several of my letterforms. P RO BL E M 3 / T h e ‘ s ’ W hile I d i d h a v e a fe w p ro b l e ms w i th some of my l etterforms, they w ere nothi ng in c om p a ri s o n to th e p ro b l e ms I had w i th my mi nuscul e ‘ s’ . W hi l e al l of my other m inus c u l e l e tte rfo rm s fi t p e rfe c tl y i nto the x-hei ght space I had created for them, the ‘s ’ wa s th e o n l y l e tte rfo rm th a t w oul d not fi t no matter how many di fferent w ays I tri e d m ov in g th e c u rv e s .
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PROBLEM 3
My ‘s’ looked terrible, but how could I make it look better if the curves wouldn’t even fit into my x-height?
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PROBLEM SOLVING SOLUTION 1 / Illness After I was well enough to hold my ruler and pencil again I worked non-stop to catch up on all of the work I had missed. Luckily, after several days of late nights and a few allnighters, I was able to catch up on most of my missed work. SOLUTION 2 / Letterforms After group discussions and meetings with my professor it was much easier to figure out how I would shape my letterforms. My ‘A’ would meet at an arch instead of a point, and my other letter forms would meet at a square-off point instead of a sharp point. All of my letterforms would be made up of repeated forms and shapes. SOLUTION 3 / The ‘s’ I had two choices for my ‘s’: either change the x-height according to the needs of my ‘s’, or force the ‘s’ into the x-height already made. The latter was the more appealing choice I would have to re-draft almost all of my letterforms if I changed the x-height. After many hours of twisting, smashing, and a few frustrated tears I was almost ready to give up on my ‘s’. After all, it was just one letter. No one would notice how terrible it looked, right?
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SOLUTION 3
Even though I was ready to give up on my ‘s’, I refused to quit and was finally able to create a suitable looking ‘s’.
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MAGUSCULES
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MINUSCULES
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NUMBERS / PUNCTUATION
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ALTERNATE CHARACTERS
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EXAMPLES On the following pages are samples of Outlander in its natural habitat. I’ve edited my typeface into official art of science fiction video games like Dead Space 2, Portal 1, Portal 2, and Mass Effect 3. All in all, I am very pleased with how these edits have turned out Outlander looks like it fits in perfectly with the world of science fiction video games. I would like to thank everyone for their help and support - and you the reader for taking the time to read through this booklet.
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Dead Space 2 | EA Games ™ iPad Background
2
Portal 1 | Valve ™
Chapt er 9
I t ’ s
Portal 2 | Valve ™ Laptop Background
b e e n
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Mass Effect | BioWare ™
Obelisk of Karza
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