Graphic designer Kent Sanchez explores the history and anatomy of the letter ‘p’ he created.
essay/theory by kent sanchez
An
autopsy of
a Nothing rivaled the printing press of Louis XIV, the fine mesh grid, the exact proportions to be copied, and a typeface to be made for the royal; I am talking about none other than the great, the tactful, the intelligent; Louis Simonneau. An engraver who had everything measured down to its exact proportions, every form connected through formulas and numbers. However, I did not do this. I rebelled. I wanted my hand to tell me what was right. I wanted the natural curve of that thirty-degree angle I was holding at to flow, to prosper, (Continued)
Education Letterforms History Typography Proportion Calligraphy
77
68
to prosper, to be human. To be a sabon, not Fat Faced, or Egyptian, and not to far from gothic, not transitional or even the bit least modern. Today, it is known as humanist or old style. In fact what I am doing right now, is what Edward Johnston over a hundred years ago, in 1906, did his own diagram, which studied the exaggeration of any features and how it affects the proportions of the letters.
Figures 68-76. Examining the weight and width of a calligraphic letter with different variations to test legibility, function and form.
69
71
74
76
72
75
70
73
WEIGHT AND WIDTH After I had drawn my original letter, (ex. 51) the next immediate question is the amount of legibility if shrunk, blown up, but my interest was the width and weight. I felt that this particular letter might be more use for headings and subheadings due to it serifs cross the stem so far at that 30 degree angle. Since the serifs are an extra, small lettering with serifs can sometimes complicate a reading and add extra unnecessary distractions to the meaning of the words themselves. After reviewing the digital sketches of alterations to the width and the weight, they seem quite similar to a family of a typeface. However, since the stroke has increased, it has increased my thin humanist serifs into slab serifs, taking away from original intent of a calligraphic letter that accentuates angle, rhythm and contrast between the stem, the bowl, and the descender. HAND VERSES MACHINE Based on my original design of my letters, I had gone through a whole process of peculiar ‘p’s ranged from the placement of the bowl, from the placement of the serifs, and the descender and the relation between all three. My pen tip was angled at 30 degrees, for the reasons of movement. With that angle, my bowl would have great contract in drawing the circular shape, but that angle when moving horizontally provides a nice thin line and whiles down vertically has a nice rich and full line. THe bowl starts off a bit horizontal and then a bit vertical, great contrast, but also a relation to the stem and the serifs of the letter p. Since the bowl has at one point comes down straight vertically, has the same width as the stem, with room in between, so the space between the two vertical lines provides a good connector by the horizontal angle. The grace the calligraphic pen offers is more real than these machines that are lifeless and only have purpose. If there was machines to think and experience things, then there would be no purpose, but machines cannot do that ever, that is why a hand lettered drawing has meaning within itself when handwritten. Everything is losing its feeling, conforming to the bored copies that machines can make. Never will a machine produce human.
78 Figures 77-79. Direct relations of the angles, size, direction of intentional placement of the anatomy of the letter.
77
80
to prosper, to be human. To be a sabon, not Fat Faced, or Egyptian, and not to far from gothic, not transitional or even the bit least modern. Today, it is known as humanist or old style. In fact what I am doing right now, is what Edward Johnston over a hundred years ago, in 1906, did his own diagram, which studied the exaggeration of any features and how it affects the proportions of the letters.
81
Figures 80-88. Effect/affect of the counter in relation to the bowl, stem and serifs. Also calligraphic humanist style.
82
85
83
86
87
88
WEIGHT AND WIDTH After I had drawn my original letter, (ex. 51) the next immediate question is the amount of legibility if shrunk, blown up, but my interest was the width and weight. I felt that this particular letter might be more use for headings and subheadings due to it serifs cross the stem so far at that 30 degree angle. Since the serifs are an extra, small lettering with serifs can sometimes complicate a reading and add extra unnecessary distractions to the meaning of the words themselves. After reviewing the digital sketches of alterations to the width and the weight, they seem quite similar to a family of a typeface. However, since the stroke has increased, it has increased my thin humanist serifs into slab serifs, taking away from original intent of a calligraphic letter that accentuates angle, rhythm and contrast between the stem, the bowl, and the descender. HAND VERSES MACHINE Based on my original design of my letters, I had gone through a whole process of peculiar ‘p’s ranged from the placement of the bowl, from the placement of the serifs, and the descender and the relation between all three. My pen tip was angled at 30 degrees, for the reasons of movement. With that angle, my bowl would have great contract in drawing the circular shape, but that angle when moving horizontally provides a nice thin line and whiles down vertically has a nice rich and full line. THe bowl starts off a bit horizontal and then a bit vertical, great contrast, but also a relation to the stem and the serifs of the letter p. Since the bowl has at one point comes down straight vertically, has the same width as the stem, with room in between, so the space between the two vertical lines provides a good connector by the horizontal angle. The grace the calligraphic pen offers is more real than these machines that are lifeless and only have purpose. If there was machines to think and experience things, then there would be no purpose, but machines cannot do that ever, that is why a hand lettered drawing has meaning within itself when handwritten. Everything is losing its feeling, conforming to the bored copies that machines can make. Never will a machine produce human.
89
Figure 89. Letterform based on the anatomy and relationships between; of humanist style/ transitional characteristics included.