How do you create your custom font? Even though you may not have considered this before, you may be inspired after reading this article.
In addition to the challenge, the process is very calming at the same time. As you explore a new creative area, you will learn many things you never knew before.
This article discusses why you should create your custom font and how you can accomplish that by following the below steps.
Why Create a Custom Font?
A font creation project can be highly technical, time-consuming, and expensive, so it is worth determining how deeply you are willing to go before you begin.
It will be essential to decide how much time and money you wish to dedicate to developing your font according to its intended use.
An essential font creation tool such as a handwriting converter may be all you require if you are only interested in creating fonts for fun.
However, you may take the time to learn some essential techniques and use more sophisticated software for a specific project. That is the approach that we have taken in this article.
Finally, suppose you intend to create a font that others will use. You will need to invest more time in developing and purchasing professional software.
How to Create Your Own Font?
A font package such as Google Fonts or Typekit provides thousands of fonts, allowing you to select the right font for your project from among thousands of choices.
However, you are still limited to choosing a font created by someone else. A font can be made for various reasons, and myriad options exist for achieving this goal.
In this section, we will discuss the process of creating your custom font in five steps so that you will be able to create your custom font with your handwriting:
Step 1: Outline a Font Design Brief
An essential step in creating a font is the outline of a design brief. In every design project, it is imperative to define your objectives at the beginning clearly.
When drafting your design brief, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you plan to use your font for a particular project or a broad range of uses?
- How large or small should the font size be for that application?
- Are you interested in a Serif or Sans Serif font type?
- Are there any fonts that you can use as inspiration?
You can then proceed to plan out the design of your font once you have the answers to these questions.
Step 2: Choose and Install a Font Designer Software
It is essential to choose an application that is easy to use and provides all of the necessary functionality to complete your typography project. Here is a list of some of the best free typography design software to create your custom font online:
FontForge
With FontForge, you can edit fonts without committing to a commercial license. There is a considerable amount of online documentation to assist you during the design process.
Despite its somewhat daunting design interface, FontForge is a powerful tool for creating stunning custom fonts once you become familiar with this software.
If you wish to begin from scratch, the available tools allow you to do so. You can also upload images of fonts to use as a starting point.
Birdfont
Birdfont may be a better option for those interested in getting started quickly than FontForge due to its more intuitive interface.
Like FontForge, you can construct a font from scratch using the editor or upload an image as a starting point.
The disadvantage of Birdfont is that, while there are tutorials available, they do not provide the same level of support as FontForge.
The Birdfont software is free for creating fonts under the SIL Open Fonts License. Still, it requires a donation of $5 or more if used for commercial purposes.
Glyphr Studio
In contrast to the two tools mentioned above, Glyphr Studio is strictly web-based. Glyphr Studio ranks in the middle of the other solutions listed here for ease of use.
There is a slight advantage over FontForge in intuitive design, and the interface is more aesthetically pleasing than either of the alternatives.
As with FontForge, Glyphr Studio provides a good amount of support documentation, although it is less extensive than that of FontForge.
Additionally, while this tool does not allow the uploading of images, font files may be uploaded to enhance the editing process further.
There are similarities between these tools; however, it ultimately comes down to personal preference. Try two or all three to determine which is most comfortable for you.
However, it is worth taking the time to read through FontForge’s support documentation to gain a better understanding of its overall capabilities and make your custom font with the app.
Step 3: Draw Some Letters
While it can be tempting to use your software immediately, many professional font tutorials advise that you first draft your initial designs on paper.
Creating your vision on a computer can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Putting pen to paper is often more straightforward and quicker to start with.
A few useful tips for writing letters on paper are provided below:
- It is not necessary to draw a complete set of characters. The most commonly recommended ‘control characters’ are usually “H”, “n”, “o”, and “y”.
- Mark the baseline and other important height lines to use as guides.
- Consider other fonts to identify areas where shapes are repeated in a character set.
- Smoother curves can be achieved by moving the page rather than your hand.
Step 4: Compress Your Custom Font Into .ttf or .otf File
Various font creation software options are available on the Internet. You are free to research your options. For our recommendation, we suggest FontForge.
Its interface is somewhat outdated, and it’s not the most user-friendly. Still, it has endlessly detailed instructions online that can help you through the process. Therefore, beginners can troubleshoot the issue very easily.
In most programs, you can import your letterforms into a small file for each letter and then customize the spacing and placement for each letter.
In this case, you can use your font creation software to compress your custom font into a .ttf or .otf file and prepare it for exporting.
Step 5: Export Your Typeface as a .ttf or .otf File
Once you have completed the process, you can export your typeface design as either a .ttf or .otf file type.
It should be noted that once this file has been created, any computer user can install the font you created.
The process of exporting your custom font is relatively easy. You can double-click any typeface file on a Mac or Windows OS and click “install” to install the font.
Nothing is more rewarding than opening a new file and typing in your font for the first time. Typeface design is a long and challenging process, but you should be proud of your accomplishment.
Why Should You Try to Create Your Own Font?
Do you still need to decide whether to apply for a font-making position? Here is a list of reasons that immediately come to mind after deciding to apply for one:
- There is a no better opportunity to try something new than this when you find yourself stuck in the middle of your way, losing the motivation and creativity to do what is familiar to you; making fonts can be a welcome relief.
Creating fonts is both exciting and challenging. This activity may also be meditative and soothing to you.
- Designing a font is an excellent opportunity to experiment with traditional and digital media. It is common for some of us to enjoy drawing letters on paper using a variety of brush pens and calligraphy pens.
Most calligraphers prefer to use digital calligraphy on their PCs or iPads, playing with different brushes to discover the perfect combination of size, tilt, opacity, and texture.
- When you complete drills every day, making all those upstrokes, downstrokes, and circles, you will notice that your hand becomes steadier and that you are drawing with confidence and accuracy long straight strokes.
With this skill, you will no longer have shaky lines when drawing, as it is always advantageous to have a firm hand when working on illustrations in other areas.
- Regarding chemical aspects of our bodies, it is a curious fact that learning new skills causes the brain to work more and forms new connections between neurons, replacing some of those we lose over time.
This is incredible! In addition, new experiences raise dopamine levels, enhancing your sense of well-being.
- You will always benefit from adding some new skills to your resume. Regardless of whether you are seeking employment or freelancing, you will be able to earn more points with your future employer or client.
- By pairing and combining fonts, you will gain excellent proficiency in design. Using beautiful font combinations for any design is essential, whereas inappropriate fonts can spoil an otherwise outstanding design.
- With your fonts included in your designs, you don’t have to worry about the type of license you need depending on the use of the final product.
Sell Your Custom Font or Not?
The opportunity to earn money from creating fonts is also worth noting here. Although many free fonts are available, there is still the possibility of selling a good-quality font.
When you have spent sufficient time learning, upload your product into the Fonts section of GraphicRiver and showcase it in your portfolio by making a presentation.
Fonts drawn by hand or in the script are the most popular trends in modern design; you can find them almost anywhere, including product design, package design, clothing advertisement, and interior design of shops and restaurants.
Additionally, such fonts add a unique touch to a product, in contrast to free fonts that tend to become overused by designers.
Furthermore, competition among font designers is increasing. More great free fonts are being released, so people can save money to produce stylish posters and flyers.
In addition to that, making a free font also has its advantages. These are some of them:
- It is an excellent way to demonstrate your talents and distribute free samples simultaneously.
- This is an excellent opportunity for you to practice your future font creations.
- During the process, you will gain knowledge about font design and be able to try out new writing styles for the first time.
If you summarize these two points, you can differentiate between a free font and a font you sell.
If you use a free font, you may only be able to access some of its features, such as ligatures, alternative letters, enhanced punctuation, and multilingual support. The full version of the font may include all of these features.
Last but not least, licensing should be taken into consideration. Those who wish to create fonts for sale should understand the different types of licenses and the differences between them to determine how the prices vary and for what purposes people might require your font.
Most online markets provide descriptive FAQs about the different types of licenses. The relevant license may already have been selected, but knowing this information is essential.
Your customers may have questions or doubts about your font usage. If that happens, you can answer their questions without hesitation.
Conclusion
It is discussed in this article why you want to create your font and how you can proceed by following the detailed instructions provided.
We are grateful for the time you have taken to read this article. If you wish to post comments or questions, you may do so in the comments section.
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