Newsgroups: comp.fonts
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!kibo
From: kibo@jec311.its.rpi.edu (James 'Kibo' Parry)
Subject: Re: First faces in the Multiple Master format
Message-ID: <rxbgzr+@rpi.edu>
Nntp-Posting-Host: jec311.its.rpi.edu
Organization: Emerson College (Boston), formerly RPI (Troy, NY)
References: <1991Apr9.001714.11592@d.cs.okstate.edu>
Date: 9 Apr 91 05:24:37 GMT
Lines: 50

In article <1991Apr9.001714.11592@d.cs.okstate.edu> norman@d.cs.okstate.edu (Norman Graham) writes:
>I was considering the purchase of the Univers family, but then I 
>realized that Univers should be a perfect face for Adobe's new 
>multiple master technology. That got me wondering: which faces will
>we see in MM format? Anyone care to comment? I'll start the list with
>the easy ones:
>
>  - Univers
>  - Neue Helvetica
>  - Futura

I think Univers and Neue Helvetica would be *much* easier to MM-ize than
Futura, based on my experience with things like Metafont.  The design of
some Futura letters changes completely when the weights change.
(The "J", "G", and "Q" change their basic shape, and many details
change--compre a Futura Light "M" to a Futura Extra Bold "M".

Hmm, actually, the Helvetica "a" has a tail that disappears suddenly
when the font becomes bold, doesn't it?

Do the MM fonts provide for features that can appear conditionally (i.e.
switching from one "a" to the other under certain conditions) as
Metafont does, or are they mere interpolations/extrapolations between
pairs of outlines?

I expect that faces designed with Ikarus should prove easy to translate,
at least as far as a sliding-scale-of-weights go (after all, that's
Ikarus's strength.)  I've designed some fonts recently that way (letting
the computer calculate interpolation/extrapolation between weights), and
while I often do want to touch up details, it is a tremendously useful
technique, especially for testing choices of weights...

You can usually spot Ikarus-designed faces in listings by the way the
several weights of the font align in a perfect trapezoid as everything
changes from Light to Black in smooth steps; for instance, Ellington
(one of Monotype's newest faces) looks that way.

Do I ever wish I had my own Ikarus setup... if my consulting work is
profitable enough, Ikarus is on my shopping list.

[disclaimer: if I've said anything obviously stupid above, please
correct me.  I can't pretend to know too much about Ikarus.]



-- 

James "Kibo" Parry       kibo@rpi.edu
132 Beacon St. #213, Boston, MA 02116
(617) 262-3922
