Entry for Open Font Library contest. Made Nov 7; link submitted Nov 27. I might make another one based on the OCAL logo. [Note to the contest organizers: I can't upload the SVG here so just email me for it. :) ]
Here were my aims:
1. I think OFL wants to be a repository of top-caliber fonts, something that Typophile regulars won't sneer at. This means alliance with open source font initiatives and Linux/'Nixes. Robert "Scobleizer" Scoble has already claimed that Linux's Achilles heel (whatever that means) is the ugly fonts. (http://scobleizer.com/2006/08/17/linux-achilles-heel-fonts/) Let's not give him and his kind the satisfaction by giving OFL an uninspiring, just-for-compliance logo.
2. A writing system reflects the language that originally created it. There are a lot of old ones and some relatively new ones. The logo should reflect that. The logo should also convey the idea of freedom.
And so the idea: "Old, New, Free" (Something old, something new -- all free.) I decided to use a script from each of the top 3 language families of the world. For old, I used Latin and Hanzi. For new, I used N'ko. Together, they represent Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Niger-Congo languages. The glyphs used have the added meaning of Beginning, Middle and End (implying freedom through and through).
I must admit I was tempted to use the style of the Open Clip Art Library. But this conflicted with my aim #1 so I had to drop the idea.
OK, OCAL and OFL are sister sites but they are different in character.
Of course, clipart and fonts are both collections of graphics but type design has an older, more disciplined tradition. A font is not a mere collection of symbols. In a font, all the glyphs must be designed to work well together. Legibility is also a big consideration. And so more thought and effort goes into the making of a font, even for something like a children's alphabet or a collection of dingbats. Clipart, in contrast, are usually free from such requirements, and the logo to represent them can be more whimsical.
Hence, I opted for a style that, hopefully, would help create a symbol that quality type designers would rally under. I felt we can't have that sort of feeling by using children's ABC blocks style.
Here were my aims:
1. I think OFL wants to be a repository of top-caliber fonts, something that Typophile regulars won't sneer at. This means alliance with open source font initiatives and Linux/'Nixes. Robert "Scobleizer" Scoble has already claimed that Linux's Achilles heel (whatever that means) is the ugly fonts. (http://scobleizer.com/2006/08/17/linux-achilles-heel-fonts/) Let's not give him and his kind the satisfaction by giving OFL an uninspiring, just-for-compliance logo.
2. A writing system reflects the language that originally created it. There are a lot of old ones and some relatively new ones. The logo should reflect that. The logo should also convey the idea of freedom.
And so the idea: "Old, New, Free" (Something old, something new -- all free.) I decided to use a script from each of the top 3 language families of the world. For old, I used Latin and Hanzi. For new, I used N'ko. Together, they represent Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Niger-Congo languages. The glyphs used have the added meaning of Beginning, Middle and End (implying freedom through and through).
I must admit I was tempted to use the style of the Open Clip Art Library. But this conflicted with my aim #1 so I had to drop the idea.
OK, OCAL and OFL are sister sites but they are different in character.
Of course, clipart and fonts are both collections of graphics but type design has an older, more disciplined tradition. A font is not a mere collection of symbols. In a font, all the glyphs must be designed to work well together. Legibility is also a big consideration. And so more thought and effort goes into the making of a font, even for something like a children's alphabet or a collection of dingbats. Clipart, in contrast, are usually free from such requirements, and the logo to represent them can be more whimsical.
Hence, I opted for a style that, hopefully, would help create a symbol that quality type designers would rally under. I felt we can't have that sort of feeling by using children's ABC blocks style.
