2019/01/9
“Brushland, your script font for any occasion” by Laura Meseguer
The Brushland typeface started as a custom project commissioned by Interbrand as a unique typeface that could give a strong personality to the vineyard Azpilicueta. For that, we agreed that a script font could be the best solution, and it became one of the most relevant elements in the last advertising campaign.
The project's nature raised some questions that we solved in the process and its resolution as: How natural should be this script typeface? How to simulate this writing feeling?
The sketching process
I decided to write with my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on tracing paper, on top of a custom template, later I scanned them and did a simple vectorization (not redrawing) in Illustrator. All the programming was done by Joancarles Casasín.
The tool and some sketches
The Technical Characteristics
Automatic replacement of glyphs
In the case of the typeface especially created for Azpilicueta, our intention was to simulate the character and warmth of handwriting. For this, four different glyphs were drawn for the same character. Through the “Contextual Alternates” OT Feature, the user can decide if they appear or not. This “Feature” or “Behavior”, programmed in the font, combines the variants in the sequence of 1, 2, 3 & 4 and “substitute” the letters at the time the words are composed, in order to avoid the repetition of glyphs (for instance we will not have the same “o” in the same word or line if there are not more than four).
Ligatures
Making a font behave as a handwritten letter within the limits of a typographic system is complex. In order to give more authenticity to the text and to contribute to fluent reading, our typeface will include those ligatures that are more frequent in our language. For example, some letter combinations such as “r r” and “s s” will be replaced by ligatures. The “Ligatures” function is activated by default, the extras are activated with the “Discretional Ligatures” OT feature.
Initial forms
The feature “Contextual Alternates” automatically substitutes the alternative characters, depending on the context. For example, the “r” and the “s” will be replaced with an alternative initial form to make the text more fluid.
Final forms
Each letter will have a final variant. These soft endings help to suggest the movement of handwritten letters but it also turns out to be more visually harmonious.
All these characteristics contribute to the fact that phrases or texts composed with the Brushland typeface, will give a greater sensation of real writing than the available script fonts. The font has 1,280 glyphs or typographical signs, and allows to compose texts in the most common languages written with the Latin Alphabet.
