Hello! re-typing this because i'm too lazy to copy-paste from @epenethesis,
I spent a great deal of time learning about various scripts, however this has been to the detriment of my ability to create new original ones as they have been too closely associated with existing ones.
I heard from them you may have advice, and i thank you wether you do or do not as long as you answer.
Be well, internet stranger.
Hi! So to introduce myself briefly I do type design & calligraphy and something I do often is learn historic scripts and styles from manuscripts etc and thats how I get feels for things. I think if you learn more about different styles of the scripts and notice patterns it'd help u make more original looking scripts. In any case, here are some of my general advices on creating & learning scripts:
1. scripts have rhythm, visually and in stylus movement
Scripts tend to have repeated elements. strokes, joints, spacing, etc. For example, lowercase latin has vertical weight between the baseline and the x height, and this is its natural resting space. Occasionally letters have ascenders and descenders. horizontally, letters have semi-evenly spaced downstrokes (see letters like m and n) with the writing pattern of ↓→↓→ etc.
2. "Intermediate stage" does not exist.
Something that people do commonly while evolving a script is that they create intermediate stages that do not have patterns or rhythms, but these intermediate scripts should be on their own self contained systems
3. Scripts have multiple styles simultaneously that influence each other.
Scripts don't simply evolve linearly. Modern latin has so many styles and that is the case for most scripts. Modern Greek letterforms are a fusion of original Greek minuscule forms and forms evolved from uncial (sigma has both, with the final form deriving from uncial)
4. Consider the motion of the pen
Some nib shapes make it harder to draw strokes in certain directions, and in general strokes going from left to right and top to bottom are more common because generally it is easier to pull than push. some writing utensils allow you to write in any direction, and often from switching from the former systems to the latter, scripts gain seeminglt redundant and complex looking connective strokes. (think javanese and copperplate calligraphy) Limiting stroke directions also helps with consistent writing rhythm. (try drawing a square multiple times with one stroke in one direction, you will find that it is significantly harder to keep it square than breaking it up into multiple strokes) (Note: Contrary to popular belief writing on leaves isnt what makes indic scripts look loopy and geometric, it is the unfamiliarity with the various scripts by people who perpetuate this myth)
5. Different styles with different quirks may be used for different purposes
Short titles and signs may use bold and ornate styles (black letter, lombardic capitals, aksar mul, bold cleric script, kanteiryu, kufic) or archaic styles (roman capitals, seal script).
Formal body text may use either space-efficient blocky styles (black letter, uncial, cleric script, jain nagari style) or more balanced organic styles (humanist, regular script, etc).
Informal body text may use semicursive (italic, bâtarde, running script, etc) or cursive (grass script, etc)
6. Don't trust online sources on script evolution
study your manuscripts and form ur own perception of things cause so many people are Wrong on the internet
Now for a more practical example, this is how i made Ekavathian:
I came up with this asemic sketch, borrowing the rhythm from Javanese and the diagonals from Lontara.
We felt that this was too visually cluttered, so I simplified the shapes and picked letters.
I iterated on it, writing text to see how it feels and making the letters feel more natural to write
I began working on the font, and I started with the square thing and expanded from there. I wanted it to have an indic pen angle with some stroke modulation
I settled on this for the stroke pattern. Feels natural for the kind of shapes i have.
This is my handwriting after making the font (brainstorming cursive idea) and its kinda funny how I got better at writing a completely made up script lol
In any case if you have questions about specific things ask me any time
areudirty
2087
tangentwithtanner
