Shock of the Neue: Graffiti Fonts By Graffiti Writers

Shock of the Neue: Graffiti Fonts By Graffiti Writers
Category: Worldwide, Typography30 Jun 2006
Handselecta - a graffiti foundry
There are disparate voices and unique geographic ‘dialects’ within the subculture of graffiti that we
often see, but may not recognize. The development of the worldwide web has only helped to accelerate
the spread of graffiti’s popularity. With the advent of digital images being published widely on the
internet, a writer today can browse innumerable pages of freshly-painted graffiti online the day it was
painted, and immediately take that influence out with him or her to paint. The flipside of graffiti’s
aesthetic globalization is that these regional styles of graffiti are being spread worldwide and that
regional dialects might very well die due to the internet.
Written by Ian Lynam
This is where Handselecta comes in. One goal of this type foundry is to preserve and document stylistic
histories and samples before they have disappeared, or have been swallowed by other aesthetic styles, as
well as publishing a series of books documenting these dialects of graffiti.
various graffiti fonts vectorized by Handselecta
Spearheaded by Christian Acker and Kyle Talbott, both veteran graffiti artists and type designers, the
fledgling type foundry is working with regional writers from the United States to create digital typefaces that
take their inspiration from graffiti in their expressiveness, yet are regulated for evenness in typographic
settings.
What do you feel that you are contributing with your project to turn local graffiti styles into well crafted
typography?
Two-fold. One is an academic pursuit, seeking to give the practice of graffiti another form of validity. For
outsiders to be able to distinguish good, well crafted graffiti from bad graffiti, is just the start. But it’s exciting
for us to gather oral history and to establish a link between graffiti and calligraphy while making a new link
from graffiti to typography, which is our real goal. Just as calligraphy has done in years past.
What kind of fonts have you released so far and what is your main focus?
We released our first volume of fonts this past January representing handstyles from Joker (DC, CA, Portland)
…
Joker Font
… to Mene (NYC), Mesk (DC, Philly), Mesh (AOK Crew, NYC) and Sabe (NYC).
top to bottom: 1.Mene One’s typeface, an interpretation of cholo letterforms 2. Mesh AOK’s typeface of his
handstyle 3. Mesk One’s typeface, a laid-back script font
We have a roster of a dozen other artists who we are currently working with on new fonts for eventual release.
The focus right now is handstyle scripts but eventually we will be expanding to develop fonts based on other
forms of graffiti lettering as well. We also have a slew of other good spin off projects and products in the
works.
And how did you take different writers’ handstyles and make fonts out of them? What is your process
like?
We provide each contributor with a packet of writing exercises. It consists mostly of pangrams (sentences
comprising all the 26 letters of the latin alphabet). There are about a dozen of them that they write out in upper
case and then in lower case. We also try to get them to provide us with all the numerals and punctuation, so
that we do not have to do any approximation or design of characters but each contributor designs all the
characters for their font, including Euro and Yen signs, which they may have never written out before.
A sample of Mesh’s handstyle, as written in his writing sample booklet. You can download the sample
booklet here
We then scan all of the writing samples and manually trace them, creating vector art. We will usually end up
with several different iterations of each character at this stage. It then becomes more of an editing job than a
design job. The baseline, x-height, and cap height are established. Cross bars and stems are tweaked to match.
We then choose base characters first, caps and lower case. The writers and the type designer then work back
and forth, deciding on which version of each letter best fits the typeface as a whole, while best representing
the writer’s vision.
After the core upper and lower case characters are nailed down we go back and pull alternate (and often more
extreme) versions of the capitals to utilize as swash caps.
Jerry trying out different swash caps for the Joker Font
After the characters for a regular version and swash caps are finished the outlines are then imported in a font
design software, cleaned up, and maybe then made into lighter or bolder versions.
The final step before they are exported as a font file is to have the fonts all kerned. Every possible combination
of letters is methodically adjusted so that the space between all letters creates an even rhythm and flow of the
negative spaces between the letters.
How long does the digitization and regulation process take you?
I usually have several fonts at different stages. Usually a couple of months for each from start to finish. The
goal is to put out 5 or 6 new families a year.
Its not easy to break it down that scientifically because its not my full time job. I am a graphic designer by day
and I spend my nights and weekends kerning after I put the kids to bed. Designing usually takes a few weeks,
but kerning seems to go on forever. Its usually longer for the Handselecta project than a lot of other fonts
because its collaborative. All the decisions are not solely my own to make. There is a fair amount of give and
take with the artists.
Before spacing and kerning the typeface
…and after!
Sabe’s “Ghetto Gothic” font
When regulating the handstyle for text setting, how far do you stray from the original?
We try to keep as close as possible to the spirit of the forms the artist provides us with. The main changes we
implement are making all the character widths similar, stroke weight consistent, cap height, x-height, baseline
and the angle of the characters consistent.
How would you go about making throwie or piece fonts?
We have a throwie font we just finished. It will be available free as shareware font with the publishing of Indie
Fonts 3. Piecing is a different story entirely.
Kaws handstyle compared to…
…a piece by Kaws out on the street
I’m still looking for the way to translate the process. Of course piecing is still letterform based, but it has
gotten so complex with its development over the last 30 years. Simple straight letter styles may be possible but
wildstyles may be too much for type design to fully iterate. I’m not sure I even want to. Tagging translates to
calligraphy so easily and the model of type design based on calligraphy is already there. I don’t know what
model to look at to translate piecing to type design.
A sample of the Mene throwie font
What have writers’ reactions been to the fonts so far?
Pretty good. I think all of the contributors have been really proud of the fonts that bear their names. We’ve had
a number of new writers approach us since the launch wanting to get involved. We’ve got a nice selection of
artists and styles coming up.
What are the main concerns from writers who have their individual handwriting transformed into
digital fonts?
The first being the whole focus on city-style and geographic influence makes some writers nervous. I’ve heard
from some writers that they are nervous about being a representative of something greater than themselves.
Often times they can actually describe and even represent the style prevalent from where they’re from, but
want to do something a little more personally expressive and individual. I’ve also heard from some writers that
its not fair to represent one city or another without including certain key figures. It’s kind of a balancing act.
Handstyles are intrinsically personal and yet they always have certain influence that usually depends on where
your coming from geographically, and who you follow in your crafts lineage.
And the second is a concern that digitizing and regulating handstyles kills the spirit of something thats meant
to be hand done. It’s a tension that always concerns designers who know the difference. When do you utilize
fonts that are available, when do you create custom type, and when do you customize an existing font? Some
writers simply opt out of the project, preferring to only do custom lettering work. But the artists who have
chosen not to participate have still been very supportive of the project.
individual style by Mesh
style by Mesh
How do you view graffiti vs. calligraphy vs. typography?
As well as Typography I studied calligraphy a bit. And for me the link is a natural one. What really interests
me is in the history of calligraphy, you can see national characteristics inherent in the hands of different
nations as they developed different aesthetics. The Romans gave us Quadrate and then Rustica hands. Later
Italians contributed Humanist scripts, the Germans perfected Gothic, and the Irish are known for Uncial.
As the practice of type design grew many of these calligraphic hands have been developed into typefaces and
eventually into digital fonts. We are seeking to do the same thing now with graff writers. Type doesn’t replace
calligraphy. But then it doesn’t intend to either. Type is a different practice. While calligraphy demands a rigor
and practice of form it is also about the freedom of form and handwritten quality. Type design is about finding
the ideal of each letterform, so that when letters are repeated they create a rhythm and color distinct and
natural to each typeface.
The interesting part to me is the similarity between graffiti and other developments in calligraphy, specifically
the idea that geographic styles developed. Just as different hands of calligraphy rose in different geographic
locations at different points in time. Different cities have their own styles.
some examples of the Philadelphia school of handstyle giving you a general feel for the Philly aesthetic: Abbs
Another example of the Philadelphia handstyle: Badan
For example, Philly handstyles are tall and skinny, often with rhythmic connecting letters in a script meets
print sort of way.
An example of a Philly handstyle by Mesk
New York styles vary so widely but they tend to bounce, with a shift in scale, often with larger first or last
letters on a tag. And the Cholo hands of Latin writers in Southern California have a unicase gothic influence,
where each letters is printed and usually spaced.
An example of a San Francisco handstyle by Amaze
I’ve heard from old school writers that each borough in New York used to have distinctive styles, that you
used to be able to tell a writer’s neighborhood based on their handstyle.
Thanks a lot, Christian!
2 Comments
1. […] 8 - Shock of the Neue: Graffiti Fonts By Graffiti Writers Does what it says on the tin. Link via
Coudal partners. (tags: typeset style design computer fonts typography graffiti) […]
Posted by: Velcro City Tourist Board » Blog Archive » Links for 01-07-2006 on July 1st, 2006 at 11:21 am
2. […] Shock of the Neue: Graffiti Fonts By Graffiti Writers by Ping Mag. […]
Posted by: Graffiti Writers » Project Syndicate on July 2nd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
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