a typface created by Norma Zupko

In The Beginning

Minuscules

Digitizing

Majuscules

Design and Sketch

Numerals and Characters

Examples

pg.5

pg.7

pg.11

pg.13

pg.15

pg.17

pg.19

In The Beginning

pg.21

The vision for this typeface started out hazy.

At first, it was to be a typeface for the fashion industry. I wanted to create a new face for a fashion magazine or major fashion designer .While researching the history of fashion, I stumbled upon the collection of Victorian dresses in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Instantly I was hooked. The curvature of the dresses, the shape of the woman; it all appealed to me. I then became inthralled with the entire Victorian age, mainly the paintings and fashion.

But the ideals also spoke to me. I read a passage from Beauty: Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classification of Beauty in Woman, a book which was printed in 1845. In it,Alexander Walker talks the different ideals of beauty of the Victorian Era, mainly those of a woman. This, the many Victorian paints and artworks, and the fashion, all contributed into the final vision for my typeface: a Victorian inspired typeface, based on the Victorian ideals of beauty, used specifically for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Victorian exhibits.

Sketching came easy once I had pinned down an idea.

My first sketches ended up being the inspiration for the final sketches. I used Didot and Baskerville as the main bases, working around systems and principles both typefaces had in place. I also wanted to incorporate some the ideals of how a Victorian woman should look, such as their fascinations with a bigger woman with smaller appendages (i.e. making letters with thicker widths and then thinned out). Sketching the majuscule A and the majuscule X were the hardest to sketch. For some reason I had problem balancing out the heavier side of the letters with the thinner side. It took me several tries to balance out both letters, finding the center point for the X and the vertex of the A. Eventually I was able to get an appropriate balance, and I moved on to the other letters.

Another problem I encountered was the minuscules. Letters like the minuscule b and h came easy, but again, the x and a were problematic. However, after drawing several other characters, most of the problems became sorted out.

Originally, I wanted to use a more traditional minuscule a, like the one in Baskerville. I loved the class and nostalgia the old style minuscule a had, and tried to make it fit within the rest of the set of letters. Although it was a possible fit, it didn’t fell as cohesive as it should have.

After drawing the other minuscule let-ters, such as the minuscule p and b, a more modern a felt more appropriate. Although I wanted to pay homage to the older style typefaces, I felt I could accom-plish that in other sense, such as with the serifs and the letter widths.

Once the characters were sketched, I filled in each of the letters. Once filled in, scanning the letters was easy. Most of the letters were kept close to the sketches, but there were a few that, after digitalizing, needed to be changed. The majuscule Q’s tail seemed fine at first, but after digitizing, it seemed too playful for the set. A more elegant tail needed to be added, and after playing around with several different styles, I decided upon a longer tail.

The minuscule w also seemed to have problems. After realizing that I hadn’t drawn it correctly, all that was needed to do was to trace over the minuscule v. Even after this was done, the character still didn’t fit with the set. A better solution came with the addition of another serif in the middle of the w. With this, the letter felt more balanced, and fit so much better with set.

After fixing each of the smaller problems, the set was almost complete. After testing the letters into words, I fixed some of the weight and width problems sitting with some of the letters. Then the set was ready to go.

Inked Sketch Final Character

I wanted to name my font something appropriate for the Victorian Era, but at the same time represent everything I wanted my typeface to stand for. It needed to be strong yet elegant, graceful yet powerful. I knew I wanted it to have a female connotation, since I used female ideals in drawing it. I dabbled between a few surnames, such as Lady and Mistresses trying to find something that fit well. In the end I felt Madame was appropriate. It had the power that I wanted, yet it could still roll off your tongue like sweet honey.

For the cover image, I again wanted to showcase these ideals of beauty and power. While searching through the online gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website, I stumbled upon this image pictured right. Instantly I knew I wanted to use it, but I had to make sure it was valid to my concept. Upon investigation, I found out that the painting is called Portia and is an image of an actress portraying Portia in William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. In the play, Portia is strong, intelligent, wealthy, and generous. She outwits those who try to pursue her, all the while flowing her father’s death will. As soon as I found out how wonderful and amazing Portia was, I knew for a fact that this must be the image I would be my centerpiece.