modesto text manual.pdfonce i got my hands on a mac and a copy of fontographer, i started a pencil...
TRANSCRIPT
RE-INTRODUCING
WITH FOUR NEW ITALICS ADDEDMODESTO IS A TEN-FONT FAMILY
A SIX-FONT FAMILY WITHTHREE NEW ITALICS
2014
Manual No. 2
MODESTO
Modesto Text
Background
s a hand-lettering artist in the decades before personal computers, I waschallenged to absorb and regurgitate many different lettering styles fordozens of applications. Packaging, book covers, advertising, &c. All of myAAAA
© Copyright 2014 by Jim Parkinson, Parkinson Type Design
sketches were done on tracing paper and I saved them in a cardboard box undermy desk. When I needed a boost, idea-wise, I would rifle through that old box ofsketches. Over the years, I had favored one lettering style more often than all theothers. It was elastic and maleable. Very versatile. It has been used by letteringartists and sign painters for decades.
The sign for the Wolf Paper Co. in lower Manhattan sports a version of this lettering style (top left).Bulletin, an alphabet in an old sign painting instruction manual (top right). And The Radio Papers,
some lettering I did for a book cover demonstrates the easy flexibility of the style.
2
digitizing several variations of this style. Eventually I had a small family of sixfonts. The family has grown over the years. I named the fonts after Modesto, the central California farming community where my Mom grew up.
Still More Background
he Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus logo was ready-made for thisold sign painting style. It was a test of the flexibility of those letterforms.Once I got my hands on a Mac and a copy of Fontographer, I started TTT
A pencil sketch for the circus logo (Top). A Circus ad (middle left). Blue Plate,the font for the San Francisco Chronicle (middle right top). The lettering on the Modesto train station
(middle right bottom ). Developmental fragments used as a sketch for a nameplate project.
© Copyright 2014 by Jim Parkinson, Parkinson Type Design 3
original Modesto Regular would become Modesto Regular Regular. Since Regularmeans Nothing Special, or Just Average, or Meh, Modesto Regular Regular wastoo much Regular for me, so, after thirty seconds of careful consideration, I changedthe name Modesto Regular to Modesto Poster, after its sign-painter roots.
About the Fonts
he first Modesto fonts were released in about 2000. The first two fontswere Modesto Regular and Modesto Expanded, built from the Blue Platefont I did for the San Francisco Chronicle, When I added Italics in 2014,I realized the name would be Modesto Regular Italic, and, worse, the TT
Most of the Modesto fonts are Caps and Little Caps. You could call them Small Caps, butthey don’t fit the definition of Small Caps, being taller than their lower case counterparts would be.
I guess these could be called Smallish Caps, or Little Caps, or even Caplets...
Modesto ExpandedABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto PosterABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Expanded ItalicABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Poster ItalicABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
© Copyright 2014 by Jim Parkinson, Parkinson Type Design 4
The Little Caps are missing from this page, in the interest of saving space.They look just like the Caps, except they are a bit smaller.
The Little Caps are in the actual fonts.
ModestoLite ItalicABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
1234567890$
ModestoLite Expanded ItalicABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
1234567890$
ModestoLiteABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
1234567890$
ModestoLite ExpandedABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
1234567890$
Modesto Condensed LightABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
1234567890$Modesto Condensed Bold
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z1234567890$
© Copyright 2014 by Jim Parkinson, Parkinson Type Design 5
The Modesto Text Family is a text family in name only.It’s called text because it has a Lower Case and, also, to distinguish it from the rest of the Modesto clan.
You should feel free to use it as small as you see fit.
© Copyright 2014 by Jim Parkinson, Parkinson Type Design
Modesto Text LightABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Text LightABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Text MediumABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Text Medium ItalicABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Text BoldABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Text Bold ItalicABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890$
Modesto Text Family
6
Parkinson Type Designtypedesign.comtypedesign.comtypedesign.com
MyFonts.com FontShop.com Fonts.comavailable at:ask for the free
user manual
MODESTOMODESTOMODESTO
© Copyright 2014 by Jim Parkinson, Parkinson Type Design. 7