One thing about sanserif letters is that they seem fairly easy to construct, and require minimum effort to modify. However during the process of designing capitals for Veronica I quickly discovered that the above claim is not true.
The low contrast of sanserif letters only created more problems, the most obvious one being congestion, and not to mention the change in proportions. I found that modern sanserif typefaces rarely use classical proportions, except for geometric sanserif.
I consider modern sanserif typefaces mostly as "squarish", for example Unit, Neo Sans, Tabular and Klavika. They are modern, but seem to me a bit colourless due to their mono-proportion, especially Klavika, which I consider more like a display typeface, like Infinity(see the image at left). Soho gothic is also squarish and modern, no less appealing than any other sanserif I mentioned earlier.
Geometric sanserif seems easier to design because of their simplicity in proportions, you could almost calculate mathematically how wide a letter should be, and the amazing device "Plaque Découpée Universelle" for constructing mono-width lettering, which I found to be a great idea for programming.
The pursue of "simplest form", or the essence of letters should not end with sanserif; we are living in a "modern" era, in which minimalism is making everyone stupid. One may conclude that when sanserif first came out, the name grotesque is actually an appropriate name.
The low contrast of sanserif letters only created more problems, the most obvious one being congestion, and not to mention the change in proportions. I found that modern sanserif typefaces rarely use classical proportions, except for geometric sanserif.
I consider modern sanserif typefaces mostly as "squarish", for example Unit, Neo Sans, Tabular and Klavika. They are modern, but seem to me a bit colourless due to their mono-proportion, especially Klavika, which I consider more like a display typeface, like Infinity(see the image at left). Soho gothic is also squarish and modern, no less appealing than any other sanserif I mentioned earlier.
Geometric sanserif seems easier to design because of their simplicity in proportions, you could almost calculate mathematically how wide a letter should be, and the amazing device "Plaque Découpée Universelle" for constructing mono-width lettering, which I found to be a great idea for programming.
The pursue of "simplest form", or the essence of letters should not end with sanserif; we are living in a "modern" era, in which minimalism is making everyone stupid. One may conclude that when sanserif first came out, the name grotesque is actually an appropriate name.
This is great info to know.