A couple weeks ago, my newest typeface, Royals, finally went out into the world and I felt so much joy, relief, and terror haha. Putting new work out doesn’t ever seem to get easier or less emotional. Especially the further into this craft I get, each release seems to get more and more special.
This one is definitely no exception, and looking back, it actually started that way.
One of the very first things I found myself repeating as I began this typeface back in April was, “How can I make this more special?”
It initially started to look similar to other things I’d done, which was fine but not what I wanted. If my people were going to invest into a new typeface, I wanted it to feel fresh.
So after getting the initial structure ready, I kept asking, “What would make this more special?”
I ended up completely changing the way the serifs look, added some roundness and a fun curve to the serif that’s noticeable at scale but still feels classical when small.
As it continued to evolve, I ended up widening the italic. They started off much more narrow, and I wanted to make sure the end result felt like it belonged with the upright Roman (before on the left below, after on the right).
And then came the finessing… so much finessing. The roundness on the ends of the serifs ended up getting weird kinks in them when I’d move them to the italic, so each needed to be carefully adjusted to become smooth again. Then, there was the adjusting of the stem widths, and the subtle adjusting of each letter’s angle in the italic to look visually correct.
Not-so-fun fact: just because all your letters have the same angle in the italic, doesn’t mean they’ll all look the same. My friend Viktor has a fascinating post on that here.
It even got to the point where I had to spend hours drawing the type by hand rather than trying to make it all happen digitally. It’s a bit of a time-suck, but drawing characters gives the forms SO much life and movement that you just can’t quite get working purely digitally. It’s gotten me convinced I need to be primarily drawing every typeface from here on out.
What’s actually funny is this whole typeface began as a speed exercise with my friend Jen from Tonic. She was getting their Fitzgerald template ready to go and couldn’t quite find the typeface she wanted, so we ended up brainstorming this baby together.
It ended up taking a different direction for me than what worked for the template (which is STUNNING, by the way), but it ended up working out. Turns out, Royals needed more love than speed could give it, and I’m so thankful I took my time.
On that note, there were actually supposed to be an additional 3 bolder weights, but I couldn’t justify the shortcuts I’d need to take to get it all done in time.
That’s why this first edition of Royals is only $49 – you’ll be able to upgrade to the full 6 weights at a pretty stellar discount once they’re all finished to my liking (sometime in the next couple months!).
I am so unbelievably giddy to see what you create with this one! This was one of those special typefaces that, as I started using it for experimental designs in Photoshop, just couldn’t believe was mine. It feels so so special. I hope she makes you feel the same : )
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