15 replies to this topic

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

The success of CoPro depends on it's popularity and the people working on it.
So I thought it is time to start increasing it's popularity and start spreading the word.
So I suggest to you guys to tell people about this project.
You can tell family,talk about it on other forums,link to it in messenger where ever you want.

Also we'll probably need some signature thingys so if anyone wants a crack at designing some we'll choose the best ones and start adding them to our sigs.

[Gfire]

I might make some sigs.

[{IRS}Athos]

Hmmmm... perhaps you should advertise it on moddb, Rad...

[The 10th Rider]

I already got a news post on lotr files, maybe I'll make some sigs (right now I'm trying to make a youtube video, and photoshop a picture, so it may be a week or so)

[Gfire]

So what should the sigs include? Besides the name

I'll run up some drafts.

Alright, here's a concept. It seems kinda sloppy, though. There's just too much information.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Gfire, 06 May 2009 - 03:32 PM.

[The 10th Rider]

Do we want signatures advertising the historical mod, the community project, or both?

[Gfire]

Probably both, but the community project more. The historical mod banners would be more specific so until we decide on the content and name there's not really anything we can do there.

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

We'll also have to decide on the Graphic design side of things.
Let's start with fonts for the project.
So find some fonts you think will work well and we'll start there.

[The 10th Rider]

Why not Ringbearer ( http://img.fontfinde...s/22911.big.png ) font or Hobbiton ( http://simplegfx.net...2/hobbiton0.png )?

[Gfire]

Hmmm... well, they are LotR-ish. The historical mod, at least, shouldn't use a LotR font. I think it would be better to keep away from that for the project, as well.

[ThElderGod]

Good point. I think we use agustus font. Its great. I'd give you a link, but the thought of going into the other room to get srawberries lingers

[Lauri]

Why don't you make banners and stuff, after the first faction is decided?
I mean, a viking writing or a greek one can be different

edit: yeah, it's only starting with one faction, then adding more later... but still

Edited by Lauri, 07 May 2009 - 09:20 PM.

[ThElderGod]

I guess I could make one. Banner or userbar?

[Námo]

Some short notes on selection of fonts:

General considerations:
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• The font(s) should be shareware (freeware, postcardware ...) to avoid any legal issues.
• The font(s) should be of high quality.
• The font(s) should be characteristic for the (historic) 'theme' of the mod.

As for the quality of a font, the minimum criteria could be summarized like this:

• The font should have proper kerning, i.e. correct adjusted spacing between different letters, like AV and MN etc.
• The font should be hinted, i.e different font-sizes should have different proportions between strokes and overall hight of the letters; small sizes must have thicker strokes relative to large sizes.
• Fonts usually have a 'typographical' history, i.e. are based on age-old and well established design principles; designing a 'new' font is a very delicate art, requiring a lot of balancing.

You can find numerous free fonts on the internet, but most of them are of mediocre quality. There are however some very talented artists (font-creators) who distribute some of their high-quality fonts as shareware. Some examples are shown below.

bd

Proposal for fonts for a 'historic' mod, theme: Early Medieval (northwestern) Europe (AD 200 - 1200):
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Should the decisions in the polls result in a mod based on this theme, there would be only one obvious choice, namely the type-face usually known in modern typography as uncial, sometimes also referred to as half-uncial script or celtic font. The examples below are some modern variations of this font:

examples of Dan Smith's Celtic Fonts:
(and sorry, they don't display very well on this background, should be black on white, but go see them on his own website!)

DS_Celtic-1 is a font containing a Celtic looking alphabet. All of the letters have a 'ROUNDED' style. Examples of the style of Celtic letters in this font:

DS_Celtic-2 is a font containing a Celtic looking alphabet. All of the letters have a 'ANGULAR' style. Examples of the style of Celtic letters in this font:

... both can be downloaded from http://www.acondia.c...ltic/index.html - The ZIP files contains both Windows TrueType and Adobe Type Manager postscript fonts.

Another gifted font-creator is the canadian Peter Rempel. Examples of his uncial fonts, PR Uncial 2003 and PR Uncial Alt Caps 2:

... can be downloaded from http://prfonts.netfirms.com/fonts.htm

Some other freeware uncial fonts can be found on http://www.fontspace...category/uncial but only a few of them are of high quality.

bd

Some historical facts on the 'ancestors' of these modern fonts:
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Early uncial script is likely to have developed from late Old Roman cursive. Early forms are characterized by broad single stroke letters using simple round forms taking advantage of the new parchment and vellum surfaces, as opposed to the angular, multiple stroke letters which are more suited for rougher surfaces, such as papyrus. In the oldest examples of uncial all of the letters are disconnected from one another, and word separation is typically not used. Word separation, however, is characteristic of later uncial usage.

As the script evolved over the centuries, the characters became more complex. Specifically, around AD 600, flourishes and exaggerations of the basic strokes began to appear in more manuscripts. Ascenders and descenders were the first major alterations, followed by twists of the tool in the basic stroke and overlapping. By the time the more compact minuscule scripts arose circa AD 800, some of the evolved uncial styles formed the basis for these simplified, smaller scripts. Uncial was still used, particularly for copies of the Bible, tapering off until around the 10th century. There are over 500 surviving copies of uncial script, by far the largest number prior to the Carolingian Renaissance.

Example: The Book of Kells, c. AD 800, is lettered in a script known as "insular majuscule," a variety of uncial script which originated in Ireland:

Insular script was a medieval script system used in Ireland and Britain (Latin: insula, "island"). It later spread to Continental Europe in centres under the influence of Celtic Christianity. It is associated with Insular art, of which most surviving examples are illuminated manuscripts. Insular script was influential in the development of Carolingian minuscule in the scriptoria of the Carolingian empire.

The script developed in Ireland in the 7th century and was used as late as the 19th century, though its most flourishing period fell between 600 and 850. It was closely related to the uncial and half-uncial scripts, its immediate influences; the highest grade of Insular script is the majuscule Insular half-uncial, which is closely derived from Continental half-uncial script.

In Ireland, Insular script was superseded in circa 850 by Late-Celtic script; in England, it was followed by a form of Caroline minuscule.

Example: The beginning of the Gospel of Mark from the Book of Durrow.

Carolingian or Caroline minuscule is a script developed as a writing standard in Europe so that the Roman alphabet could be easily recognized by the small literate class from one region to another. It was used in Charlemagne's empire between approximately 800 and 1200. Codices, pagan and Christian texts, and educational material were written in Carolingian minuscule throughout the Carolingian Renaissance.

Carolingian minuscule was uniform, with rounded shapes, disciplined and above all, legible. Clear capital letters and spaces between words—norms we take for granted—became standard in Carolingian minuscule, which was one result of a campaign to achieve a culturally unifying standardization across the Carolingian Empire.

Carolingian script generally has fewer ligatures than other contemporary scripts, although the ampersand, ae, rt, st, and ct ligatures are common. The letter d often appears in an uncial form, with an ascender slanting to the left, but the letter g is essentially the same as the modern minuscule letter, rather than the previously common uncial g. Ascenders are usually 'clubbed'—i.e., they become thicker near the top.

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

You like long posts don't you?

[Námo]

No, it takes too much time ... but I'm becoming rather entish and unhasty, talkin' a lot with my trees.