Federal

The complex designs and detailed forms of nineteenth century typefaces have largely prevented them from being digitized. Often the surviving specimens are not printed very well and the charactersets are incomplete.

Re-drawing the shaded effects by hand is an impossible task, even with a computer. Enter RoboFog, our customisable, programmable and flexible font tool. Custom RoboFog scripts analyze the outlines that need to be filled in with shading: measure, calculate and then draw all the individual shading lines according to specified parameters. Changes to the design can be applied and viewed immediately, something that would be impossible without scripting.

With all the important parameters in the program, it is easy to make variations: more lines, fewer lines, horizontal, diagonal or some sort of structure to the lines. The RoboFog script is a digital engraver who works quickly and precisely.

The Federal types are made up of several fonts, each for a particular layer. By stacking the same text in different fonts a regular layout program can produce complex and colored type. More scripting: the fonts are accompanied by a small application that simplifies the coloring and stacking.