Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Marks & Compliance

I'm about ready to release a couple more Baybayin fonts. But before I do, I need to fix some stuff.

The Baybayin script is now a part of the Unicode standard. In the most recent version of the Unicode, it is called the Tagalog script and is given the 1700-171F range.

I realize that, when I included the text files (.rtf) to the font set package file (.zip), I neglected to change the wordings from the original draft (which I use as a template). There is a line in there that says that my fonts are Unicode Compliant; they are not at the moment. I apologize for this blunder and I aim to rectify my mistake. I am in the process of making all my fonts Unicode Compliant (since last year, my main problem was doing more than I can handle). From now on, I won't release a font until they are fully compliant and standardized.

My next release will be updates on the current five font sets I have out. The first four will be upgraded to include features from the latest font (Kufic).

Features to add:
  • alternative kudlits (hollow & solid) to differentiating soft & hard vowels.
  • alternative (artistic/funtional) representations for certain characters.
  • alternative syllable repeater/doubling method, the "2" kudlit.
  • keystrokes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 rendering alternative 2nd kudlit characters.
When done, I will change Paul Morrow's trademark Katipunan Sun (keystroke @) with my Tamaraw Mark. This will be the final addition to mark the updated fonts and future fonts I will be releasing.

The sun was leftover from earlier days when I was just beginning to learn how to make fonts. This replacement will be symbolic of the change & transfer from historic based Morrow's Fonts into modern/artistic based Nordenx Fonts.

I also chose the Tamaraw to represent my (birthplace) home province (Mindoro) and the native Mangyan tribes that kept their script alive. Like the Tamaraw, Baybayin is endangered - but it is still alive, and it needs all our efforts to keep it alive.

Updates will be comming soon. Please, visit us again later for more details.

Mabuhay!