Saturday, January 02, 2016

The old and the new.

This has been available for download for a while now but not a lot of people have noticed it:
Download this font set from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEkLQ7YrpPscFdoRjVtR21Icnc/
It's my cleaner and more standardized version of the Doctrina Christiana typeface. I released it earlier without any fanfare. But I guess I should stop procrastinating this new year as a resolution (fingers crossed), after all, I still haven't released a report from last year's ICAL conference and another one is soon to be due this year.

Anyway... The Modern Doctrina font set has a few features different from Paul Morrow's Tagalog Doctrina 1593 font:


The main and immediately noticeable difference is the addition of the set of alternative glyphs from my modern set and proposed reform. I added the modern RA and the kawi based JA, Mangyan pamudpod, x-kudlit, anusvāra, visarga, e/o kudlits, pallawa & padalaw-a marks, and other syllable-doubling marks; assigning them to the appropriate keys.

What's not immediately noticeable until you use the font is the different aesthetic feel of the typeface. My many tweaks that resulted on character element's uniformity (while keeping with the basic shapes of the old typeface) gives this font a definite modern feel, a lively touch, and youthful appeal.

Paul Morrow's Tagalog Doctrina font used the typeface from the typesetter's proof at the beginning pages of the Doctrina Christiana. (fig. 1 image above)

For the Modern Doctrina font, I sampled and compared each and every character from the whole Doctrina Christiana and determined the recurring elements, forms, and details of each letter.


I evaluated character rotations, print defects, shape & size anomalies, and numerous features. In the end, I developed a clean and unified standard for this new font version but retained the spirit of the old typeface.

Some of the features of the Modern Doctrina font:
  • standardized rounded entry, ends, & edges (sans serif)
  • standardized height & width
  • even cap height (no ascenders)
  • even base line (no descenders)
  • even strokes & line weights
  • standardized forms & elements
  • alternative characters and modern glyphs
  • Tagalog Unicode range included

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Try it and enjoy! :)

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[EULA] © All rights reserved, Nordenx Baybayin Modern Fonts are copyright of their typeface designer & creator Norman de los Santos. Free for personal and non-commercial use only. Please contact me at nordenx@gmail.com or nordenx@yahoo.com for any inquiries about commercial use and licensing for branding, printing, publications, and/or other electronic applications.

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