[tlhIngan Hol] Simple pIqaD typeface

[Daniel Dadap]

Thanks again! I really appreciate the feedback; I’ve gotten so used to the shapes as I’ve drawn them that having people who have never seen them pick a few nits has helped me more clearly see features that I’ve overlooked.

> On Feb 4, 2018, at 22:12, Alan Anderson <qunchuy at alcaco.net> wrote:
> 
> I put a small left-pointing serif on the upper right arm when I write {tlh}, but it's not something I believe is a necessary part of the letterform.

Hmm, I see that now - I hadn’t noticed it before. I think I’ll leave it off.

> There's something odd about the {p}. I expect the left bar to extend below the start of the curve, or at least have a much sharper bend where the two meet.

Yeah, the basic forms are derived from my own handwritten pIqaD style that I developed after doing some minimal research into how people hand write pIqaD and finding that there really isn’t any standard way to do it. I write my {p} with a single stroke, but looking at the “traditional” form I do see that the bar extends all the way. I’ll perhaps look into steepening the bend a little. I want to tweak the glyphs to have more consistent stroke widths anyway, so I might play with some of the shapes more when doing that.

> If you're going for simplicity, I think the extra downturn at the right of {a} and {l} seems slightly out of place. I'm also accustomed to a straight left line on both. They're perfectly recognizable as you have them, though.

That’s another feature from my handwritten style, which I use to keep {l} from looking too much like {u}, since I didn’t want to rely on just the angle of the lines when dealing with the inconsistency of hand writing the glyphs. Since {a} has the same basic shape as {l}, it gets it too. It’s probably not needed in a computerized typeface, but I’ve grown used to it. Maybe I can make it a little less prominent, though it’s already a toned down version of what I draw by hand.

As for the curve on the left line, I’m not sure where that came from. It seems that I’ve drawn it that way from very early on. My best guess is that I saw the straight diagonal line that flattens out to horizontal at the top as a curve for some reason, but looking at the “traditional” forms more critically I can now clearly see that it’s straight. I’ll experiment with a flatter diagonal that levels off and see which I like better. I think I want {l} to be a flipped {w} too (with {w} losing the downturn on {l} if I keep it), so the final shape may be a compromise between the curve of {w} (which I exaggerate to prevent it from looking too much like {e}), and the bent line of {l}. Or I might just keep {l} and {a} curvy like {w}.

As you noticed, I like to reuse shapes where I can. That’s one of the things I like about the HaSta font, although I think it goes a little too far in using the {a} and {l} shape for {Q} and {o}, and borderline too far in using it for {tlh}. ({tlh} in that font might work better for me if the spur on the left were a little more pronounced.)

Of course, what features we see in each of the glyphs is purely subjective, which is why I’ve reached out to Klingonists (here and on the tlhInganHol subreddit) for their impressions, since my subspace transceiver isn’t working and I can’t check in with native readers on Qo'noS. :)

One last question for Qunchuy and naHQun (“God’s sneeze” and “God of fruit”, respectively?): I plan on acknowledging those who provided feedback when I eventually publish the font; do you prefer to be acknowledged by Klingon name, Human name, or both? (Please answer individually; I’ll reach out individually if I don’t hear back here, and make an arbitrary decision if I don’t hear back after that.) Anybody else who cares to comment on the font - let me know that ad well, please.

- DanIlmoH machel puqloD DapDap tuq
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