As an idea to enhance the appeal of the Latin typeface, we explored a design with a slight incline in the early stages of development. The “inclination of the characters” in Latin typefaces is one of the major elements at the time of incorporating the handwriting texture, and the degree of inclination can express the sense of speed at which the characters are written. Designs with inclination to the right side are commonly seen even in italic and cursive script, etc. modeled after handwritten styles of calligraphy.

TP Apricot is not a typeface aimed to be a highly-inclined calligraphic cursive script with a fast-writing style. In order to capture the nuances of handwriting, we thought that a slight inclination would give more of a natural impression. Therefore, in the early stages, we adopted a design with a gentle inclination of about 2 to 3 degrees.

After that, as the development of kanji and kana progressed, we felt the need to reconsider the inclination angle of Latin, and we prototyped several variations, ranging from upright to significantly inclined. Among these, upright was selected as the final Latin design in consideration of ease of reading as a Japanese typeface and overall balance.

In aiming for a design that evokes the feel of handwritten brushwork, we assumed several specific writing instruments and used the shapes of the lines drawn with each writing instrument as reference for the detailed expression of the characters.

TP Apricot is a family with a wide range of weights and contrasts. To utilize the special quality of each style and maximize its appeal, each style is modeled after a different writing instrument. For low contrast, lighter weights weight, we assumed a marker or felt-tip pen that can express the texture of ink or pen pressure at key points while restraining modulation of thickness. For heavier weights, we imagined a round brush that can create softness and flexibility with thicker lines. For high contrast, we incorporated the nuances of a flat brush that can maintain thick and thin contrasts without compromising the soft atmosphere in low contrast.

A distinctive feature is the shape of the beginning and ending of each brushstroke. By combining the tapered shape reminiscent of brush writing and the rounded shape in the motif of a drip of fruit juice, it expresses the bouncy texture of fresh fruit and the “sizzle feel” like dripping of fresh fruit juice.

The overall structure of the characters adopts a rounded shape reminiscent of a cute and round fruit. By incorporating gentle curves into straight lines, a softness unique to handwriting is expressed. While each style has differences in line modulation and detailed shapes, we tried not to change the structure significantly in any styles to maintain a sense of unity within the family.

Although it was not an easy task to bring together a wide range of diverse styles in the motif of different writing instruments into one family, we repeatedly adjusted the character structure and detailed parts to achieve a unified design while keeping in mind the nuances of each writing instrument and the overall theme of “sizzle feel.” We would be delighted if you too could feel the fresh and soft atmosphere unique to this typeface.

The process of incorporating the features of Latin, such as the beginning and ending of brushstrokes, modulation of lines, etc., into the design of kanji was more time-consuming than we had imagined. In the stages of prototyping, we experimented with a design that was soft and had a strong modulation, while still retaining the impression of Latin. However, compared to Latin, kanji characters have a higher number of strokes per character. Therefore, if you apply the modulation patterns of Latin directly to kanji, while the shape of individual strokes may appear beautiful, the impression of the character as a whole becomes overly tedious.

In the process of reflecting Latin design into kanji, the shape of parts unique to kanji was another issue where we went through trial and error extensively. TP Apricot’s Latin adopts a unique design that gives the impression of being handwritten, while avoiding the rigid application of specific calligraphy styles or rules. While these stroke shapes do not exist in Latin, we had to consider the detailed expression of stroke shapes unique to kanji from the scratch.

An easy-to-understand example is the design of dots and sweeps. We tried several variations, such as the direction of the beginning of a brushstroke in the dots and the degree of modulation in the sweeps (mainly in low contrast). As a result, the beginning of a brushstroke that enters from above for the dots, the ending of a brushstroke that widens toward the end for the sweeps, and the shape settled into the corners giving tension to convey the brush’s resilience.

In the TP Apricot kanji, we have undertaken our own initiatives: in addition to adjusting strokes and parts, we gradually changed the tightness of the structure in accordance with the weight variation. In typical kanji design, counters are kept at an appropriate size in all weights, and the characters are designed so that there is no significant difference in overall size or in the balance of inside space between strokes. When the weight is increased while keeping the same structure, the width of each stroke will increase, and the space between closely spaced strokes will also become narrower. In addition, the character size increases, making the entire display appear to spread out. For that reason, an orthodox approach to the structure adjustment method is slightly tightening the structure of thicker weights rather than lighter weights.