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The question “What is your favorite kanji glyph?” was asked to staff at the Type Project.
In this article, answers referencing the kanji structure are presented.
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“東”:
The inside space between strokes and gravity of the font can be understood well.
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“愛”:
In addition to the fact that it is a frequently seen glyph, I think that typeface concepts, including type face, inside space between strokes, tightness, modulation, and features can be judged in a well-balanced way.
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Symmetrical characters, such as “立春大吉”:
Talking about minor details, they are not symmetrical, but I feel humanity in these parts, and if they are completely symmetrical, they are patterns and not characters. I like that kind of balance.
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Kanji with a sweep on both sides, such as “水木東”:
I like them, because they give off a lively atmosphere and strength of hand-written characters with the organic sweep lines that extend to both sides. I find these characters attractive in particular in typeface with design maintaining the texture of brush and hand writing.
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In kanji creation, we can see that each kanji is not looked at as a single unit, but an element that structures each glyph, and the balance for the entire typeface is adjusted.
From these answers, we can catch a glimpse of the perspective of creators who read the atmosphere of the entire typeface from one glyph, and unify glyphs with similar constituent elements, etc.
(XYZ)
Series archive Other / Questions for Font Creators
- Questions for Font Creators Part 4: Favorite Katakana Glyph
- Questions for Font Creators Part 3: Favorite Hiragana Glyph 2
- Questions for Font Creators Part 3: Favorite Hiragana Glyph 1
- Questions for Font Creators Part 2: Favorite Kanji Glyph 3
- Questions for Font Creators Part 2: Favorite Kanji Glyph 2
- Questions for Font Creators Part 2: Favorite Kanji Glyph 1
- Questions for Font Creators Part 1: What Made You Interested in Typeface Design? 2
- Questions for Font Creators Part 1: What Made You Interested in Typeface Design? 1