How to make gothic letters

Designing typefaces is today another of the phases that are included in the world of graphic design. That is why we find fonts of all kinds, with elongated serifs, sans-serifs, geometric rounds, etc.

Today we bring you a typographic style that was not born today, but has been in force for many years and today has managed to modernize and be the protagonist of many music album labels, posters and even restaurant menus, Indeed, we are talking about Gothic fonts.

In this post, we explain how to design them so you can create great projects.

gothic typography

Gothic typefaces, also known as fractured or fractal, are based on medieval calligraphy, that is, they come from medieval times and emanate from the Latin alphabet. They began to be used over time and Gutenberg's 42-line Bible stands out, evolving into modern typography: Fraktur, which was used to write German texts from the 1941th century until Hitler banned its use in XNUMX. Currently many type designers are creating new typefaces from the old gothic typefaces.

Features

The formal characteristics of this typographic family are:

• Horizontal and vertical thick strokes
• Thin and faint oblique strokes
• Short ascending and descending strokes
• Very elaborate shots

All this makes Gothic typefaces the fonts in general with the most calligraphic ductus, that is, more difficult to write calligraphically.

Regarding the uses, we can affirm that they have been used in designs with an important historical touch, in this way, we can find them in old streets, cheese or biscuit packaging and in a multitude of drinks with a historical tradition, such as beers.

Classification

Grotesque: Due to its austere and curious form, it was at the beginning of the XNUMXth century that the Gothic ones began to be known as grotesque. Although at first they had to separate themselves from history due to the great strength that didonas and meccans had in their time. His characters are narrow and his stroke homogeneous. His "g" have two heights and his "G" chin, unlike the grotesque. Also noteworthy is the height of the x in lowercase, which plays in favor of choosing this style of letters when the printing must be in small bodies.

Neogrotesque: As we have said, in the XNUMXs, the process was reversed and the rejected Gothic women were revived. The simplicity and straightness of the grotesques made them the best adapted for the new age of technology that was coming. But the grotesques were little thought out, they were still meccans without serifs, which is why typographers began to create more systematic constructions, with even more homogeneous strokes: the neogrotesques. We can say that the maximum splendor of the neogrotesques, we find it in Swiss typography after the Second World War. We know it Helvetica Neue.

Geometric: This type of Gothic seems to have been traced with a ruler and compass. Straight and round typefaces, thoughtful, almost mathematical. They were addressed in the twenties, the era of functionalism and the Bauhaus school. We distinguish it by the roundness of the “o”, the absence of the chin of the “G” and in general because they seem to be made with a square, bevel and compass. On many occasions we find the "a" making, in turn, a round, very similar to the "d" or the "o".

Humanists: Early Humanist Gothic derives from calligraphic script and classical capital capital proportions like roman and lowercase like humanist italics. They are usually shown to us with asymmetrical weights in their rings and angular endings. Like the grotesques, they have a "g" of two heights, but unlike these they lack the chin on the "G". The lower arc of the “e” points to the right. In short, they would be Roman without finials.

How to Design Gothic Typefaces: Tutorial

After brief information about Gothic fonts, we are going to explain step by step how to design them. You just have to follow the steps that we show you below and you will become an expert of fonts.

To complete this tutorial, you need to have a camera and an editing program at hand. We also suggest that you look for any object that may contain this typographic style: newspapers, magazines, paintings, etc.

Step 1:

Using a digital camera or scanner, take digital photos of documents that you have found that have gothic letters. In this case you will have to edit, to make them bigger, the letters with an editing program.

Step 2:

Print the image, you can do it with your printer or at a copy shop so that they can print it for you, if you want a vinyl you can print it directly on this paper and then paste it wherever you want. You can also transform your design into a gothic tattoo, in the image below you have an example.

Other forms

1. Print the image, you can do it with your printer or else go to a copy shop so they can print it for you, yes you want a vinyl you can print it directly on this paper and then paste it wherever you want. You can too transform your design into a gothic tattoo, in the image on the left you have an example.
2. If what you want is to surprise your friends by writing their name in Gothic letters, what you must do to learn calligraphy is to trace the letters and repeat them a few times, then you will be ready to write your name or what you want in gothic letters.
3. You can also download a gothic alphabet. Download the image and print it you can make a collage with the gothic letters. In some images you can also use the gothic numbers, for your birthday or Halloween party.