❧ Useful links: Luther’s Manuscripts at the UNESCO Memory of the World at Google Arts and Culture Martin Luther font on Kickstarter (with Film about the creation) Each letter of the Martin Luther font is strictly based on original samples found in Martin Luther’s 500 year old handwritten manuscripts. Letters that occur more often for example vowels have two or more different versions stored in the font. (➶ Figure 4) These alternative forms are exchanged automatically by the font as you type, and create a vivid look that comes close to actual handwriting. The font avoids that two identical letters are placed next to each other like, for example the two “o” in the word “look”. ➸ What Historic Sources is the Font based on? Two historic documents were used to base the font on. The notes Luther took before giving his speech in Worms in 1521 and a 6 page letter he wrote immediately after to Emperor Charles V., summarising his speech (➶ Figure 2). Both documents have been added to the UNESCO “Memory of the World” and can be seen at the Google Arts and Culture website. ➸ The Creation of a Handwriting Font The creation of a handwriting font is very different from the creation of a regular font. Harald Geisler has specialised in recreating handwriting in preceding projects with Albert Einstein’s, Sigmund Freud’s and his own handwriting. His experience working with Archives and Museums has gone into this project. First Geisler analyses the movement in the writing to understand how each letter is drawn. This involves partially learning how to write like a person. In this process not the outlines of the sample are reproduced but the original movement path of the handwriting (➶ Figure 3). In a second step width and contrast is added to reproduce Martin Luther’s characteristic impetus and the writing tools used at the time. (Link: Youtube Playlist showcasing the creation of individual letters) How about signs that can’t be found in archives? Some Glyphs can not be found in 500 year old manuscripts, for example the @-sign. Towards the end of the creation one collects a profund amount of details about how a writer moves on paper and addresses certain tasks moving the pen. Keeping this knowledge in mind an improvisation can be based on similar letter forms. For example the @ sign is based on of the movement of a lowercase a and parenthesis. ➸ Features of the Martin Luther font ❶ Extensive Documentation of the creation of the font, including high quality reproduction of the used manuscripts. ❷ Additional texts from Historian Dr. Henning Jürgens and Palaeographer (and Luther handwriting expert) Prof. Ulrich Bubenheimer ❸ Alternating Letters - in handwriting every word looks a bit different. To avoid that two identical letterforms are placed next to each other (for example in the word look) the font actively changes between different versions of letters as you type. ❹ Ligatures - characteristic writing forms when two letters are combined (for example “ct”) (➶ Figure 5) ❺ Terminal Letterforms - renders a special letterform when letter is at the end of a word. (➶ Figure 8) ❻ ‘’’Initial and Medial Letterforms''' - some letterforms are different when placed in the beginning or middle of a word, for example the lowercase s. ❼ Luther Rose - is a seal Luther used to authorise his correspondence. Today it is a widely recognized symbol for Luther. When you enter the numbers of Luthers year of birth and death 14831546 using the Martin Luther PRO font, it will render a stylised version of the Luther Rose. (➶ Figure 7) ❽ Historic letter-forms - letter-forms that are specific to medieval writing around 1500. For example the long-s or h with a loop at the bottom. (➶ Figure 6) ⚑ Multi language support - see the technical information tab for a full list of supported languages. (➶ Figure 11) ➸ The different Styles explained ❋ Martin Luther PRO - this includes all features listed above and is geared towards writing texts that are more readable today. It features alternating letters to create a natural handwriting look as well as two stylistic sets accessible through the OpenType menu. Historic forms are available through the glyph picker. ❋ Martin Luther Historic - this font creates a historically correct reproduction (i.e. with long-s) of Luther’s medieval latin handwriting. It features alternating letters to create a natural handwriting look as well as two stylistic sets accessible through the OpenType menu. ❋ Martin Luther Expert-1 - Dedicated access to the first set of letters only. ❋ Martin Luther Expert-2 - Dedicated access to the second set of letters only. ❈❈❈ Family Pack - recieve all fonts at a discounted price. ❈❈❈ ➸ Kickstarter The creation and development of the Martin Luther font was financed by 500 supporters on ➸Kickstarter.

The Generic Typeface Collection is a series of sans-serif typefaces inspired by the craftsmanship of graphic design, typesetting, and printing in the analogue era – before Adobe, Macintosh computers and desktop publishing – when dinosaurs ruled the earth. With the use of various typesetting apparatuses or dry transfer type, photo copiers, and shooting layouts and paste-ups to film, the printed results was not as exact, precise and predictable as it is today. When examining old prints, it is difficult not to like the way that characters in over- or underexposed film have a special type of vibe to them that is often sadly lost in today’s pursuit of total perfection. Encouraged by this, I saw a need for a collection of typefaces that are non-clinical and non-conformist, and some that are coarse, rough and distorted – errors that might come from poor exposure when put on film, enlargements from small point texts, or maybe quality loss from successive generations of photocopies. Or all of the above. This is an attempt to incorporate spirit and personality into a set of typefaces without losing distinction. You might call it a homage to non-perfection. I call it human. The Generic Typeface Collection consists of 11 fonts divided into four series. The three standard series – the Formal Release series, the Coarse Copy series, and the Rough Display series – all contain three fonts each. The Extra Splendor series contains a couple of shadow fonts for that little extra sparkle. Formal Release – Handcrafted & Clean The Formal Release series features sans-serif typefaces for everyday use. They are handcrafted and clean, human and uncomplicated. The Formal Release series contains three typefaces that add tons of personality to any text. G10 FR ‘Slim’ – a slightly under-exposed and clean typeface in a regular weight (228 glyphs - 1 alternate) G20 FR ‘Classic’ – a properly exposed clean typeface in a bold weight (228 glyphs - 1 alternate) G30 FR ‘Bulky’ – a heavily over-exposed clean typeface in an ultra weight (228 glyphs - 1 alternate) Coarse Copy – Dirty & Rough The Coarse Copy series features non-conformist typefaces that are worn and rough, maybe after going through that bad copier a few times too much. The Coarse Copy series contains three sans-serif typefaces that add tons of spirit to any text without compromising too much on legibility. Try them on in poster-sizes and everyone will know that you mean business. G40 CC ‘Slender’ – an under-exposed coarse typeface in a regular weight (228 glyphs - 1 alternate) G50 CC ‘Typic’ – a properly exposed coarse typeface in a bold weight (228 glyphs - 1 alternate) G60 CC ‘Huge’ – a heavily over-exposed coarse typeface in an ultra weight (228 glyphs - 1 alternate) Rough Display – Faded & Decorative The Rough Display series features attention-seeking decorative typefaces in three feature-packed fonts. Faded and gritty like the image distortion and degradation from successive generations of photocopies, they are eye-catching typefaces intended to stand out in bigger point sizes. Use these typefaces for signage, headlines and similar situations were a strong typographic statement is desired. We have packed no less than 1,334 alternate characters and 212 discretionary ligatures into this series for a greater chance of not having characters that look exactly the same more than once. G70 RD ‘Slinky’ – an under-exposed rough and decorative typeface in a regular weight (741 glyphs – 448 alternates – 66 discretionary ligatures) G80 RD ‘Standard’ – a properly-exposed rough and decorative typeface in a bold weight (748 glyphs – 448 alternates – 73 discretionary ligatures) G90 RD ‘Swollen’ – a heavily over-exposed rough and decorative typeface in an ultra weight (748 glyphs – 448 alternates – 73 discretionary ligatures) Extra Splendor – Sparkling & Extraordinary The Extra Splendor series features two shadow typefaces for that little extra sparkle. One clean shadow to be used with G20 FR ‘Classic’, and one rough shadow to be used with G80 RD ‘Standard’. Having the shadows separate from the main typeface adds another layer of expressiveness in that you can try out color combinations for that extra splendor. Tips for matching (applies to both the base font and the shadow font): Set the kerning to Metric, not optical. Increase tracking to accommodate for the shadows extra width. G25 ES ‘Classic Shadow’ – a clean shadow to be used with G20 FR ‘Classic’ (228 glyphs – 1 alternate) G85 ES ‘Standard Shadow’ – a rough shadow to be used with 80 RD ‘Standard’ (227 glyphs) OpenType features – alternate characters and discretionary ligatures – can be accessed by using OpenType friendly professional design applications, such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop.