The beauty of font design is very subtle. Just like makeup, different makeup can change different temperaments. Our Song style has been introduced to Japan for hundreds of years, and it has formed a unique style that is very recognizable. How and where is this feeling expressed? How to change the temperament of fonts?
I usually browse Japanese designs and find that Japanese designers attach great importance to font design. Japanese design master Kohei Sugiura said: The most essential source of design is Chinese characters. Chinese characters are used not only in China but also in other Asian countries, and were once used as official scripts in Japan. The development of printing has made the printed Song font widely used and has become the font we are most exposed to. It has a profound impact on the font design in my country and Japan.
In the blink of an eye, Song Dynasty has been "living" in Japan for hundreds of years. What changes have the Japanese who love design made in it? How to make fonts change their temperament?
First of all, Song style was not thought up by some calligrapher, but was gradually improved by craftsmen. Song style strokes are neat, even in thickness, and faster than regular script. Therefore, people at that time were also called "craftsmen." font".
Furthermore, the Song style strokes are neat and square, thin horizontally and thick vertically, making it comfortable to read even when zoomed out. You can replace the text on the entire screen with regular script to see the effect. The strokes of regular script are rounded and the center is compact, making the text on the entire page look less regular and blurry when zoomed out. At this point, Song font is even better than the bold font that came later. Helvetica was first used for small titles. The skeleton of Helvetica is close to that of Song Dynasty, but the strokes are thicker. For words with many strokes, the words with many strokes will appear very heavy when zoomed out, and the overall layout is not as uniform as Song Dynasty.
So how could Song font, which is both functional and easy to read, not be popular?
Another thing to note: Helvetica was invented in Japan and can be seen as early as the 19th year of Meiji (1886).
Song style was introduced to Japan during Japan's Edo period: around 1600 (Ming Dynasty, China), some Buddhist scriptures were engraven by English and French Zen masters. See picture below.
Why? Could it be said that Song Dynasty came into being in the Ming Dynasty?
That’s right. In fact, although printing was born in the Song Dynasty, it was promoted in the Ming Dynasty. The fonts on the seals of the Song Dynasty are different from the Song font we know now. European fonts were mostly used, and other styles were also used. In the Southern Song Dynasty, imitation Song style style emerged. The engravers of the Ming Dynasty thickened the vertical lines and the end points of the murals to imitate the Song style to resist wear and tear on the engraving. Therefore, it is the fonts on the Ming block script that we call Song style today.
Then you may ask, why do we call it Song Dynasty?
Then ask Kangxi. (He said it in "Tongkao")
Today, Japan's Song style (hereinafter referred to as Ming style) has its own unique style, and this feeling is also reflected in other Japanese fonts, such as It tastes like Japanese makeup. Font design, especially font changes in font libraries, are very subtle. We may see many fonts that are very similar, or even indistinguishable, but if we take a closer look, we will feel that there are many differences. The same is true for Song and Ming styles. For the convenience of comparison, I chose two earlier and more classic styles: Song style - Traditional (medium) and Ming Dynasty (Japanese) for comparison.
Let’s feel it, details, details, details. Don’t be discouraged if you feel there’s no difference, I’ll talk about it later. If the difference seems obvious, then you really have great eyesight. Please teach me how to practice my eyesight.
You may have noticed that the dynamics of the horizontally drawn small triangles with tails, the strokes and the dots and dashes are different between the two. For example, the small triangles in the Ming body will be larger, and the middle palace will also be larger. More visual impact, right?
Next, let’s look at it one by one, what kind of different feelings will it bring if these subtle details are changed:
What will happen if the word Zhonggong changes? feelings?
The middle palace is small, and the font makes people feel delicate, smart, and mature, but the opposite impression is that it is restrained and stingy.
If the middle palace is large, it will give people a brighter, grander and childish look. The characters written by children usually have a large middle palace, and the negative impression is that they are childish and rough.
Thin strokes make people appear slender, soft, feminine, light and delicate.
The opposite is frivolity.
Thick strokes make people feel masculine, powerful and weighty, while the opposite is rude.
Square characters like Chinese characters have fewer arcs in the strokes. If you make the font rounded, you usually change the arc of the corners.
The small curvature gives people the impression of individuality, mechanization and masculinity, while the opposite is stereotype and indifference.
A large curvature makes people feel gentle, feminine and approachable, while the opposite is dull.
What changes in temperament will be brought about by the revision of the focus?
A high center of gravity will make people feel young and smart, but the opposite will make people feel arrogant and distant.
A low center of gravity will give people a feeling of stability and grandeur, while the opposite will make people feel old-fashioned and stubborn.
We can see that the skeletons of the two characters are relatively similar, but the literal and middle palace are obviously different.
The lettering of Song style is smaller, and the lettering of Guozi and Dongzi is quite different. While the Ming style characters are larger, the difference between Guo characters and Dong characters is smaller. Larger fonts make people feel fuller.
The middle palace of Ming Dynasty is relatively large, and the large middle palace makes people feel grand and bright.
You can look at the last horizontal line of the Chinese character "国" and the last horizontal line of the Chinese character "东" (中田). The center of gravity of the Ming body is relatively low, and the low center of gravity gives people a friendly and stable feeling.
The point arc of the Ming body is small and relatively restrained.
The starting point of the Ming style is more subtle, but the small triangle with the tail is very large, and it is a long triangle instead of an equilateral triangle. This has more visual impact on the one hand, and the long triangle has a diagonal line than the equilateral triangle. , dynamic.
At the starting point of the strokes and strokes, the backing angles of the Ming style are more prominent, while the Song style is more subtle, and the backing angles are obvious and have a stronger sense of decoration. In addition, the two strokes in Ming style have larger arcs, while the strokes in Song style are almost straight lines. Arcs will also increase dynamics, and the space divided by arcs will bring more detail than straight lines.
The vertical strokes of the Ming style are relatively stable, and the slope is smaller than that of the Song style regardless of whether you start or close the pen. The larger the slope, the more lively it is, and the smaller the slope, the more stable it is. As the base pillar in strokes, vertical strokes affect the character of the font. Therefore, although the Ming style is more curved than the Song style, it feels like a middle-aged person and is not as lively as the Song style.
The Song style hook is very coherent and smooth, while the Ming style hook becomes wider and wider at the pause. It feels like the pause time is longer and the strength is stronger, and then returns to the front to make the hook. This hook is very substantial. The entire stroke is also bolded. The angle of the hook is larger than that of Song Dynasty. Such a large angle has a visual effect of breaking the shape in space, which is what we call tension.
The Ming style 捺 also conforms to the characteristics of the overall font shape, with larger curvature, thicker strokes, and extended endings. Dynamic, steady and tense.
Looking back at the overall comparison now, do you have any feelings?
In general, Song style Zhonggong is relatively compact, with even strokes, stable angles, a high center of gravity, and subtle curvature. It gives me the feeling of elegance, brightness, and maturity.
The middle palace of Ming style is relaxed, the thickness of the strokes is varied, the angles are large, and the center of gravity is low. It gives me the feeling of calmness, openness and tension. Of course, feelings are subjective, and everyone has their own feelings. Isn’t it interesting how these details bring about changes in feelings?
When designing fonts, you can adjust the corresponding parts according to the feeling you want. I hope everyone can make fonts that suit their own needs~
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