Creating your own handwriting into a usable font.
Tags: font, typography, calligraphy, beginners
Published: 2023-02-19 01:18:59

Have you ever thought of making your handwriting as a font? While there are professional looking fonts in every possible type. I always wondered how to make one and I stumbled upon an amazing online tool called [calligraphr](https://www.calligraphr.com/en/). 

Typography plays a crucial role in communication design and can greatly influence the meaning and character of a message. Choosing a custom typeface that reflects your brand's personality and culture can be an effective way to reinforce your brand identity and make your message more impactful.

A custom typeface can be designed to perfectly match your brand's unique characteristics, whether it's a sleek and modern look or a more traditional and classic style. By using a custom typeface, you can set your brand apart from others and create a consistent visual language across all your communications.

It's important to consider the context in which your typeface will be used, such as the medium and device. For example, a typeface that looks great on a print ad may not be as effective when viewed on a mobile device or website. Therefore, it's important to choose a typeface that is legible and works well across various mediums and devices.

Overall, custom typeface design can be a powerful tool for strengthening your brand identity and improving the effectiveness of your communications. By working with a professional typography designer, you can create a typeface that perfectly matches your brand's personality and resonates with your audience.


Let us see how we can get started. Firstly if you don't need any experience in any complex tools. Some popular tools for creating a custom font from your handwriting include Calligraphr, FontLab, Glyphs, and MyScriptFont. These tools allow you to scan or take a picture of your handwriting and then turn it into a digital font that you can use in your digital designs.

### Possible Uses

* Custom fonts for your personal website, you can give a personal touch.
* If you are comic writer or cartoonist.
* Editing for social media posts to have an unique font in your stories.

Here are some general steps to follow when creating custom typography:

1. **Research and gather inspiration:** Start by researching and gathering inspiration for your custom typography. Look for examples of typography that you like and try to identify what makes them unique and effective.
2. **Sketch out your ideas:** Once you have some inspiration, start sketching out your ideas on paper. Experiment with different styles, shapes, and forms until you find something that you like.
3. **Refine your design:** After you have some initial sketches, start refining your design. Focus on details like the spacing, proportions, and weight of each letterform.
4. **Digitize your design:** Once you are happy with your design, you can digitize it using a vector graphics software like Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer. This will allow you to create scalable, high-quality typography that you can use in your designs.
5. **Test and iterate:** After you have created your custom typography, it's important to test it in various contexts and make any necessary tweaks and adjustments. Consider how it looks in different sizes, colors, and backgrounds.
6. **Finalize your design:** Once you have tested and iterated on your design, you can finalize it and prepare it for use in your designs.

Creating custom typography can be a time-consuming process, but the results can be well worth the effort. By following these general steps, you can create typography that is unique, effective, and truly your own.



I used an iPad to create custom typography. There are several apps available on the App Store that allow you to create and edit vector graphics, which can be used to create custom typography.

> 
[Procreate](https://procreate.com/) is a popular app for digital art and illustration on the iPad. While it is primarily geared towards drawing and painting, it was handy to come up with useful vector tools that helped me.


Once all the letters(to be accurate glyphs) are drawn it is time to import to calligraphr. It is fairly as simple procedure. 

Using this step we can create a initial prototype ttf file(Font File) 

To actually make accurate we need to use a font editing software such as [FontLab](https://www.fontlab.com/)(I used it). This step is bit harder and time consuming part. We need to know some coding to change behaviour of how glyphs should work. 

A basic understanding would be Kerning,Features,Ligature. It is especially useful when we want a ligature form. 

I did if for Indic font. For dravidian language [Tulu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulu_language) based on Latin unicode. Which has complex forms like tiddu,vattu which we can achieve by coding.

We named to font with a name Baravu (trans. Writing) 
The font is available to download at [here](https://www.jaitulunad.com/tulu-lipi-fonts/baravu-2-0-0)

This is my first attempt, so please ignore if something is 
overdone. I do not worry about making mistakes or feeling like something is stupid. Design is a process of exploration and experimentation, and it's natural to make mistakes and learn from them. If you have any specific questions or concerns, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to provide helpful feedback @ [www.deepakpadukone.com](www.deepakpadukone.com)