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How
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Ingredients
Ascender
slant
Crossbar
slant
Crossbar
height
Crossbar
length Boldness |
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How
to make an eth Ingredients Ascender
slant Crossbar
slant Crossbar
height Crossbar
length Boldness
Home
page
TYPE
DESIGN
Thorn
and eth
Making
thorns
Making
an Eth
Making an eth
Eth
troubles
The lower case eth isn’t easy. Let’s begin with
the letter o, and add a curve to its right side. A
parenthesis or the numeral 9, upside down, may help. They
aren’t always worth much, but we’ve got to start
somewhere.
We need a good, tense curve all the way from the top to the
baseline. The ascender can taper to a point; slicing it is
better still. Too much slant to the left is a common
mistake. In these variations, the middle is a safe
choice.
Fitting together the ascender and the crossbar is probably
the most difficult part of the design. The four areas of
white space around them need not be even, but they must be
in balance. The crossbar should either be at right angles to
the ascender or slightly off towards the horizontal. I
prefer the letter in the middle.
The crossbar belongs midway up the ascender. Too low is
often better than too high. I prefer the version in the
middle.
Both sides of the crossbar are usually the same length. This
has many exceptions, however, that look all right. If you
make it too short, it looks silly. If it’s too long, it
interferes with the texture of the page. And I prefer the
version in the middle.
Heavy display faces with great x-height have problems of
their own. Many haven’t got room enough for a crossed
ascender. You can gain a bit by using a smaller bowl. (You
can save a bit more, in a real pinch, by doing without a
crossbar on the left.)
