What font for the 50's Fender logo?

[seafoamtele]

check out http://www.1001freefonts.com/

but that spaghetti logo comes from the pre-font days, when logos were handmade.
If you use the existing letters from the logo and find something close for the rest of the letters you're home free, because no one know what that spaghetti "font set" looks like

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by seafoamtele

...but that spaghetti logo comes from the pre-font days...

What do you mean, pre-font days? There have been type-fonts around since the days of Gutenberg (no, not Steve) and Caxton. What do you think printers have been using for the last 500 years and more? In the early days they carved their own out of wood before casting them in metal, basing their designs on handwritten and engraved styles going back to Roman times. Technology has moved on but the principle is still the same - any new face or font gets drawn either on paper or nowadays on the computer screen in the first instance.

Adaptation of existing designs is common, so maybe when someone has the time and inclination they can come up with a whole font. I suggest (you read it here first, folks) that, if the name hasn't already been used for something else, it should be named "Spaghetti Cursive"!

[Steve G]

Interesting thread this. Id also be interested in getting a font close to the early 70's / late 60's Fender Telecaster logo

[monfoodoo]

Fred Flinstones morning paper used fonts.

[telel6s]

Originally Posted by Tony474

What do you mean, pre-font days? There have been type-fonts around since the days of Gutenberg (no, not Steve) and Caxton. What do you think printers have been using for the last 500 years and more? In the early days they carved their own out of wood before casting them in metal, basing their designs on handwritten and engraved styles going back to Roman times. Technology has moved on but the principle is still the same - any new face or font gets drawn either on paper or nowadays on the computer screen in the first instance.

Adaptation of existing designs is common, so maybe when someone has the time and inclination they can come up with a whole font. I suggest (you read it here first, folks) that, if the name hasn't already been used for something else, it should be named "Spaghetti Cursive"!

Tony,

Not meaning to speak for seafoamtele, but I think he means that the Fender logo was not created first as a font and then type-set into the word "Fender". Instead, it was likely created as a logo that happens to be a word. The designer may very well have based it on certain fonts but didn't bother to create x, q, a, j, etc. I know that the company I work for has a logo that spells out the company name. After the fact, the seven letters in the logo were then turned into a true-type font to make it easier to insert the company name into documents and presentations.

But I understand what you mean about how far back fonts go. I'm one of those weird people who actually looks at the back of a book to read about what font was used to print it and why it was selected. My dad worked as a writer/editor and a learned early on that there is often more to a word on a page than what it spells out. Same goes for some advertising copy I worked on in a previous marketing job.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by telel6s

Tony,

Not meaning to speak for seafoamtele, but I think he means that the Fender logo was not created first as a font and then type-set into the word "Fender". Instead, it was likely created as a logo that happens to be a word.

Oh, yes, I appreciate that and I expect that's indeed what happened. But I just picked up on the notion that fonts have only existed since computers were developed, which of course is very far from the truth.

Actually, like you I'm fascinated by typography; not only is it a part of what I do for a living but it's also an extremely interesting and involving subject all by itself.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by telel6s

...it was likely created as a logo that happens to be a word.

As a footnote to previous posts, I've had a close look at the "spaghetti" logo on my AV62RI Custom Tele and I'm now certain that this is what happened. It was without doubt originally hand-drawn to represent a handwritten name and the two "e"s differ noticeably from each other. Therefore, even if such a handwriting font did exist, the logo itself would not be possible to re-create accurately simply by typesetting.

That still doesn't preclude the creation of such a font for purposes such as eryque seems to have in mind, but as I've previously suggested each character would almost certainly have to be drawn from scratch in much the same way in which I created that cap F the other day.

[Moggl]

Just a really quick try and I came up with this:



Plain vector graphics is a lot easier than creating a font.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by Moggl

Just a really quick try and I came up with this:

Attachment 8990

Plain vector graphics is a lot easier than creating a font.

That's nicely done, but it still has the same limitation as ugle's (our friend in Norway), which is that it's a uniform weight of line. If you look at most of the common "handwriting" fonts, such as Brush Script, Ondine, Mistral, Bickley Script, Nevison Casual and loads more as well as the Fender logo itself, all the letter-forms vary in apparent thickness of stroke to simulate the pressure of a writer's hand. That generally necessitates creating the shape of each character as a vector graphic. If all these characters are then saved as a font, then the fill colour and weight of stroke/outline can be applied to the resulting text subsequently and variably whenever it's used.

What eryque suggested originally was to get hold of a full font in the exact style of Fender's early logotype so that he could compose other words or names in the same style. If such a font can't be obtained because it doesn't yet actually exist, the only way to achieve the object is to create one, and unfortunately there are no short cuts to that.

[ThreePlyGuy]

I have experimented with the Brush MT font with some success a couple of times. I'm sure many are aware, you do have to muck with the F and E some as Leo did!

[Telover]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Interesting thread this. Id also be interested in getting a font close to the early 70's / late 60's Fender Telecaster logo

That's the easiest: Brush Script.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by ThreePlyGuy

I have experimented with the Brush MT font with some success a couple of times.

Brush Script, Brush MT, Banff - all basically the same thing and OK for approximating the later logotypes but too heavy for the early "spaghetti" style without a whole lot of fiddling about.

[seafoamtele]

Originally Posted by Tony474

What do you mean, pre-font days? There have been type-fonts around since the days of Gutenberg (no, not Steve) and Caxton. What do you think printers have been using for the last 500 years and more? In the early days they carved their own out of wood before casting them in metal, basing their designs on handwritten and engraved styles going back to Roman times. Technology has moved on but the principle is still the same - any new face or font gets drawn either on paper or nowadays on the computer screen in the first instance.

Adaptation of existing designs is common, so maybe when someone has the time and inclination they can come up with a whole font. I suggest (you read it here first, folks) that, if the name hasn't already been used for something else, it should be named "Spaghetti Cursive"!

well,sure, I meant computer fonts. Prior to computer fonts being available via (relatively) easy to use graphics programs, you'd have to get a typesetter to get your work done at a printshop, or buy those old rub-down letter sets at an art supply store. or get a designer to create a new look for you.
that's what I meant.

[seafoamtele]

Originally Posted by telel6s

Tony,

Not meaning to speak for seafoamtele, but I think he means that the Fender logo was not created first as a font and then type-set into the word "Fender". Instead, it was likely created as a logo that happens to be a word. The designer may very well have based it on certain fonts but didn't bother to create x, q, a, j, etc. I know that the company I work for has a logo that spells out the company name. After the fact, the seven letters in the logo were then turned into a true-type font to make it easier to insert the company name into documents and presentations.

But I understand what you mean about how far back fonts go. I'm one of those weird people who actually looks at the back of a book to read about what font was used to print it and why it was selected. My dad worked as a writer/editor and a learned early on that there is often more to a word on a page than what it spells out. Same goes for some advertising copy I worked on in a previous marketing job.

that's exactly what I meant. Thanks.

[Moggl]

Is this one more like it?



I just added a few irregularities, just to show it can be done.

[Poppatwang]

Doesn't capture the essence of the original. Shouldn't have loops in the descenders on the g nor on the l.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by seafoamtele

Prior to computer fonts being available via (relatively) easy to use graphics programs, you'd have to get a typesetter to get your work done at a printshop, or buy those old rub-down letter sets at an art supply store. or get a designer to create a new look for you.
that's what I meant.

Yeah, tell me about it! That's what I do, or rather did for a living. Technology has moved on faster in my lifetime than at any other period in history - same as in many other fields, I guess. Back in the very early eighties we invested a large amount in what was then the latest hot poop in photo-setting equipment from Linotype - but it still wasn't WYSIWIG and just produced galleys that had to be physically pasted up. Only a few years later, once desktop publishing had caught on, we literally couldn't give the system away and wound up throwing it in a skip - what you'd call a dumpster.

But although today's technology is available to anyone who wants to invest in it, you still need to know what you're doing and a lifetime in print, typography and graphics is still useful in staying - just - ahead of the game and continuing to buy the groceries.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by Moggl

Is this one more like it?

Attachment 8994

I just added a few irregularities, just to show it can be done.

I see what you're getting at there, but the only way to do it properly is to create each letter as a fully-formed outline within its own rectangular grid to define its baseline and side-bearings, which can then be filled, stroked, stretched, scaled, tarred, feathered and run out of town... Well, I made up the last three, but I'm sure you get the idea...

[seafoamtele]

Originally Posted by Tony474

Yeah, tell me about it!
But although today's technology is available to anyone who wants to invest in it, you still need to know what you're doing and a lifetime in print, typography and graphics is still useful in staying - just - ahead of the game and continuing to buy the groceries.

Back when "cut & paste" really was cut & paste! I spent plenty of time doing just that; and I agree, you definitely need to know what you're doing.
cheers,
mark

[Moggl]

Originally Posted by Tony474

... but the only way to do it properly ...

I guess if I took a little more time than a meagre five minutes....