Fluxus Editions

Abstract. Parametric fonts are programmatically defined fonts with variable parameters, pioneered by Donald Knuth with his METAFONT technology in the 1980s. While Donald Knuth’s ideas in METAFONT and subsequently in METAPOST are often seen as legacy techniques from the pre-graphical user interface (GUI) era of type design, recent trends such as variable fonts suggest a resurgence of certain principles. This paper explores a modern type design process built on parametric design principles, specifically using METAPOST. The author created two variable fonts with this method and released them under a free, open-source license. The paper details the methodology, workflow, and insights gained from this process.

References References in BIB How to cite How to cite in BIB

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@MISC{colorfonts,
   AUTHOR = {Peter Constable},
   TITLE = {{C}{O}{L}{R}---{C}olor {T}able ({O}pen{T}ype 1.9.1)---{T}ypography --- learn.microsoft.com},
   YEAR = {},
   NOTE = {[Accessed 08-06-2024]},
}

@MISC{variablefonts,
   AUTHOR = {Peter Constable},
   TITLE = {{O}pen{T}ype {F}ont {V}ariations overview ({O}pen{T}ype 1.9.1)---{T}ypography --- learn.microsoft.com},
   YEAR = {},
   NOTE = {[Accessed 08-06-2024]},
}

@BOOK{yh07book,
   AUTHOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {Fonts \& Encodings. {F}rom Advanced Typography to {U}nicode and Everything in Between},
   PUBLISHER = {O'Reilly},
   ADDRESS = {Sebastopol, CA},
   YEAR = {2007},
   PAGES = {xx+1018},
}

@ARTICLE{hellingmanmalayalam,
   AUTHOR = {Hellingman, Jeroen},
   TITLE = {Malayalam fonts},
   JOURNAL = {CTAN: language/malayalam},
   YEAR = {1998},
}

@ARTICLE{hobbycurves1986,
   AUTHOR = {Hobby, John D.},
   TITLE = {Smooth, easy to compute interpolating splines},
   JOURNAL = {Discrete and Computational Geometry},
   YEAR = {1986},
   VOLUME = {1},
   PAGES = {123-140},
}

@ARTICLE{hobby1986smooth,
   AUTHOR = {Hobby, John D.},
   TITLE = {Smooth, easy to compute interpolating splines},
   JOURNAL = {Discrete \& computational geometry},
   PUBLISHER = {Springer},
   YEAR = {1986},
   VOLUME = {1},
   NUMBER = {2},
   PAGES = {123--140},
}

@ARTICLE{hobby1994user,
   AUTHOR = {Hobby, John D.},
   TITLE = {{A User’s Manual for {\MP}. AT\&T Bell Laboratories}},
   JOURNAL = {Computing Science Technical Report},
   YEAR = {1994},
   VOLUME = {162},
}

@MISC{johnhudsonvarfonts,
   AUTHOR = {John Hudson},
   TITLE = {{I}ntroducing {O}pen{T}ype {V}ariable {F}onts --- medium.com},
   YEAR = {},
   NOTE = {[Accessed 08-06-2024]},
}

@ARTICLE{lawlatin,
   AUTHOR = {Bogus{\l}aw Jackowski and Nowacki, Janusz M.},
   TITLE = {Latin Modern: Enhancing Computer Modern with accents, accents, accents},
   JOURNAL = {TUGBoat: Proceedings of the 2003 Annual Meeting},
   YEAR = {2003},
   VOLUME = {24},
}

@ARTICLE{law2001metatype1,
   AUTHOR = {Bogus{\l}aw Jackowski and Nowacki, Janusz M. and Strzelczyk, Piotr},
   TITLE = {MetaType1: A MetaPost-based engine for generating Type 1 fonts},
   JOURNAL = {Proc. of Euro\TeX},
   YEAR = {2001},
   PAGES = {111--119},
}

@BOOK{knuth-metafont,
   AUTHOR = {Knuth, Donald E.},
   TITLE = {{\TeX} and {\MF}: New Directions in Typesetting},
   PUBLISHER = {American Mathematical Society},
   ADDRESS = {USA},
   YEAR = {1979},
}

@ARTICLE{knuth1985lessons,
   AUTHOR = {Knuth, Donald E.},
   TITLE = {Lessons learned from {\MF}},
   JOURNAL = {Visible Language},
   PUBLISHER = {Visible Language, etc.},
   YEAR = {1985},
   VOLUME = {19},
   NUMBER = {1},
   PAGES = {35},
}

@BOOK{knuth1989metafontbook,
   AUTHOR = {Knuth, Donald E.},
   TITLE = {The {\MF}book},
   PUBLISHER = {Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc.},
   YEAR = {1989},
   PAGES = {150},
}

@ARTICLE{romerlinus2023,
   AUTHOR = {Romer, Linus},
   TITLE = {Curvature combs and harmonized paths in MetaPost},
   JOURNAL = {TUGboat},
   YEAR = {2023},
   VOLUME = {44},
   PAGES = {236-239},
}

Santhosh Thottingal (2024), “Parametric type design in the era of variable and color fonts,” in Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024 (Yannis Haralambous, Ed.), Grapholinguistics and Its Applications, Vol. 12, Brest: Fluxus Editions, 757–787.


@INPROCEEDINGS{gla12-thot,
   AUTHOR = {Santhosh Thottingal},
   EDITOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {{Parametric type design in the era of variable and color fonts}},
   BOOKTITLE = {{Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024}},
   SERIES = {{Grapholinguistics and Its Applications}},
   VOLUME = {12},
   PUBLISHER = {Fluxus Editions},
   ADDRESS = {Brest},
   YEAR = {2024},
   PAGES = {757--787},
   DOI = {https://doi.org/10.36824/2024-graf-thot},
}