PrimaryAn original typeface by Caitlynn Murphy

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“I like to use Kristen [ITC] and Comic Sans when creating worksheets and handouts because it is more visually engaging to kids. They already don’t enjoy doing worksheets, but making them look more fun makes it a little more enticing.”

- Katie Anthony (Elementary Education Major)

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Ta b le of Contents

The Idea

Purpose

Inspiration

The O

Features

Majuscules

Minuscules

Numerals

Punctuation

Application

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The Id ea

Every designer goes through specific stages when it comes to brainstorming for a new project. When assigned the task to create an original typeface I instantly entered the “excited” stage which was quickly overtaken by the “utterly clueless” stage. I needed a reason to create this typeface and my mind was drawing blanks.

As I sat on my couch with a numb mind, a friend piped up in an attempt to bring me from my trance-like state.

“You want to see my favorite font?”

Coming from the mouth of an elementary education major I knew this had to be interesting. As I watched her pick her selection from the drop down menu I knew my assumption had been correct. The awful “Kristen ITC” was chosen.

Forgetting my mental filter I muttered out a slight, “Eww”, and instantly Primary was born.

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Purpose

When asked why she preferred that “font”, my type-illiterate friend stated that it was “fun” and “kid-friendly”.

As terrible as typefaces like Kristin ITC and Comic Sans are, teachers’ reasoning for using them is extremely valid. It fits their needs of using it for young children. Considering that, I began to ask myself why those qualities could not exist in a typeface that was also professional and legitimate.

I began to create Primary by actually researching Kristin ITC and Comic Sans to understand their qualities, or lack there of, further. In the midst of that research, it hit me to use their weaknesses as the strength and basis for my typeface.

Three traits then became the driving force for my typeface. I wanted Primary to exemplify the qualities of being friendly and approachable, easy to read, and young.

Primary then became a geometric typeface specifically designed to be used in regards to elementary education.

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Insp i rat i on

I then found two typefaces that I thought particularly embodied some of those traits. Taking a closer look at Futura and Kabel, I was able to distinguish the elements of each that I liked and thought would help Primary to be successful.

Then I turned back to my research of Comic Sans and Kristen ITC and realized that I needed to create a list of elements that I felt would help Primary to succeed as a typeface used for elementary aged children.

I understood that there were certain details that aided a child in the process of learning to read. These included ideas such as consistency and order, greater width and space, and a prominence. I applied these details to Primary to achieve elements such as even and thicker stroke weights, and wider set widths.

Using resources from my education friend I was able to analyze a handwriting book to aid in my research. I picked out specific details that I wanted to use to keep Primary consistent with elements that children were seeing when learning to write.

Brainstorming on how children learn and researching the handwriting books also inspired the name “Primary”. I realized that a typeface is used in regards to reading and writing which are the fundamentals taught in elementary school. These skills are the building blocks and foundation for learning, or the primary aspects. I wanted my typeface to be a strong foundation for younger children to see and use that would aid in the basis of their learning. My hope is also that using this typeface with elementary aged children will begin to feed their minds with good examples of type.

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The O

One quality that I knew needed to be present in Primary were shapes.

Children learn with shapes and see them in everday life and I felt they would be a familiar and comfortable aspect. Considering Primary needed to obtain qualities that would be friendly and invite children to look at it, I thought that a circle would be most appropriate. Circles are a warmer shape as they lack the sharp corners of squares and triangles.

With this in mind, I decided that my entire typeface was going to be based off of the most circular letter, the “O”. At first I planned for both the majuscule and minuscule “O” to be perfectly round circles which meant the other letters would be based off of a perfect circle as well.

Quickly, I realized that many of my other letters, such as my “B”, “P”, and “R” would suffer in their quality and effectiveness because of that. I also realized that the set width of my majusule “O” was too large and demanding and did not flow with the other letters at all. I had to come to accept that my “O” was becoming too much of a good thing.

Shortly after, it was suggested to me to try and square off the perfect cirlces in my problem letters and with that the final majuscule “O” was developed. It was still based on perfect circle, just two of them stacked on top of one another.

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Beginning “O”. Final “O”.

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Featu res

Another element that I wanted to contribute to Primary was round terminals. Mimicking the feelings of the “O”, I thought that keeping the terminals round would prevent the harsh sharp corners of squared terminals.

I also felt that that round terminals resembled a pencil mark more than squared terminals even though it is at a much larger scale. When writing letters normally with pencil, their terminals are not sharp and square.

This feature also helped to portray the idea of “handwriting” that Comic Sans and Kristin ITC are so known for but was able to do so with a feeling of sophistication.

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Futura: sharp terminals Primary: round terminals

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Majuscules

A B C D E F GH I J K L M NO P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Minuscules

a b c d e f gh i j k l m no p q r s t u v w x y z

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Numerals

0 1 23 4 56 7 8 9

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Punctuation

?, ; ! &

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Appl i cat ion

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