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 Mrs
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Eaves.
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Designed & Edited by Alana Mandel
Selected Text by Elliott Earls
GDES 1314 Typography I - 2010

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uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
font
AllSmallCaps 15,22,28 pt

the bloom is off the rose. Giving birth to a

Roman 20 pt

uuuuuusoul.
uuuu uuuuuuuuuu
type design has lost
its urgency, and has regained its

uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
Bold 22 pt

Roman 53 pt

uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
Italic 200 pt

I learned that the craft of drawing by hand is still

a most valuable asset when it comes to designing

uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu fonts, and that computer tricks are a poor substitute
for intent. When one is giving birth to a font not
spawned directly from an existing model, what is

uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu needed most is the establishment of a biological

discourse between looking and drawing-
between retina and cortex.

uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
Roman 12, 18 pt

uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuu
6
u u
7
 It is in traditional
figure drawing classes
that one learns how to
lock the movement of the
retina to the movement of
the hand. To be successful How thick? AllSmallCaps 14 pt

in this process, one learns How black? Bold 14 pt

that the mind must be quieted. How thin? Italic 14 pt

The hand and retina must Thinner? Italic 14 pt
move in symbiotic lock step Thicker! Bold 14 pt
as they both trace the physical
line. It’s through this process Bigger! Bold 19 pt

that one can learn to trust not Blacker! Bold 14 pt

the mind, but the retina. Smaller! Roman 11 pt
While making marks on paper, Whiter! Bold 14 pt
the internal non-linguistic dialog Grayer? Bold 14 pt
between retina and cortex may go
Closer? Bold 14 pt
something like this:
Farther! Bold 14 pt
How thick? How black? How thin?
Tighter? SmallCaps 14 pt
Thinner? Thicker! Bigger! Blacker!
Too tight! PetiteCaps 14 pt
Smaller! Whiter! Grayer? Closer?
Farther! Tighter? Too tight!
I stress that this process, in order to be
successful, is non-linguistic. The hand
moves, the mark changes, and the eye
responds. The eye, and how it relates
to mark making, or more accurately,
how it responds to the mark made, is
u the most important thing. u
8 9
 As the letterform progresses through successive stages of development and

fuq
refinement, the process becomes increasingly optical. When the impulse or the “idea”

for a font springs primarily from optical phenomena, such as mark making, drawing,

handwriting, or manipulation of formal elements, it may be considered to have

sprung from exclusively formal extrapolation. The resolution of a font, the successive

development and refinement, is always an optical endeavor.

The simple process of making marks on paper is less of an intellectual SmallCaps 19 pt

process than a biological process. One must cultivate a feel for proportion, solidity,
balance, etc.
I’m suggesting that one develops a feel not magically, or through attendance
at the finest schools, but through rigorous application, and through working damn
Roman 12 pt
“Where do you begin?
How do you get an idea or a concept for a typeface?”
First, one should never use the term “concept” in the same
sentence as the word “typeface.” AllPetiteCaps 10 pt

formal.
hard at acquiring a set of very concrete skills, then forgetting them. And what would Typefaces are not conceptual,
those skills be to which one must dedicate him or herself only to eventually forget?
SmallCaps 15 pt
they are
Manipulative skills, first person, hand/eye-coordinated, flesh-based skills. What in jazz

they call “chops”, and in design they call “fundamental graphic exercises” - line rhythms,
SmallCaps 72 pt
gradation, and figure/ground studies.

Theory is study understood and finally applied. But the essence is that

theory (or thinking) is forgotten in the moment of performance. In the visual arts,

as in music, it is important to follow a developmental trajectory that after diligent

application ultimately includes not so much forgetting, as not paying active attention to

these principles. You must trust yourself, and work by feel. Rely on the totality of your

experience. Rely on your history to guide you. Think through the body. Arrive on the

beautiful shores of naivete and anti-mastery only after toiling in the fields of mastery.

Roman 7/15

u u
10 11

Quite possibly the biggest challenge
facing type designers who are just
starting out is that most cannot
see,nor can they draw (I should
amend that slightly; most haven’t
looked, nor can they draw.)
The letterforms produced
in this way were a complete
rejection of everything
type design represented
to this point.
I am resolute in my belief that there is simply The ability to see, (no,
no correlation between time and quality, and
to feel) the correlation
that all things historical are not necessarily
bad. The geezers didn’t get everything wrong. between the ruling pen,
Although Modernism has become shorthand
nib, chisel and/or brush
for dogmatic, imperious, doctrinaire,
dry and anal, it is also rigorous, studied, and the final letterform
quintessentially optimistic and highly formal. is essential.

LOOK
Roman 11/17 Italic 17/20.4 Roman 8/13 SmallCaps 12/18

Students who begin drawing typefaces must first learn to

Bold 12 pt

12
Bold 350 pt

u
@ typefaces.
Roman 100 pt
Bold 30 pt
u
13
 Italic 12 pt Fractions 36 pt
The great artist or designer is s/he who is no longer
constricted
What is so inherently stifling about drawing on
the computer? Tactility and nuance are the first
casualties. Drawing with a mouse or a tablet is
like driving a tank while looking through a drink-
ing straw. What is so inherently stifling about
drawing on the computer? Tactility and nuance
are the first casualties. Drawing with a mouse
or a tablet is like driving a tank while looking
through a drinking straw. What is so inherently
stifling about drawing on the computer? Tactil-
ity and nuance are the first casualties. Drawing
with a mouse or a tablet is like driving a tank
while looking through a drinking straw. What
is so inherently stifling about drawing on the
computer? Tactility and nuance are the first ca-
sualties. Drawing with a mouse or a tablet is like
driving a tank while looking through a drinking
straw. What is so inherently stifling about draw-
ing on the computer? Tactility and nuance are
the first casualties. Drawing with a mouse or a
tablet is like driving a tank while looking through
a drinking straw.
Roman 8/Auto
u u
14
by the rules.
How do you design letterforms? Kick it old skool
style. Draw them big, with a ruling pen and Plaka,
and some Pro White. Focus on the serifs or the
termination of the character. Don’t so much
understand how a letter is drawn: experience
how a letter is drawn. Then refine the letterforms
through successive redrawing. Sit back, evaluate
them optically (with your retina). Then draw
them again. Making them thinner here and
thicker there. Become intimately familiar with
the French curve. Is it possible to achieve all of
the above using only the computer? Of course,
given sensitivity, discipline, and a true biological
understanding of some of the preceding issues.
How do you design letterforms? Kick it old skool
style. Draw them big, with a ruling pen and Plaka,
and some Pro White. Focus on the serifs or the
termination of the character. Don’t so much
understand how a letter is drawn: experience
how a letter is drawn. Then refine the letterforms
through successive redrawing. Sit back, evaluate
them optically (with your retina).
Roman 8/Auto
Roman 8/Auto
It’s all about craft. And craftmanship demands
practice. It is through the practice of type design
that one will develop mastery and come to
a deep understanding of all of the technical
issues. It’s all about craft. And craftmanship
demands practice. It is through the practice
of type design that one will develop mastery
and come to a deep understanding of all of
the technical issues. It’s all about craft. And
craftmanship demands practice. It is through
the practice of type design that one will develop
mastery and come to a deep understanding of all
of the technical issues. It’s all about craft. And
craftmanship demands practice. It is through
the practice of type design that one will develop
mastery and come to a deep understanding of all
of the technical issues. It’s all about craft. And
craftmanship demands practice. It is through
the practice of type design that one will develop
mastery and come to a deep understanding of all
of the technical issues. It’s all about craft. And
craftmanship demands practice.
Roman 8/Auto
But craft is only one part of the equation. Next,
I must deal with the infinitely more difficult
issue of exactly how one uses their craft to
make work that moves the viewer. But craft is
only one part of the equation. Next, I must deal
with the infinitely more difficult issue of exactly
how one uses their craft to make work that moves
the viewer. But craft is only one part of the
equation. Next, I must deal with the infinitely
more difficult issue of exactly how one uses
their craft to make work that moves the viewer.
But craft is only one part of the equation. Next,
I must deal with the infinitely more difficult
issue of exactly how one uses their craft to make
work that moves the viewer. But craft is only
one part of the equation. Next, I must deal with
the infinitely more difficult issue of exactly how
one uses their craft to make work that moves the
viewer. But craft is only one part of the equation.
Next, I must deal with the infinitely more
difficult issue of exactly how one uses their craft
to make work that moves the viewer.
But anti-mastery comes after mazery.
Italic 12 pt Roman, Fractions 25 pt
15
 Aa
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Roman 72 pt

SmallCaps 72 pt
Qq
0123456789 Roman 10 pt ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789

Bb
SmallCaps 10 pt

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abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Bold 72 pt
PetiteCaps 72 pt
Rr
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
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0123456789 Bold 10 pt
PetiteCaps 10 pt 0123456789

Cc ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
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Italic 72 pt Fractions 72 pt

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Ss
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 Italic 10 pt Fractions 10 pt 0123456789

u u
16 17
 e
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Mrs.
Eaves ?
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A Typeface Designed by Zuzana Licko in 1996
u cC][
Designed & Edited by Alana Mandel
Selected Text by Elliott Earls
Printed at St. Edward’s University
Trustee Hall room 108
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T ew
HP 5550 Spring 2010

Mrs. Eaves is a transitional serif derived

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from the contemporary styles of John

DD
Baskerville. Zuzana Licko designed
Mrs. Eaves as a revival typeface in 1996,
naming the typeface after Baskerville’s
housekeeper, mistress, and eventual
right-hand woman in typesetting and
printing, Sarah Eaves. The Mrs. Eaves
typeface family includes roman, roman
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lining, italic, bold, small capitals, petite
capitals, and ligatures.
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p
 Mrs.
Eaves