A Font with a Human Touch
Do you like "Dune"?
In the winter of 2021, the movie "Dune" was released in Korea. As a fan of the sci-fi genre, I couldn't miss a film that inspired famous sci-fi universes like "Star Wars" and "Starcraft" (I'm also a fan of Timothée Chalamet!). After watching "Dune" multiple times, I was completely captivated by its world and eagerly awaited the sequel, which led me to read the original novel first.
Dune(1984) Main Title / dune-1984-titles (Link)
Dune(1984) Credit / dune-1984-titles (Link)
During this time, fatefully, I discovered the fonts 「Albertus」 used in the early Dune movie titles from 1984 and 「Lydian」 in the first paperback edition of "Dune" published by Ace Books. The historical impression of these two fonts and the sharp, sandstorm-swept desert planet of 'Arrakis', the main setting of "Dune", inspired me to create a similar vision in Korean with 「SD Petra」.
Dune by Frank Herbert (Ace Books, 1967) / dune-1984-titles (Link)
Inspiring Fonts Examined
First, 「Albertus」 shows us that it adopted the expression method of a chisel, not the broad nib pen typically associated with Latin writing tools. This is evident in the sharp expressions where the curved stroke of 'B' meets and at the ends of 'L', 'r', 'h', and 'p', which feel integral to the font's identity. The significant width variation in its characters, especially the capitals, enhances this time-period feel.
Next, 「Lydian」 is a humanist sans-serif font that follows a calligraphic approach. It has sharp, precisely cut stroke expressions. The tail of 'Q', a reconnected 'B, and the diagonal axis of 'O' showcase the unique charm of 「Lydian」.
Lastly,「Robinson」 from Commercial Type is a modern sans-serif insplired by 「Lydian」. Compared to 「Albertus」 and 「Lydian」, 「Robinson」 features more consistent width, weight, and refined stroke expressions, giving it the most contemporary and clean appearance among the three.
All three fonts differ in stroke expression, concept, and impression. Yet, they share one commonality: they are intrinsically human fonts, evident in their comfortable and natural look. Interestingly, this aligns with the anti-machine movement in "Dune"'s universe, which advocates for a return to human-centered values.
Two Faces of SD Petra
Incorporating different character impressions into one font type is challenging. Hence, I decided to appropriately capture the strong, forceful impressions of 'Albertus' and 'Lydian', and the calm, refined demeanor of 'Robinson' into two uses: Display and Text.
Petra Text
'Petra Text' is designed for use in body text, imagining long lines of text. Therefore, I minimized the contrast between horizontal and vertical strokes to ensure clarity at small sizes and reduce eye strain. The texture of the strokes is also simplified to avoid distractions while reading. The smaller size of the characters heightens the historical and humanistic impressions, and the increased space between characters and pillars adds a rhythmic enjoyment to reading.
Petra Display
'Petra Display' uses 'Petra Text' as a backbone but increases the size of characters and maximizes the texture of the strokes. It also has a higher stroke contrast, making it suitable for display purposes. The differences in full-width size between Text and Display are also notable. Text is set at 970, optimizing space for economical use in long texts, while Display, due to its thicker and wider characters, is set at 1000.
The Form of Petra
Having briefly introduced the 'Petra' family, let's dive into more details.
From the outset, I wanted 'Petra' to reflect the naturalness of handwriting. Thus, several tests were conducted to ensure the writing direction was apparent, particularly in characters such as 'ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ'. The vertical alignment of 'ㅠ' was also crafted in a similar vein.
The forms of 'ㅇ, ㅎ' are distinctive features of 'Petra'. Unlike typical Korean 'ㅇ', which has a vertical axis, 'Petra' employs a slanted axis, inspired by the writing style of a broad nib pen used for Latin 'O'. This design choice adds a humanistic touch to both the Latin 'O' and Korean 'ㅇ, ㅎ'.
Another unique detail in 'Petra' is the shape of the dot. In Display, a sharper and more angular dot complements the overall design, differing from Text.
보다 더 디테일하게 들어가서 한글의 가장 기본이 되는 세로획과 가로획, 즉 기둥과 보의 형태를 살펴보겠습니다. Text에선 표현을 최소화했기 때문에 잘 느껴지진 않지만, 크게 확대해 보면 자잘한 획의 디테일들을 확인할 수 있습니다. 실제로 각 스타일에 맞는 형태를 구현하기 위해 점의 개수가 달라지는 부분도 있습니다. Text는 미세하게, Display는 큼직큼직하게 획 단차가 들어간 모습을 확인할 수 있습니다.
Petra, Meaning 'Rock in Greek(Πέτρα)
From the onset of the project, I envisioned 'Petra' as an epic inscribed in stone, frequently using Greek epics as draft phrases for typesetting tests. The name 'Petra,' derived from the Greek Πέτρα, means 'rock.' This naturally led to the decision to develop a Greek character set, given its historical depth and foundational influence on both Latin and Cyrillic scripts. Although many are familiar with the appearance and names of Greek characters used in science and mathematics, like 'alpha (α)' and 'pi (π)', designing them is a different matter altogether. The unique formative characteristics of Greek, distinct from Latin, made it challenging to approach. Hence, I conducted a Greek study with other type designers at Sandoll to prepare for production.
The more I learned, the deeper I felt drawn into a labyrinth. However, designing the uppercase, which shares some characteristics with Latin, was relatively straightforward. The challenge lay in the lowercase set, which tends to reflect the handwriting impression more strongly than Latin lowercase does in other fonts analyzed during our study. Furthermore, since 'Petra' belongs to the humanist sans-serif category, I envisioned the Greek version of 'Petra' to strongly emphasize the impression of handwriting, designing it with this in mind.
Concluding Thoughts
Given its inspiration from "Dune", 'SD Petra' seems well-suited for fantasy or sci-fi titles and texts. I can vividly imagine it being used by genre-specific publishers like 'Elixir' or 'Golden Bough'. While my creativity has its limits, I am curious about the further applications users might envision.
Concluding any project is always hard. Like this article and 'Petra', fonts gain a new life and step into new worlds once they leave the creator's hands. Like the protagonist of "Dune" leaving their home planet for a new one, it's an adventure that is both daunting and exhilarating.
Author: Kim Seulgi, Sandoll Planning and Operations Team