Resembling the Tail of a Vigorous Fish Swimming Upstream
Decor, a Projection of Desire
Decoration intertwines with numerous fields. It can enhance any sector, like architectural and clothing embellishments, or define an era such as Victorian, Renaissance, or Rococo decorations. But what about decorating characters? From colorful calligraphy to letters drawn with various symbols, the fonts we create are part of digital decorations. Further, decoration extends beyond objects to personal adornments like tattoos and popular decorative mask cords, reflecting a human desire to stand out and connect closely with the history of humanity.
Type. A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles(Link)
Before officially planning 'SD Fishtail,' we explored various ornamental elements in headline Korean fonts, finding that Tuscan serif styles, resembling fish tails, frequently appeared in monograms decorated in 『Type. A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles』 by Taschen.
2017 Martin Silvertant. All rights reserved.(Link)
This split serif style is known as Tuscan serif. The origins of Tuscan-decorated lettering are unclear, but it was popular during the Victorian era and developed into various styles. This style was notably used in 20th-century circus and show advertisements, as seen in the font 'Circus.'
RIDI Monthly Best Webtoon Thumbnail (RIDI)
Korean fonts with distinctive serifs include 'Sandoll Gawein', 'Excalibur', 'Sandoll Witch', and 'Scholar Serif'. However, Korean fonts reflecting the bifurcated stroke-end decoration of Tuscan serif are rare in the font market. Decorative serif fonts are increasingly used in industries like gaming and romance fantasy genres in webtoons and web novels, suggesting 'Fishtail' could be a fresh element in these fields.
Designing Fishtail
When planning 'SD Fishtail', we aimed not only to differentiate weights but to maximize decorative elements, suitable for large title uses. The lightest weight, Hairline, and the thickest, Heavy, give distinct impressions—akin to a plump fish versus a skeletal one. The heaviest weight, Heavy, includes more ornamental Inline and Shadow styles, fitting for an 'ornamental font'.
Decorating Korean characters is challenging due to their inherent complexity. When the distinctive diamond decoration was applied to all 'ㅇ' and 'ㅎ' characters, it felt grotesque, like the hundred-eyed monster Argus from Greek mythology. Thus, we carefully adjusted to include diamond decorations only in the largest consonants 'ㅇ' and 'ㅎ' to maintain balance.
The decorative diamonds are also found in punctuation, adding interest.
'SD Fishtail' features bifurcated stroke ends, complicating spatial arrangement. Variations can be seen in the vowel designs of 'ㅝ' and 'ㅢ'.
There are also alternative decorative 'A' glyphs in 'SD Fishtail,' which can be swapped in Adobe products or via OpenType features, adding fun elements to users' projects.
Find out your fortune for 2024!
As the first new font of the year, 'SD Fishtail' was intended as a New Year gift set, offering fun content along with the font. Like being lured into a bakery by the sight of delicious bread in the window, good display is crucial. Our team thought 'SD Fishtail,' designed for the fantasy genre, would pair well with tarot cards, leading to the creation of New Year tarot content. If interested, check out 'SD Fishtail Tarot Fortunes'(Link) for a glimpse into what 2024 might hold, with a three-month subscription to 'SD Fishtail' also available for a month.
Wishing everyone a prosperous new year with 'SD Fishtail'!
References
Lecture Notes from Cheongju Craft Biennale Semiar(Link), Lee Sun-young(Art Critic), 2019
Type. A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles(Link)
With hollow feet and harlequin hats: Tuscan letters, a prank of lapidary origin? (Link), Teresita Schultz de Carabobo, 2021
Author: Kim Seul-gi, Sandoll Planning and Operations Team