Alba Mincho is a contemporary yet traditional Japanese kana typeface suitable for literature and long text. It is modern in its design and details whilst retaining traditional features that make it well-suited for print media as well as digital use.
This font is named Alba Mincho (アルバ明朝) after the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, where I am working on the design.
Alba Mincho Kana is a Japanese kana font designed from scratch, aimed predominantly at vertical text typesetting that is as-yet little seen on the web despite its support in css but very common in Japanese printed matter, especially novels. It is under active development and may change as it is made. Currently, I am in the process of digging up what I designed some time ago and using it as a basis for the updated version.
My knowledge of Japanese letterforms and their calligraphic origins is improving all the time, so some changes may be made to balance these roots with modern typographic expectations and create a more harmonious design. As a digital font aimed at readability, however, typography is the deciding factor in most decisions.
As much as possible, I'm trying to work off my own judgement when designing Alba Mincho, but all judgement is the result of experience, of which I yet have little. Design features have been influenced by various free and commercial fonts I have seen used in book text, as well as by examples I have seen of Japanese lettering and my own (still very rudimentary) knowledge of shodō (Japanese calligraphy).
Alba Mincho Kana is also intended to have a letterpress-suitable version of the font for use on physical photopolymer printing plates (which I have tried and tested with much success). This has reduced contrast (thicker thin strokes), a few ink-spread modifications and some of the hane modified or removed to avoid ink congestion.
Development is done using the wonderful FontForge and Inkscape on Debian Linux. Some rough sketches are made on paper, but most design is done on computer.
Before starting on a hiragana glyph, I make sure to research its design, such as its brush-written appearance, components and differences from other glyphs that may appear similar at first glance. It is also worth taking into account the original Chinese character the kana is derived from. These principles must be followed for the katakana as well.
No work has yet been done to “hint” these fonts or make them more suitable for onscreen use.
I use the following open source fonts to give myself a better idea of the proportions of kana glyphs when designing.
- 『文字の作り方 ❝伝わる❞文字はどうやって生まれるの？』 Clear explanation of the design categories and features of Japanese typefaces.
- 『もじのデザイン・書体のフシギ』 Detailed information on the construction of Japanese typefaces (as yet mostly unread, but provides very helpful insights).
As of the time of writing this, I am still trying to decide on an appropriate license for these fonts. I will most likely choose either the GNU Public License or the SIL Open Font License, though I am very much an admirer of the boldly open license used by M+ and Gutenberg Labo.
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Re-establish clear design goals by unifying and improving hiragana glyphs.
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Enlarge “serifs” on some hiragana. As-is, they are somewhat diminished at smaller text sizes.
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Begin on katakana design in earnest.
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Create “print” version merged with the older photopolymer version of the font.