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Steersman

Project type

Typography

Date

January - February 2020

Client

Self-Initiated

Software

Adobe Illustrator CS6, FontForge, Adobe Photoshop CS6

In early 2020, Michael Jacoby updated Steersman, his 2018 handwritten typeface for use as lettering his webcomics.

Steersman

Steersman

I published my first webcomics on DoorJam Creations in early 2017; the earliest ones used Tekton Pro and later AR CENTA for lettering. As time passed, I got annoyed with having to use those fonts and figured I should utilize my graphic design education and create a typeface based upon my handwriting.

I published my first webcomics on DoorJam Creations in early 2017; the earliest ones used Tekton Pro and later AR CENTA for lettering. As time passed, I got annoyed with having to use those fonts and figured I should utilize my graphic design education and create a typeface based upon my handwriting.

I tried an early version based upon my handwriting called Norman Ruler and placed it in the first issue of one of my webcomics, “The Sbuirrels,” “Self-Checkout.” But while I was skilled at designing characters for typefaces, I had less experience in kerning and publishing them. As a result, a kerning pair or a few didn’t exist and, in my frustration, I scrapped Norman Ruler and started anew.

In the meantime, I figured I’d try handwriting my webcomics myself, starting with the debut issue of “Like Herrings and Onions” called “Charity.” I tried my hardest to write neatly and not have the letters collide into one another, but to no avail. I was severely disappointed with this and continued working on the new typeface.

I tried an early version based upon my handwriting called Norman Ruler and placed it in the first issue of one of my webcomics, “The Sbuirrels,” “Self-Checkout.” But while I was skilled at designing characters for typefaces, I had less experience in kerning and publishing them. As a result, a kerning pair or a few didn’t exist and, in my frustration, I scrapped Norman Ruler and started anew.

In the meantime, I figured I’d try handwriting my webcomics myself, starting with the debut issue of “Like Herrings and Onions” called “Charity.” I tried my hardest to write neatly and not have the letters collide into one another, but to no avail. I was severely disappointed with this and continued working on the new typeface.

My handwritten letters that I would vectorize for Steersman.

My handwritten letters that I would vectorize for Steersman.

The poster for the 2020 redo for Steersman by Michael Jacoby. It reads:

“Originally created by Michael Jacoby in 2018, Steersman is a typeface used mainly for his webcomics published on his site, DoorJam Creations. Fed up with using other typefaces with handwritten appearances for his comics, he ultimately decided to create a new font based upon his handwriting.

The previous version of Steersman had much wider line spacing to make room for the characters with lengthy descenders, like j, and capital letters with diacritical marks, like Ý. While Jacoby liked it as first, he figured that the line spacing was TOO wide. Certain lettres, like I and small l (l), have more spacing so that they can be more legible when together, like in ill. Additionally, this new version has ligatures that were absent in the older font. In addition to the standard ligatures like ff, this one also has ft, tt, and TT, to simulate how Jacoby often forms such letter combinations.

The name ‘Steersman’ comes from the etymology of the prefix ‘cyber-‘ (referring to its purpose for wording webcomics), originally shortened from “cybernetics,” from the Greek kubernētės, translated to English as ‘steersman.’”

The poster for the 2020 redo for Steersman by Michael Jacoby. It reads:

“Originally created by Michael Jacoby in 2018, Steersman is a typeface used mainly for his webcomics published on his site, DoorJam Creations. Fed up with using other typefaces with handwritten appearances for his comics, he ultimately decided to create a new font based upon his handwriting.

The previous version of Steersman had much wider line spacing to make room for the characters with lengthy descenders, like j, and capital letters with diacritical marks, like Ý. While Jacoby liked it as first, he figured that the line spacing was TOO wide. Certain lettres, like I and small l (l), have more spacing so that they can be more legible when together, like in ill. Additionally, this new version has ligatures that were absent in the older font. In addition to the standard ligatures like ff, this one also has ft, tt, and TT, to simulate how Jacoby often forms such letter combinations.

The name ‘Steersman’ comes from the etymology of the prefix ‘cyber-‘ (referring to its purpose for wording webcomics), originally shortened from “cybernetics,” from the Greek kubernētės, translated to English as ‘steersman.’”

Seeking to feel more like a professional typeface designer, I added these strange accented characters that I’ve rarely seen in other typefaces and in general FontForge files.

Seeking to feel more like a professional typeface designer, I added these strange accented characters that I’ve rarely seen in other typefaces and in general FontForge files.

Before and after comparisons of the fonts and posters for Steersman from 2018 and 2020.

Before and after comparisons of the fonts and posters for Steersman from 2018 and 2020.

Be sure to check out my webcomics by hovering over the Webcomics option above and click on whichever one you want to read. Also, feel free to buy the book collections I created with KDP on Amazon.com!

Be sure to check out my webcomics by hovering over the Webcomics option above and click on whichever one you want to read. Also, feel free to buy the book collections I created with KDP on Amazon.com!

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