Baldwin Font
Baldwin began after stumbling across an empty box labeled APPLES printed in thick, bold letters. What really stood out to me were the two P’s and how the bowls weren’t perfect semi-circles. With those five letters as a foundation, all that was left was to determine the forms of the rest of the characters. It wasn’t long until Baldwin came to fruit(ion).
Baldwin includes:
Uppercase character set
Numerals
Basic punctuation (shown in last slide)
Three .OTF files: Regular, Rough, and Inked
Tag @johnsheehandesign or use #JSDbaldwin so I can see your creations!
Once purchased, Baldwin may be used for both personal and commercial work. Please do not redistribute.
Scroll down to read more about Baldwin!
Baldwin began after stumbling across an empty box labeled APPLES printed in thick, bold letters. What really stood out to me were the two P’s and how the bowls weren’t perfect semi-circles. With those five letters as a foundation, all that was left was to determine the forms of the rest of the characters. It wasn’t long until Baldwin came to fruit(ion).
Baldwin includes:
Uppercase character set
Numerals
Basic punctuation (shown in last slide)
Three .OTF files: Regular, Rough, and Inked
Tag @johnsheehandesign or use #JSDbaldwin so I can see your creations!
Once purchased, Baldwin may be used for both personal and commercial work. Please do not redistribute.
Scroll down to read more about Baldwin!
Baldwin began after stumbling across an empty box labeled APPLES printed in thick, bold letters. What really stood out to me were the two P’s and how the bowls weren’t perfect semi-circles. With those five letters as a foundation, all that was left was to determine the forms of the rest of the characters. It wasn’t long until Baldwin came to fruit(ion).
Baldwin includes:
Uppercase character set
Numerals
Basic punctuation (shown in last slide)
Three .OTF files: Regular, Rough, and Inked
Tag @johnsheehandesign or use #JSDbaldwin so I can see your creations!
Once purchased, Baldwin may be used for both personal and commercial work. Please do not redistribute.
Scroll down to read more about Baldwin!
The very beginning
I came across a box labeled APPLES at my grandparents house and couldn’t help but notice those P’s. The incomplete semicircles used for the bowls just grabbed me for some reason. The heavy weight of the letters and that boxy “S” made me love it more. Since finishing Presque, I had been thinking about starting a new font and was waiting for inspiration to strike, and this was it.
Putting the “P” in Apples
The two P’s were what defined this font. So, that’s where I started. I experimented with different heights, widths, weights, and styles. Ultimately, I went with the “P” that most resembled the one from the box. The "O” and “S” came next to get a couple of those building block letters out of the way early. A couple of O’s snuck their way in there too. I wanted to see how the stylization of the “P” would translate into other characters with round qualities. As can be seen in the final font, I decided not to incorporate the same bowl shape from the “P” into every round letter. It made the font a little too quirky, whereas I wanted it’s uniqueness to be more subtle.
The Artboards
This process was pretty similar to when I created Presque. Start with a few foundational letters, then use those to build the rest. Naturally, there was a lot of trial and error. Sometimes a letterform wouldn’t look as good on the artboard as it did in my head.
Baldwin?
Naming is both my favorite and least favorite part. It’s exciting to put that finishing touch on the project, but also a bit overwhelming. Here was my process with the name: Since this all started from that apples box, I decided to make apples the “theme” of this font. From there, it was a quick Google search for names of a variety of apples. I narrowed it down to a few that could work. Names that weren’t too long or too short, and incorporated a couple of the standout characters. Baldwin came out on top. Using my apple theme, the display slides practically made themselves. Font complete!