Punched OutThis FontStruction was selected by FontStruct staff.This%20FontStruction%20was%20selected%20by%20FontStruct%20staff.

by shasta
see also Punched Out Fill by shasta


Details

Description:
Well, apparently everybody here likes building letters... And I'm sure everybody got told at least once to finally shut down that damn computer while fontstructing. Here's how you can go on tinkering fonts even with the computer unplugged!;)

I had carried this idea around with me a long time ago, doing some sketches, but abandoning it cause I thought all the thin and dotted lines would go beyond fontstruct's possibilities. Until funk_king proved me wrong... Thanks for the re-inspiration!

I think this is pretty self-explaining. Cut along the solid lines, fold along the dotted lines and put some glue on the shaded parts, put it all together, and there you go with your new toys!

Unfortunately it was impossible to fill all the inner sides of all the counters, but I tried to leave them open where you'd see it least. There might also be some bugs, I haven't tried them out yet. Pure brainwork so far... (My brain's still in the freezer to cool down a bit) In case someone ever actually uses them and finds something wrong, please let me know!
Hope you like it!:)

Check out the fill font if you wanna print your own custom-made design on the letters!

Edit 5th August: Just copied the uppercase on the lowercase for reasons of convenience... I might add some alternates for some letters on the lowercase though, probably coming in September. Sorry, exam-time.;)
Stats:
65 characters, 136 downloads
Created:
Mon, 20th July, 12:49 PM 2009
Last Edit:
Wed, 5th August, 1:57 PM 2009
Rate it:
  • Currently 8.59223
8.6Balanced%20Rating%3A%20%3Cb%20class%3D%22weighted_value%22%3E8.6%3C%2Fb%3E%3Cbr%2F%3EAverage%20Rating%3A%20%3Cb%20class%3D%22rating_value%22%3E9.0%3C%2Fb%3E%3Cbr%2F%3EClick%20for%20more%20information%20about%20this%20rating. 32 votes
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Discussion

chr.s
chr.s Wed, 22nd July, 1:57 PM

And I'm sure everybody got told at least once to finally shut down that damn computer while fontstructing.

So, SO true - the one downside to this app is its unrelentingly addictive nature. That said, I absolutely love this font - can't think of any time when I'd use it in a design, but for a rainy day's activities this is tops.

Em42
Em42 Wed, 22nd July, 2:05 PM

Shasta, now I'd love to see the real thing! :)

chr.s
chr.s Wed, 22nd July, 2:06 PM

Ditto ^that^ !

shasta
shasta Wed, 22nd July, 2:12 PM

working on it... the S is almost done, just a bit fiddly to glue that stuff together - but it seems to work!

@chr.s: yep, definitely not my most useful fontstruction... but it could look cool for example in the background of a flyer. of course the context would have to fit... and right, who does flyers for crafting groups every day. ;)

djnippa
djnippa Wed, 22nd July, 2:36 PM

I really love this font. Not many applications for it, but nevertheless a creative lesson.
I think you should mention Funk_King for the initial spark.

funk_king
funk_king Wed, 22nd July, 2:38 PM

wow, dude. this is very cool to me. i love it. the concept and execution. amazing. i think when i did cutouti have something like this in mind. you've created a whole new category :) rock on.

funk_king
funk_king Wed, 22nd July, 4:15 PM

i know this is a work in progress, but have you considered doing different versions - like black, outline... i think by enhancing the main outline of each glyph or filling it in, would definitely increase readability for those who would use just as type and not as cutouts :)

cayo
cayo Wed, 22nd July, 11:26 PM

I second Em42 on the cut&glued real life sample! the next time i'm told to turn this thing off while fontstructing, i might make a set myself. very good idea!

oyrus
oyrus Thu, 23rd July, 3:04 AM

It worth a pick.

geneus1
geneus1 Thu, 23rd July, 6:51 AM

Awesome in three real-world dimensions!

meek
meek Thu, 23rd July, 8:26 AM

Amazing.

Em42
Em42 Thu, 23rd July, 8:36 AM

I hope for your sanity you are not really trying to build up the real thing: it would be for sure harder than building the font itself! :)

(I know because I tried to build the "E"...)

shasta
shasta Thu, 23rd July, 10:25 AM

Thanks for your comments, everyone! They're very appreciated after the hard fontstructing... :) I have now added the numerals, if anybody has any wishes for other specific characters, let me know!

@funk_king: Yep, I've thought about a filled version too for simple type-use. But before cloning i wanted to have the complete character set... Now I'm actually thinking about doing fill letters on the lowercase, so you'd have all in one font. What do you think about that? Outline sounds interesting too...

@Em42 and cayo: The cut-and-glued real life sample is actually done already! Looks pretty cool, and the satisfaction of seeing that everything goes exactly where it's supposed to, is so huge that I'm seriously considering becoming a punch-out-sheet designer... (Kidding!)
Anyway, I can now confirm that A, H, S and T work perfectly. Here's a picture from the making-of:

Thanks for your comments, everyone! They're very appreciated after the hard fontstructing... :) I have now added the numerals, if anybody has any wishes for other specific characters, let me know!
<br/>
<br/><b>@funk_king:</b> Yep, I've thought about a filled version too for simple type-use. But before cloning i wanted to have the complete character set... Now I'm actually thinking about doing fill letters on the lowercase, so you'd have all in one font. What do you think about that? Outline sounds interesting too...
<br/>
<br/><b>@Em42 and cayo:</b> The cut-and-glued real life sample is actually done already! Looks pretty cool, and the satisfaction of seeing that everything goes exactly where it's supposed to, is so huge that I'm seriously considering becoming a punch-out-sheet designer... (Kidding!) 
<br/>Anyway, I can now confirm that A, H, S and T work perfectly. Here's a picture from the making-of:
gferreira
gferreira Thu, 23rd July, 1:16 PM

Congratulations! FontStruct Staff have deemed your FontStruction worthy of special mention. “Punched Out” is now a Top Pick.

gferreira
gferreira Thu, 23rd July, 1:20 PM

Shasta, you brought FontStruct to another dimension – literally!

funk_king
funk_king Thu, 23rd July, 1:37 PM

congrats, dude. i like the idea of using lc for filled version. you are a font designer/punch-out designer. and your sample brought a tear to my eye :) incredible. i'm sure it was relief and elation when they came together so beautifully. i'm stunned by the whole project and so very glad you did it.

SquarePeg
SquarePeg Thu, 23rd July, 2:16 PM

Wow, shasta, it's really cool to see that photo!

chr.s
chr.s Thu, 23rd July, 2:45 PM

That photo made my day.
Excellent stuff.

afrojet
afrojet Thu, 23rd July, 3:54 PM

Wow. So fun to see this go from inspiration to physical realization in just over a week. Both product and process are amazing.

djnippa
djnippa Thu, 23rd July, 4:59 PM

Wow brilliant work in the photo.
A big smile on my face :-)
Superb job.

cayo
cayo Thu, 23rd July, 5:19 PM

that's a sexy pic:
a laptop, scissors, uhu... and some crazy @$$ punched out type!
(nice light & shadows, btw.)
please excuse my language, but I'm havin way too much fun & I should get back to work, but...
I'll start with the period, it's the easiest one.

Em42
Em42 Thu, 23rd July, 6:02 PM

This is the E I built: sides fit perfectly but I'm sorry I did an awfully dirty gluing job...

Unfortunately there is no rating over 10, because this would deserve it!

This is the E I built: sides fit perfectly but I'm sorry I did an awfully dirty gluing job...
<br/>
<br/>Unfortunately there is no rating over 10, because this would deserve it!
shasta
shasta Thu, 23rd July, 7:39 PM

thanks everyone! overwhelmed by the positive feedback...
@afrojet: It was actually roughly 48 hours from initial idea to the final glueing, I just uploaded the picture a bit later. Not so good for the exams I should have been studying for, but funnily I always go extreme on fontstruct when I should really really do something else. (Not to say something more important, haha...)
@Em: Wow, awesome! I so wouldn't have thought that anyone actually ever tries them out... :) And yep, the gluing can definitely get messy. In what size did you print it? I guess anything above two characters per A4 sheet gets too small to get them together nicely.
Anyway, cool that I can tick off the E too now, thanks a lot! Are we going to see M, 4 and 2 too or did you already go nuts after one letter? ;)

Em42
Em42 Thu, 23rd July, 8:26 PM

I printed just one letter on an A4 at 800pt size.

The original plan was to spell out my nick, and if I have some free time during the weekend I will (but with such an hot Summer in Rome it is very unlikely I will stay home).

I also thought of cheating by using the E for the M as well (with some Photoshop trick), but then I realized they have different side parts and flaps, so it would have not been fair! :)

shasta
shasta Thu, 23rd July, 8:51 PM

I think cheating is legitimate here... I myself had a hard time fighting down the temptation to just write "take the E and rotate it!" on M and W... I just did them in case anyone really wants to use this as a type.
And I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable with the thought of you hyperventilating in your study in sweltering heat full of glue vapours while your friends hang on the beach of ostia... So better cheat and save time! ;)

afrojet
afrojet Thu, 23rd July, 9:23 PM

@shasta: I think you made the right choice. In the future you won't recall the content of the exam or the marks you received, but you'll remember making this beauty.

lillybaby123
lillybaby123 Fri, 24th July, 8:41 AM

This is marvelous! I love this one

shasta
shasta Fri, 24th July, 6:42 PM

Yeeha, just got hit by the font troll... Down from 9.9 to 8.9 with one additionnal vote. Thanks a lot! :P

They should really think about implementing a few lines of code that erase statistically too obviously diverging votes...

cayo
cayo Sat, 25th July, 3:45 AM

I did not vote before so I just raised you up a bit.
Maybe Rob & Co. could implement a like system in which you either like it or don't. if you do, it adds one "like". I think that could kill the font troll.

p2pnut
p2pnut Sat, 25th July, 7:13 PM

Wow! An amazing concept that works out in the real world.

It certainly gets a 10 from me. Nigel Tufnel's amp in Spinal Tap goes up to 11 ... shame we can't do the same.

hellotheresa
hellotheresa Sun, 26th July, 6:30 PM

Truly awesome. A tangible FontStruction! Amazing work!

jmarquez
jmarquez Mon, 27th July, 3:32 PM

It’s like seeing a digital fontstruction that took the “Red Pill” and came through to the real world!

janking
janking Mon, 27th July, 3:57 PM

Fold-tastic

shasta
shasta Thu, 30th July, 10:30 PM

I've just released the fill font, so you can print your own special design on the letters to make your once so boring sunday afternoons really exciting. ;) Here's how it works:

I've just released the <a href="http://fontstruct.fontshop.com/fontstructions/show/punched_out_fill">fill font</a>, so you can print your own special design on the letters to make your once so boring sunday afternoons really exciting. ;) Here's how it works:
gferreira
gferreira Mon, 17th August, 5:13 PM

Congratulations! FontStruct Staff have deemed your FontStruction worthy of special mention. “Punched Out” is now a current Featured FontStruction.

gray.scale
gray.scale Thu, 24th September, 2:41 PM

GREAT IDEAT! 10/10

domald
domald Sun, 11th October, 7:11 PM

this is brilliant!