3-Dimensional Type Practice Development

As I progressed through the production of the typeface, I reached a point where I thought the letters were collectively complete and made up the perfect cube. I was wrong. As I went through the layers and created final sketches of the cube from various angles, it became clear that their were certainly some gaps missing...

Starting with Layer 1:

Image showcasing all the changes in store

The problems started with layer one...

It became apparent that I had accidentally used two 'U's'.

And here, it seemed that the 'H' and the 'P' are taking up the same space.

Sketches of the new changes to letters. Which now feature the split in two 'B' and 'G' and early alterations of the new 'P'. On the second row of images, you can also see the different attempts made at joining the 'B' internally; it took a few attempts to get to a pattern I was happy with.

It was also unclear what shape was inside the counters of the 'B'. It later became clear that this was a 'G', but because the shape of the 'G' changed, I then had to make the counters of the 'B' a square narrower so that the 'G' could protrude out and fill the space.

Continuing with Layer 3:

Layer 2 was perfectly okay thankfully, which meant I moved straight onto Layer 3.

This shape was pretty good, except for a few blank spots which I wasn't sure belonged to which letter. The 'T' and the 'X' also needed to be split, using the new formation I'd developed whilst working on Layer 1.

Here, the 'X' and the 'T' have been split and the little squares inside are numbers to show how far (or deep) the planned extrusion is.

Problem:

One of the most frustrating problems I encountered was this one where it was unclear what the shape was that filled the top left image. After some juggling around, all it needed was an addition to the letter 'U'. It's not that clear in the image, but their were several alterations like this one that were made.

After a while, all the necessary changes were made. The cube is close to completely drafted. All that's missing is the links to keep each layer in place and to stop them from slipping around.

Final (changed) letterforms:

Below are images of the changed letterforms. All now uniquely edited and positioned to fit perfectly inside of the cube.

Layer 1:

The 'G' now in two parts and extended counters for the 'B'

The 'G' from different angles

'B' now also in two parts and with thinner counters and an edited extrusion to fill the interior of the 'G'

More angles of the 'B'

My personal favourite. This 'P'.

Layer 3:

The 'X' very similar to before but now split it two

The tail of the 'Z' has been edited (the top half shortened in length) to fit around the 'T' more suitably

The 'U'. The biggest change to this shape is one you can't see as it's a small one on the back

This 'T' of course splits in half down the middle to create two shapes

The Cube - First draft:

These sketches serve the purpose of showing the layout of all the letters within the box. I purposely twisted the central layer so that the sides with clear letterforms on are shown diagonally across from each side; to keep the aesthetic consistent all the way around.

It's cool to see the potential for the cube from these sketches. It could potentially be a really cool puzzle piece. If it all fits together.

More drafted sketches from a side-on angle this time.