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In this course, you will learn:
- If you think icon fonts stop and start with Dingbats, think again.
- New icon fonts are modern, fun, and allow you to add scalable vector artwork to your designs with a single keystroke.
- Chances are you've seen them in action, but you might not be exactly clear on how to create your own.
- James Williamson explains what icon fonts are and how they work, and reviews a selection of tools for generating icon fonts: online services like Fontello, vector-drawing programs like Illustrator, and font creation software like Glyphs Mini.
- He also provides tips on drawing and organizing glyphs, importing artwork, exporting your font, and generating cross-browser-compatible web fonts.
Syllabus:
- Introduction
- How to use the exercise files
1. Icon Font Overview
- What is an icon font?
- Options for creating icon fonts
- Understanding font metrics
- Tools overview
2. Using Online Tools
- Online font-creation tools
- Choosing existing icons
- Uploading custom icons
- Ensuring consistent sizing
- Choosing Unicode encoding
- Setting font preferences
- Downloading and testing custom icon fonts
3. Drawing Glyphs
- Exploring the finished font
- Determining units per em (UPM)
- Setting up your workspace
- Setting grids and guides
- Drawing on a grid
- Tips for drawing curves
- Drawing consistent curves
- Creating compound paths
- Simplifying paths
- Exporting glyphs
4. Creating Your Own Icon Font
- Glyphs Mini overview
- Creating a new font
- Setting font info
- Organizing glyphs
- Adding new glyphs
- Setting glyph properties
- Importing SVG artwork
- Importing Illustrator artwork
- Controlling path orientation
- Adding extrema points
- Simplifying paths
- Dealing with problem artwork
- Renaming glyphs
- Exporting fonts
5. Generating Web Fonts
- Using Font Squirrel to generate fonts
- Exploring generated files
- Testing icon fonts
