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Fonts

Spinward Scout

Spinward Scout

SOC-14 5K
Baron
I'm sure this has been asked before, but the search-fu doesn't seem to be strong with me today.

What fonts have been used to emulate the look of Classic Traveller in your personal Traveller documentation?

I know Optima is the favored headline text, although I've found that Zaft Humnst BT is pretty close, too.

Right now I'm using Frutiger SAIN Rm v.1 for the main body text font, and it looks great, but the symbol set is off. It doesn't like apostrophes, hyphens, or trademarks and the generic symbol set in Windows doesn't work well with that font.

Anyone know of any other free fonts that would be good for Traveller text?
 
 
Sweet! Thanks!

I didn't think to use Google. I tried the search on the CotI site and got a gazillion hits - none of which were relevant.
 
It all depends how close you want to get. I wrote up my houserules using Ottawa for the titles and Arial for the body (both free). It's near enough for my own use and I can't write anything for publication without going into licencing and all that, so what does it matter?
 
I like the look of the older CT books.

I'd like to get as close as I can but I have to realize that taking the time to screw around with the fonts is also taking away from time I have to do other things like game and write. Just gotta grab it and go!
 
For the old CT book look, use Optima* or Zapf Humanist for titles (or a close clone), and Helvetica*, Univers, Akzidenz Grotesk, or Arial (or a close clone) for body text. I believe that Loren, in one of the innumerable threads on this topic on any or all of the various Traveller fora, confirmed the "hot lead" versions of these fonts (which would have been Optima and Helvetica). In the digital versions of the body font, hinting must apply to small sizes, c. 8pt., and should (for best results) be high-quality hinting, not the near-trash generated by most font programs within reach of the home user.

FWIW, the title for the "MegaTraveller" on those covers appears to be Peignot*.

For Mongoose Traveller, the titles are done in Eras*; the body text for some of the earliest numbers was FF Scala Sans*; that was changed to Helvetica* for the more recent ones.


* These are the "hot lead" names for the model fonts; for digital typography, there may be any number of clones that were used instead, due to licensing issues/price.
 
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Honestly, I can't see Helvetica working for Classic Traveller, it looks too light.

The font identifier over at MyFonts.com says that the Title font that's used on the covers and headings is Renova EF and the text font is FF Zwo LF-Plain. Taking a look at the sample they show, it's pretty close. Neither are free fonts (of course).
 
Last edited:
Spinward Scout said:
Honestly, I can't see Helvetica working for Classic Traveller, it looks too light.

The font identifier over at MyFonts.com says that the Title font that's used on the covers and headings is Renova EF and the text font is FF Zwo LF-Plain. Taking a look at the sample they show, it's pretty close. Neither are free fonts (of course).
Click to expand...
MyFonts is definitely wrong; as I indicated, Loren confirmed Optima and Helvetica. Start another thread over at SJGames and ask, or see if you can find one of the old ones.

I was surprised at the identification of Helvetica; I was guessing that it was Akzidenz Grotesk. However, that was before I really understood what was going on with the idea of hinting in digital typefaces, and Helvetica doesn't seem so farfetched, given the small text size (no larger than 8pt, IIRC).
 
FreeTrav said:
For the old CT book look, use Optima* or Zapf Humanist for titles (or a close clone), and Helvetica*, Univers, Akzidenz Grotesk, or Arial (or a close clone) for body text. I believe that Loren, in one of the innumerable threads on this topic on any or all of the various Traveller fora, confirmed the "hot lead" versions of these fonts (which would have been Optima and Helvetica). In the digital versions of the body font, hinting must apply to small sizes, c. 8pt., and should (for best results) be high-quality hinting, not the near-trash generated by most font programs within reach of the home user.

FWIW, the title for the "MegaTraveller" on those covers appears to be Peignot*.

For Mongoose Traveller, the titles are done in Eras*; the body text for some of the earliest numbers was FF Scala Sans*; that was changed to Helvetica* for the more recent ones.


* These are the "hot lead" names for the model fonts; for digital typography, there may be any number of clones that were used instead, due to licensing issues/price.
Click to expand...
Mongoose appears to have never hit hot lead - the initial print is identical to the initial PDF.
 
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