Nieuw Javaansch No 1 digital revival by Troy Leinster

Nieuw Javaansch No.1 1909â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2012 Digital Revival 2012 Troy Leinster, Type]Media 12/13

ꦲꦤꦺ�ꦴꦗꦮꦕ�ꦠꦺ�꧈ ꦥ��ꦺꦔ꧈ ꦲ�꧗ꦫꦠ�꧗ꦮꦺꦱ�꧈ ꦱ�ꦠ�ꦤ�ꦺ�꧉ ꦱ�ꦥ��ꦒꦺꦮꦪꦤ�꧈ ꦺꦲꦴꦫꦤꦤ��ꦺꦢꦴꦪꦤ�꧈ �ꦏꦉꦩ��ꦤ�꧈ �ꦬꦲ�ꦏ��ꦤ�꧈ �ꦺꦮꦱ��ꦱ��꧈ ꦲ��ꦃ�ꦺꦧꦴ꧗ꦤ��꧈ ��ꦺꦔꦲ�ꦧꦏ��꧈ �ꦲ��ꦃꦲ��꧉

Relpica page from Nieuw Javaansch No.1 Specimen using the 2012 revival

INTRODUCTION I discovered the Nieuw Javaansch No.1 typeface specimen from Lettergieterij Amsterdam for sale in the Antique & Book Market in The Hague on Lange Voorhout. I immediately fell in love with the letterforms and thought it would be an interesting typeface to revive. Myself being Australian, the connection between the Netherlands, Indonesia and Australia was a nice fit. Although this wasn’t a Latin typeface I could read myself, the experience of working with unfamiliar letterforms would be a great opportunity. In addition, my research indicated that it’d never been digitised before. During the initial process of digitising the Javanese letterforms many questions arose on how I should handle this revival. Should I treat this as a historical documentation of a typeface from a language that is no longer in use?—Awkward curves, ink traps, variable spacing, variable curves, variable counters and no overshoots. Is this typeface historically important enough for this approach? Or should I give into my desire to make this typeface more current and elegant?—Softening curves, no ink traps, optical spacing, consistent counters, including overshoots. Will this typeface be used enough today to warrant this approach? Neither of the questions above seem to be the perfect answer for me. Was there a balance between the two?—Awkward but consistent curves, no ink traps, optical spacing, variable counters, overshoots? I also had to remind myself that this is a typeface for setting copy. Not a display face for setting large headlines. I decided to choose the mix attempting to stay as historical as possible but introduce some of the skills I had learnt so far as a modern typeface designer. After all, I was reviving an old typeface, not modernising it. If I was modernising it I would be tempted to change the entire design. The following pages show my research and approach to bringing Nieuw Javaansch No.1, 1909, back to life after many years of lying dormant and forgotten.

THE JAVANESE LANGUAGE AND SCRIPT Javanese is an Austronesian language spoken by about 80 million people in Indonesia and Suriname, a Dutch republic in Northern South America. In Indonesia, Javanese is predominantly spoken in Central and East Java and on the north coast of East Java. It is also spoken in Madura, Bali, Lombok and the Sunda region of West Java.

NETHERLANDS

SURINAME

INDONESIA

AUSTRALIA

The history of the Javanese script dates back to the 4th century AD in which it was written with the PallavaA alphabet. By the tenth century it developed into the KawiB alphabet which had a distinct Javanese form. By the 17th century the alphabet had developed into its current form referred to as Hanacaraka, the name coming from the first five characters of the alphabet which in its entirety makes the following saying: Hana caraka, data sawala, padha jayanya, maga bathanga—which means “There were two emissaries, they began to fight, their valor was equal, they both fell dead”.

ꦲꦤꦕꦫꦏ

The Javanese alphabet combined creates a story of equality

hana caraka there were two emissaries

ꦢꦠꦱꦮ꧗

data sawala they began to fight

ꦥꦣꦗꦪꦚ

padha jayanya their valor was equal

ꦩ꧑ꦧꦜꦔ

maga bathanga they both fell dead

ꦲ ꦤ ꦕ ꦫ ꦏ ꦢ ꦠ ꦱ ꦮ ꧗ ha na ca ra ka da ta sa wa la ꦥ ꦣ ꦗ ꦪ ꦚ ꦩ ꧑ ꦧ ꦜ ꦔ pa dha

nya

tha

The Javanese alphabet

nga

Although the language is still widely used, the use of the Javanese script has slowly declined to be almost non-existent since the Japanese occupation in Indonesia between 1942 and 1945 in which it’s use was prohibited, and since the Dutch introduced the Latin alphabet in the 19th century. Today it’s only used by scholars and for decorative purposes on signage as a tourist attraction. Those who can still read the script are held in high esteem. The Javanese alphabet is syllabic, each consonant (Aksara) has an inherent vowel ‘a’ which is used at the beginning of a consonant cluster. Other vowels can be identified using diacritics which appear above (Sandhangan), below (Pasangan), behind or in front of the main letter. The Pasangan form is used for the second consonant of a consonant cluster and mutes the vowel of the Aksara.

Aksara The Javanese writing system

꧋ꦆ�ꦬ꧀꧈ ꦥ��ꦺ�ꦩꦺ��ꦱ꧀꧉ Sandhangan

Pasangan Javanese is written running from left to right and hangs from the baseline. No capital letters exist and word spacing is not used. Each paragraph or section is marked with a pada adeg-adeg, a double vertical line and the use of a small double tick-like mark indicates the end of the sentence or paragraph like a full stop. A single tick-like mark is used like a comma. There are additional punctuation marks used for identifying a person of importance, age, rank, and introducing poems and songs. The Javanese script also includes numerals.

pada pangat

pada lingsa

pada lungsi

pada windu

꧇

colon, quotation marks, designates numerals

꧈

comma, abbreviates the names

꧉ ꧆

full stop

forms pada guru and pada pancak

pada adeg

pada adeg-adeg

pada piseleh

pada tirta tumetes

Javanese punctuation marks

꧊ ꧋ ꧌ ꧍ ꧞ used in pairs for marking text

begins a paragraph or section

parenthesis

ellipsis

pada andap

pada madya

pada luhur

pada pancak

꧃ ꧄ ꧅ ꧉꧆꧉ introduces a letter to a person of higher rank or age

introduces a letter to a person of equal rank or age

introduces a letter to a person of lower rank or age

ends a letter

꧐ꦒ꧒꧓꧔꧕꧖꧗꧘ꦪ 0

Javanese numerals

Opposite—hand-written Javanese manuscript

In order to understand more about the structure of the Javanese script I contacted the Leiden University who referred me to Willem van der Molen at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in Leiden. Van der Molen, the author of Javaans Schrift, a publication written soley in Dutch and available for viewing only in the special collections of the Royal Library in The Hague, was very kind to spend a few hours with me. I asked him a number of questions about the Javanese regarding population of the spoken language, use of the written Javanese script and schooling. I wanted to know if there was any interest in this dying script amongst the Javanese people. The responses to his questions make up some of this documentation and confirms research I had undertaken myself. While I was with Van der Molen he discussed how the script worked and showed me examples of how it is constructed by writing the word bibliotheek in Javanese on a small library card. He had also arranged a viewing of a Javanese hand-written manuscript and some additional specimens from Enchede that I had previously seen at Museum Meermanno in The Hague.

Example of hand-written Javanese by Willem van der Molen

Skeleton forms showing construction and stroke direction of the Javanese writing system

(1)

ꦤ ꦮ ꦧ ꦗ (2)

(3)

(4)

NIEUW JAVAANSCH NO.1 Opposite—a page from the Nieuw Javaansch No.1 Specimen

S.H. de Roos and P.J.W Oly in later years

Groot Javaansch Cursief No.2

Nieuw Javaansch No.1 was the first text typeface designed by S.H. de Roos in 1909 while working at Lettergieterij Amsterdam (formerly known as N. Tetterode) in competition to existing Javanese types by the Enschede Foundry. Sjoerd Hendrik de Roos (14 September 1877–3 April 1962) was one of the major innovators of typography in the Netherlands, also responsible for the first Dutch typeface for 150 years Hollandsche Mediaeval. In total De Roos designed twelve typefaces including Nobel, Egmont, Libra, and De Roos Roman and Italic. Between 1908–1909, De Roos, under the direction of P.J.W. Oly, signed the Javanese letters that Jan Wesselius then cut. Oly based the linguistic aspects of the design on information obtained from missionary P. Penninga. Although the Indian government started using the typeface, Nieuw Javaansch No.1 overall was not a great success. Oly thought perhaps it was because it was a little too ‘stiff’. A few years later Groot Javaansch Cursief No.2, a beautiful cursive was also produced.

Nieuw Javaansch No.1 was cut in 16pt—made up of 3pts for the Sandhangan, 5pts for the Aksara and 8pts for the Pasangan. The three lead types were stacked on top of each other unlike Latin types. This enabled them to only cut a relatively small character set that could be extended quite easily by stacking. The lead types for Nieuw Javaansch No.1 were arranged in three cases, the top case made up of the most common Aksaras and Pasangans, the second case also included Aksaras, Pasangans and Sandhangans and the third case for less commonly used characters. I tried to locate punches, matrices or lead types to view in person as I had never heard of ‘stacking’ types before. I was curious about how they would be held in place. I spoke with Jo De Baerdemaeker, Willem van der Molen and Fred Smeijers in person but no-one knew of any existing.

SANDHANGAN 3PT AKSARA 5PT

Steel Punch

Copper Matrice

PASANGAN 8PT

Cast Type

]

16pt

Case #1 Most common Aksaras and Pasangans

Case #2 Additional Aksaras, Pasangans and Sandhangans

Case #3 Less commonly used characters

REVIVING NIEUW JAVAANSCH NO.1 >COMPARING SPECIMENS While learning more about the Javanese script I collected Javanese typeface specimens from the Enschede type foundry (top right) and Lettergieterij Amsterdam (bottom right) found at Museum Meermanno, University of Amsterdam and University of Leiden. The specimens were helpful in identifying alternative approaches to the design of Javanese letterform. Comparing them to the hand-written forms shown by Van der Molen in his book Javaans Schrift, and the hand-written manuscript (below) I was able to determine what was stylistic and what was structural. My analysis indicates Nieuw Javaansch No.1 is very condensed in form and the counter shapes are regulated unlike the handwriting and the Enschede specimen. The space allocated for the Sandhangans is a lot smaller in Nieuw Javaansch and the connections are simplified and constructed. I would assume it was quite modern and progressive in appearance for its time compared to other choices available on the marketâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;having high contrast forms influenced by the pointed pen model of expansion like Didot and Bodoni.

>DETERMINING WEIGHT, X-HEIGHT AND COLOUR I first scanned my specimen page at high resolution and roughly digitised a paragraph of the text in Illustrator to establish an x-height, weight and colour. I was not yet concerned with design, spacing or beautiful curves. I printed test sheets on off-white paper so I could compare my digitised paragraph with my specimen as closely as possible. Although I thought this would be a quick process I realised after my first few drafts that I had misinterpreted my x-height and also the weight of my glyphs. Moving one unit at a time and reproofing was my only way forward to get to a point where I felt I was as close as I could get. Because the specimen was printed using lead types on Letterpress in 1909, each form looked quite different from the same repeated form within the one paragraph. This may have been a result of ink spread, heavy or light print impressions or even the quality of the paper it was printed on. Dealing with this and problematic shapes I had to determine a form that best reflected my specimen in a digital form. Showing problematic shapes and my solution 1. Adding overshoot to top and bottom increased glyph height 2. Balancing weight with bottom bowl 3. Reffering to sketches by De Roos helped me decide on stroke endings 4. Extending mid upstroke slightly to help define shape at small sizes 5. Adding a little contrast to the first upstroke and extending join to define shape at small sizes 6. Adding a corner to help define shape at small sizes

ꦨ ꦩ ꦣ ꦫꦔ ꦠ 1

Rough digitisation of a paragraph from the Nieuw Javaansch No.1 specimen to establish x-height, weight and colour

>UNICODE AND FILE PREPARATION My next task was to prepare my RoboFont file so I could start drawing the characters in detail. I accessed the Javanese Unicode table and created a text file which I imported into RoboFont to create my glyph cells. Identifying each character and matching it with its Unicode was quite a challenge as the illustrations used to depict the letterforms in the Unicode table were very different forms to Nieuw Javaansch No.1. I referred to a few different character examples to match each form and assign it to its correct cell. I initially named each cell with the Javanese character name. I thought this was going to be a great way to learn the character names, however I was soon told that best practice with non-Latin scripts was to rename all of my cells with the Unicode value preceded by â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;uniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to avoid possible clashes with Latin naming conventions. From then on I had to refer to each character by its Unicode value and its appearance. This was a labour intensive process and occupied a lot of my time at the beginning.

ꦐꦐ ꦠꦠꦠꦰꦠꦰ ꦠꦰꦰꦰ ꦰ ꧐ ꧐ ꧐ ꧐ ꧐꧐ ꦁꦁꦁꦐ ꦁꦐ ꦁ ꦁꦐꦐꦠ ꧃ ꧃ ꧃ ꦒ꧃ ꦒꦒꦒꦒꦒ ꦡꦡꦡꦱꦡꦱꦡꦱ꧃ ꦱ꧃ ꦱꦱ ꦂꦂꦂꦑ ꦂ ꦂꦑꦂꦑꦑꦡꦑꦑ ꧑ꦢꦢꦲꦢꦲ ꦢꦲ꧄ ꦲ꧄ ꦲꦲ ꧒ ꧒꧒꧒꧒꧒ ꧄ ꧄ ꧄ ꧄ ꦃ ꦃ ꦃ ꧑ꦃ ꧑ꦃ ꦃ꧑꧑ꦢ꧑ꦢ ꧓ ꧓꧓꧓꧓꧓ ꦣꦣꦣ꦳ꦣꦣ ꧅ ꧅ ꦄꦄꦄꦄꦓ ꦄꦓ ꦄꦓꦓꦣꦓꦓ ꦳ ꦳꧅ ꦳꧅ ꦳꧅ ꦳꧅ ꦤꦤꦤꦴꦤꦤꦴ ꦴ ꦴ꧆ꦴ꧆ꦴ꧆ ꧆꧔꧆꧆꧔ ꧔ ꧔ ꧔꧔ ꦅꦅꦅꦅꦔꦅꦔ ꦅꦔꦔꦤꦔꦔ ꦕꦕꦕꦥꦕꦕ ꦥꦥꦥꦶꦥꦥꦶ ꦶ ꦶ꧇ꦶ ꧇ꦶ ꧇ ꧇ ꧕꧇ ꧕꧇ ꧕ ꧕꧕꧕ ꦆꦆꦆꦆꦕꦆꦆ ꦇꦇꦇꦇꦖꦇꦖ ꦇꦖꦖꦦꦖꦖ ꦦꦦꦦꦷꦦꦦꦷ ꦷ ꦷ꧈ꦷ꧈ꦷ ꧈ ꧈ꦌ꧈ꦌ꧈ ꦌꦌꦌꦌ ꦸꦧꦸ ꦸ ꧉ꦸ ꦸ꧉ꦸ꧉ ꧉ꦭ꧉ꦭ ꦗꦧꦧꦧ ꦈꦈꦈꦈꦗꦈꦗ ꦈꦗꦗꦧꦗꦧ ꧉ꦭꦭꦭꦭ ꦉꦉꦉꦉꦘꦉꦘ ꦉꦘꦘꦨꦘꦨ ꦘꦨꦨꦨꦹꦨꦹ ꦹ ꦹ꧊ ꦹ꧊ꦹ꧊ ꧊꧘꧊꧘꧊ ꧘꧘꧘꧘ ꦺꦩꦺꦩꦺ ꦺ꧋ꦺꦺ꧋꧋ ꧋ꦪ꧋ꦪ ꧒꧒꧒꧒ꦙ꧒ꦙ ꧒ꦙꦙꦩꦙꦙ ꦩꦩꦩ ꧋ꦪꦪꦪꦪ ꦚꦚ ꦪꦪꦪ ꦋꦋꦋꦋꦚ ꦋꦚ ꦋꦚꦚꦪ ꦻꦪꦻꦪꦻ ꦻꦻ꧌ꦻ꧌ ꧌ ꧌꧞꧌ ꧌꧞ ꧞ ꧞ ꧞꧞ ꦌꦌꦌꦌꦛꦌꦛꦌꦛꦛꦫꦛꦛ ꦫꦫꦫꦼꦫꦼꦫꦼꦼꦼꦼ ꧟꧟꧟꧟꧟꧟ ꦽ ꦽ ꦽ ꧍ꦽ ꧍ꦽ ꦽ ꧍ ꧍ ꧍ ꧍ ꦜꦟꦟꦟꦟ ꦍꦍꦍꦍꦜꦍꦍꦜꦜꦜꦟꦜꦟ ꦎꦎꦎꦎꦝꦎꦝ ꦎꦝꦝꦬꦝꦬ ꦝꦬꦬꦬꦾꦬꦾ ꦾ ꧏꦾ ꦾꧏꦾꧏ ꧏꧏꧏ ꦞꦞꦞꦮꦞꦮꦞꦮꦿ ꦮꦿ ꦮꦮ ꦏꦏꦏꦏꦞꦏꦏ ꦿ ꦿ ꦿ ꦿ ꦟꦟꦟꦟꦯꦟꦟ ꦯꦯꦯꦯꦯ A990 A9A0 A990A990 A9A0 A9A0 A9A0 A9B0 A9A0 A9B0 A9A0A9B0 A9B0 A9B0 A9B0A9C0 A9C0 A9D0 A9D0 A9D0 A9D0A9D0A9D0 A9C0 A9C0 A9C0A9C0 A981 A981 A981 A981 A981A990 A981 A990 A990

A991 A991 A991A991 A9A1 A9A1 A9A1 A9B1 A9A1A9B1 A9A1 A9B1 A9B1 A9B1 A9B1A9C3 A9C3A9D1 A9D1 A9D1 A9D1A9D1A9D1 A982 A982 A982 A982 A982 A982A991 A991A9A1 A9C3 A9C3 A9C3A9C3

A9C4 A9C4 A9C4A9C4 A992 A992 A9A2 A992A9A2 A992 A9A2 A9A2 A9B2 A9A2 A9B2 A9A2A9B2 A9B2 A9B2 A9B2A9C4 A9C4A9D2 A9D2 A9D2 A9D2A9D2A9D2 A983 A983 A983 A983 A983 A983A992 A992

A9C5 A993 A993 A9A3 A993A9A3 A993 A9A3 A9A3 A9B3 A9A3 A9B3 A9A3A9B3 A9B3 A9B3 A9B3A9C5 A9C5A9C5 A9D3 A9D3 A9D3 A9D3A9D3A9D3 A984 A984 A984 A984 A984 A984A993 A993 A9C5 A9C5 A9C5

A9C6 A9C6A9C6 A994 A9A4 A994A9A4 A994 A9A4 A9A4 A9B4 A9A4 A9B4 A9A4 A9B4 A9B4 A9B4A9C6 A9B4 A9C6 A9C6A9D4 A9D4 A9D4 A9D4A9D4A9D4 A985 A985 A985 A985 A985A994 A985 A994 A994

A986 A986 A986 A986 A986A995 A986 A995 A995 A995 A9A5 A995A9A5 A995 A9A5 A9A5 A9A5 A9A5A9B6 A9B6 A9D5 A9D5 A9D5A9D5A9D5 A9B6 A9B6 A9B6 A9B6A9C7 A9C7A9D5 A9C7 A9C7 A9C7A9C7

A9B7 A9B7 A9B7 A9B7A9C8 A9C8A9D6 A9C8 A9C8 A9C8A9C8 A996 A996 A9A6 A996 A9A6 A996A9A6 A9A6 A9A6 A9A6A9B7 A9B7 A9D6 A9D6 A9D6A9D6A9D6 A987 A987 A987 A987 A987 A987A996 A996

A9B8 A9B8 A9B8 A9B8A9C9 A9C9 A997 A997 A997 A997 A9A7 A997A9A7 A997 A9A7 A9A7 A9A7 A9A7A9B8 A9B8 A9D7 A9D7 A9D7 A9D7A9D7A9D7 A988 A988 A988 A988 A988A988 A9C9 A9C9 A9C9A9C9

A998 A9A8 A998A9A8 A998 A9A8 A9A8 A9A8 A9A8 A9D8 A9D8 A9D8 A9D8A9D8A9D8 A9CA A9CA A9CAA9CA A9B9 A9B9 A9B9 A9B9 A9B9 A9B9A9CA A9CA A989 A989 A989 A989 A989A998 A989 A998 A998

A999 A999 A9A9 A999A9A9 A999 A9A9 A9A9 A9A9 A9A9 A9D9 A9D9 A9D9A9D9A9D9 A9BA A9BA A9BA A9BA A9BAA9CB A9BA A9CB A9CBA9D9 A98A A98A A98A A98A A98A A98AA999 A999 A9CB A9CBA9CB

A99A A99A A9AA A99AA9AA A99A A9AA A9AA A9AA A9AA A9BB A9BB A9BB A9BB A9BBA9CC A9BB A9CC A9CC A98B A98B A98B A98B A98B A98BA99A A99A A9DE A9DE A9DE A9DEA9DEA9DE A9CC A9CCA9CC

A9BC A9BC A98C A98C A98C A98C A98C A98CA99B A99B A99B A99B A9AB A99BA9AB A99B A9AB A9AB A9AB A9ABA9BC A9BCA9BCA9BC

A9DF A9DF A9DF A9DFA9DFA9DF

A9CD A9CD A9CD A9CDA9CDA9CD

A9BD A9BD A9BD A9BDA9BDA9BD A99C A99C A9AC A99CA9AC A99C A9AC A9AC A9AC A9AC A98D A98D A98D A98D A98D A98DA99C A99C

A98E A98E A98E A98E A98E A98EA99D A99D A99D A99D A99D A99DA9AD A9AD A9BE A9BE A9BEA9CF A9BE A9CF A9CFA9CFA9CF A9AD A9AD A9AD A9ADA9BE A9BE A9CF

A99E A99E A9AE A99E A9AE A99EA9AE A9AE A9AE A9AEA9BF A9BFA9BFA9BF A98F A98F A98F A98F A98F A98F A99E A99E A9BF A9BF

A99F A99F A99F A99F A9AF A99FA9AF A99F A9AF A9AFA9AFA9AF

Javanese Unicode table showing Nieuw Javaansch No.1 The highlighted glyphs did not exist and were designed to complete the unicode set

A991 A991 A991A991 A9A1 A9A1 A9A1 A9B1 A9A1A9B1 A9A1 A9B1 A9B1 A9B1 A9B1A9C3 A9C3A9D1 A9D1 A9D1 A9D1A9D1A9D1 A982 A982 A982 A982 A982 A982A991 A991A9A1 A9C3 A9C3 A9C3A9C3

A9C4 A9C4 A9C4A9C4 A992 A992 A9A2 A992A9A2 A992 A9A2 A9A2 A9B2 A9A2 A9B2 A9A2A9B2 A9B2 A9B2 A9B2A9C4 A9C4A9D2 A9D2 A9D2 A9D2A9D2A9D2 A983 A983 A983 A983 A983 A983A992 A992

A993 A993 A9A3 A993A9A3 A993 A9A3 A9A3 A9B3 A9A3 A9B3 A9A3A9B3 A9B3 A9B3 A9B3A9C5 A9C5A9C5 A9D3A9C5 A9D3 A9D3 A9D3A9D3A9D3 A984 A984 A984 A984 A984 A984A993 A993 A9C5 A9C5