Zhuque imitating Song Dynasty: open source text imitating Song Dynasty font library plan

"Suzaku Song Dynasty style" is an open source Song Dynasty style font plan for Xuanji to create characters, aiming to ultimately provide high-quality, multilingual text Song Dynasty style solutions.

As one of the four basic Chinese fonts of "Song Hei Fang Kai", imitation of Song Dynasty lacks the choice under the open source license for a long time. We hope that "Rosefinch Song Dynasty Imitation" can fill this gap and contribute to the open source software and TeX community.

At the beginning of the last century, the type of imitation Song movable type was once prosperous, and its development and application were popular. However, times have changed, and the imitation of Song Dynasty in the market has finally converged to the "Hua Feng Zhen Song" series, which is also familiar to most people today. "Zhuque Fangsong" is based on the movable type "Southern Song" of the Republic of China, trying to bring a ray of fresh air to the text Fangsong font library on the premise of meeting the needs of modern typography.

At present, our "Suzaku Song Dynasty Imitation" is still a "preview beta", which is still in the early stage of the project; No matter the design style, font style or typesetting quality, it does not represent the official version. Therefore,

The future of "Rosefinch" is defined by you

In the process of developing "Rosefinch", we were caught in the difficulty of choice. So we decided to release the beta early to listen to what the users of "Rosefinch Song Dynasty Imitation" wanted. We sincerely invite you to take the time to fill in this questionnaire:

If you have any questions, suggestions and cooperation intentions, we also welcome you to join the "Suzaku Song Dynasty Imitation Feedback" WeChat group:

Xuanji is trying a new Chinese font design mode. Benefited from With the latest technology we have developed, Xuanji's designers can directly use AI as a design tool, so we can develop "Suzaku" in an iterative way.

Even with the help of technology, our ambitious goal also makes the "Suzaku" project have an unimaginable workload. In order to promote the project faster and more sustainable, we also hope to get more support.

download

As an open source project, "Zhuque Fangsong" is launched on GitHub. If you are a GitHub user, welcome to star this project: https://github.com/TrionesType/zhuque

You can also follow the "Zhicong Technology" public account, reply to "Suzaku Fangsong" in the background, and get the download link.

Design Story

Zhicong's intelligent character making technology allows designers to use AI as a design tool, which can quickly optimize from spelling or even handwritten characters to high-quality style fonts.

The idea of developing an open source Song Dynasty font began in early 2021. It is a more meaningful and difficult challenge after the "Future Yinghei" project. With the deepening of design research and technological progress, especially the explosion of AIGC technology since last year, it is possible to realize this idea today.

"Zhuque Fangsong" was carved from the movable type "Southern Song" of the Republic of China, trying to give new life to this set of typefaces that have been sleeping for decades. "Southern Song Dynasty" is a kind of movable type in imitation of Song Dynasty style launched by "Baisong Book Company" in 1932. It was designed by Han You and carved by Zou Genpei. Once it was published, it was widely used in the typesetting of books and periodicals. The difference between "Southern Song Dynasty" and most text fonts is that the central court is tightened, the center of gravity is slightly lower to the right, and the strokes are stretched. The thickness of the strokes changes strongly, which is implicit, beautiful and full of power. When the title and text are printed, it shows a strong "bookish spirit".

On the basis of the movable type of the "Southern Song Dynasty", the "Zhuque Fangsong" slightly weakened the contrast of the strokes, properly regulated the font structure and layout effect, while retaining the unique temperament and movable type interest of the "Southern Song Dynasty" to the greatest extent.

"Rosefinch" is one of the "Four Elephants" in Chinese traditional culture, and the god of the Southern Seven Constellations. The name of "Suzaku" implies the origin of "Southern Song Dynasty" and the brand name of "Xuanji Creating Characters".

reference

• Sun Mingyuan: Research on the Development of Modern Graphic Design and Character Design in China -- From 1985 to 1949, Xiamen University Press, the first edition in 2021, pages 168-172

• Zhou Bo: History of Modern Chinese Character Design Drawings, Peking University Press, first edition, 2018, pages 122~124

licence

© 2023 Zhicong Technology was released in SIL Open Font License 1.1.

• Free commercial font , whether for printing, LOGO, software, web pages or video.

• Copy and redistribute this font.

• The original version or modified version of the font is sold separately.

We strongly do not recommend that you mass disseminate the revised beta font before the official release of "Suzaku Song Dynasty Imitation". If you are willing to improve the "Rosefinch Song Dynasty", we welcome your valuable suggestions - including discussing with us how to participate in the design of Rosefinch.

"Rosefinch" team

Chief creator: Yu Junyi

Kana and symbols (in production): Han Yongsi

About Xuan Ji's Creation of Characters

"Xuanji Creating Characters" is the font brand of Zhicong Technology. We are based on traditional culture, draw design inspiration from natural scenery, and update the text landscape with cutting-edge technology. No matter how technology changes, we will always put "people" first and care about the creativity of designers and the experience of readers.

Welcome to create characters for the future with Xuanji!

thank

• Special thanks: King Terry, for his contributions to the collection, collation and research of movable type in the Southern Song Dynasty.

• "Xia Tu Wen Kai" Fontworks Klee One、 Siyuan Song typeface, these open source fonts are the reference for the design process of the project.