A Method of Designing a Slanted Cursive Font through Analysis of Hangeul Slanted and Cursive Fonts

Abstract

Background Unlike the use of the italic type in the Latin alphabet, in Hangeul typesetting, punctuation marks are mostly used for similar purposes. Hangeul is often used in an inclined form, and this slant is designed by forcibly tilting the print font characters in computer programs (e.g., Hangeul, Word, etc.). In other words, slanted Hangeul is simply a tilted form of the characters through a program function, and there is no regular Hangeul font type corresponding to the italic type in the Latin alphabet. Various types of exclusive fonts for emphasis could enrich the Hangeul expression when mixed. Using a font that reflects the flow of handwriting and at the same time tilts to the right, like the italic type in the Latin alphabet, it is possible to secure the diversity of expression of emphasis without unnecessary punctuation marks or slanted alphabets. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal horizontal and vertical stroke slopes to design a Hangeul italic font with handwriting flow. Methods The italic and oblique types used for the Latin alphabet were examined as a case study, and the similarities and differences between cursive and slanted Hangeul were identified. Subsequently, a literature survey was conducted on the cursive in brush writing, and the slope was examined. Results Considering the mostly horizontal organization of Hangeul, a moderate slope is appropriate for horizontal strokes, and a slope with a clear discriminating degree is appropriate for vertical strokes. Based on this, a horizontal stroke of 5 degrees and a vertical stroke of 10 degrees were derived. Next, the joining line that connects the strokes, an important feature of the cursive type, was set to about a tenth of the stroke thickness to set a difference from the actual stroke. Conclusions An appropriate slope was derived from slanted and cursive types, and a joining line was proposed to contain the flow of handwriting. This technique was applied to an existing font and was mixed, and it was confirmed that slanted cursive font was distinguished from other fonts while still maintaining the impression of the same font. In addition, we expect that it will be possible to apply this method to create a font for emphasis for an existing print font. © 2021. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License. All Rights Reserved.