Lesson #2 — As vertical as possible, as horizontal as necessary!
The first rule of stenciling Halvar was ‘As vertical as possible!’ But as Halvar’s a variable monster that has to work from hairline to black, from condensed to extended and from minimal gap to max gap, I had to introduce a second rule: ‘As horizontal as necessary!’ Many of the characters have a centred vertical gap, but I had to make exceptions. In the condensed black, the crossbars of T, t and f were too narrow to put a max gap through them, the diagonal letters needed diagonal gaps, and then some mixed versions were necessary too. The Latin Z has a diagonal and horizontal gap and figures like 2, 3, and 5 follow a mixed approach. I applied the same principles to the Greek and Cyrillic character set, although they need more horizontal gaps due to the number of crossbars and additional strokes they have.
To complement the original Halvar — a design all about solid and pragmatic construction — the way I stenciled Halvar Stencil’s letters had to emphasise these qualities and make it indestructible. This also ensures it doesn’t get into competition with TypeMates’ Cera Stencil, which takes a more organic approach.