Font frolics

The New York Times has an article about the ease of new font creation, using computers: "Good commercial and free programs make the job easier for a wide range of users. Some people with degenerating handwriting are freezing their script in a font. Scrapbookers are casting their lettering into a font so they can have a personal look. Battle re-enactors are even printing out orders in historically accurate typefaces."
There's FontStruct.com, a font design and sharing Web site that is a combination of a drawing program and a social network. FontStruct runs in a Web browser and builds fonts out of blocks, dots and other elements. Letters are edited on a checkerboard grid by adding or subtracting the marks from boxes. When all the letters are finished, the site will build a TrueType font file that can be downloaded and used on a Mac or PC.

Having done it the old way, hand drawing every letter, Rico says the new way is better.