Xunchang Cheng The number of Chinese characters reaches tens of thousands, far beyond other writing systems. Each Chinese character is unique, yet they share and reuse many strokes, components and structural patterns, forming a systematic construction method. This presentation will introduce the creation of Chinese font, dividing the process into two key stages: design and production, while incorporating the construction of Chinese characters to provide a clear and systematic overview.
In the design phase, Chinese typeface designers first need to design a small character set to determine the overall font style. Therefore, selecting key characters is crucial, and the usual practice is to select stroke-based and component-based key character sets, determining the shape of strokes and structure of the characters. This method ensures that the overall font style is accurately defined before being extended to the full character set.
During the production stage, the main task is to expand the character set, but it is important to ensure that the style of each character remains consistent. Grouping Chinese characters according to the rules of component reuse is the most effective method. In addition, the production process involves the selection of Chinese character set standards. Different character sets are used for different languages and regions. Font developers need to plan character expansion strategies according to requirements.
By revealing the complexity of Chinese font production, this presentation aims to promote cross-cultural understanding of font design and emphasises the systematic approach required to handle such a large character set.