ABOUT

ABOUT
Handselecta is an evolving project dedicated to the geographic styles of urban calligraphy that have emerged and developed over the last 30 years. It started when Christian Acker and Kyle Talbott, two graphic designers in New York City, realized they had a shared experience as retired vandals. We are a font foundry creating innovative new product while we document and write the history of handstyles in the world of graffiti.

FOUNDERS
C hristian Acker - Owner, Type Designer - Graphic and type designer. Christian has been involved in graffiti culture since 1995. His love for graffiti was consumated while buffing train stations in NYC after being busted by the Vandal Squad in 2000. No love lost. He now runs an experimental design studio called Adnauseum, and is part-time faculty at his alma mater Parsons School of Design, where he ocassionally teaches in the Communication Design Dept. Christian lives in Queens, New York with his wife Emma and their 2 kids.

Kyle Talbott - Style Master, Chief Creative Consultant- Designer for print and web, Kyle has been involved in graffiti culture since 1985, when he first saw Style Wars on PBS one fateful family night. Determined to be "King of Styyyyyle" Kyle has pursued numerous art forms that continually lead back to the formal and conceptual framework that is integral to the history of graffiti. He currently procures freelance design work via kyletalbott.com.

CONTRIBUTORS
(Alphabetical Order)
Ceasr - Seattle
Clark Fly ID - NYC
Espo - Philly, NYC
Freedom - NYC
Giant - Albequerqe, San Francisco
Gouch - NYC
Joker - DC, Portland
Mene Oner -NYC
Mesh One AOK - NYC
M esk One - DC, Philly, NYC
Relm - Boston
Rust - DC, LA, NYC
Sabe KST - NYC
Stab - Baltimore
Spark - NYC
SP One - NYC
Test - Chicago

FAQ'S

AS A CONTRIBUTOR, WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?
All contributors are paid royalties based on the sale of their fonts on a quarterly basis. Depending on the contributors ability and knowledge of font design you can make anywhere from 35% to 65% of the sales of your fonts, similiar to other online font retailers, like myfonts.com. You can contact us at info@handselecta.com if you'd like information about becoming a contributor.

HOW DO I INSTALL NEW FONTS ON MY COMPUTER?
MACINTOSH:
1. Before installing fonts, you should close any open applications. For some applications, new fonts do not appear in the font menu if you install them while the application is open.
2. In the Finder, open the folder or disk that contains the fonts you want to install.
3. Select the font suitcases for the fonts you want to install. For PostScript Type 1 fonts, also select the printer outline files.
4. Drag and drop the fonts into the Fonts folder in the Library folder.
Note: If you want fonts to be availabe to applications running in Classic mode, you must install fonts in Macintosh TrueType or Macintosh PostScript format into the Fonts folder inside the Classic System Folder.

WINDOWS 2000 and WINDOWS XP:
1. In versions prior to Windows XP, Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel. In Windows XP, choose Start > Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Fonts folder. If you don't see a Fonts folder in Windows XP, please switch the control panel to Classic Mode
3. Choose File > Install New Font.
4. Locate the fonts you want to install. In the Drives list, select the drive and the folder containing the fonts you want to install. In the Folders list, select a folder that contains the fonts you want to install. (Make sure you have unzipped them first.) The fonts in the folder appear under List of Fonts.
5. Select the fonts to install. To select more than one font, hold down the CTRL key and select each font. To select a list of fonts to install, select the first font in the list, press the SHIFT key, then select the last font in the list. All of the fonts in between will be selected.
6. To copy the fonts to the Fonts folder, make sure the Copy fonts to the Fonts folder check box is selected. If you are installing fonts from a floppy disk or a CD-ROM, you should make sure this check box is selected. Otherwise, you will have to keep this disk or CD-ROM available to use the fonts in your applications.
7. Click OK to install the fonts.

I REALLY LIKE YOUR FONTS AND WOULD LIKE TO BUY THEM, BUT WHY ARE THEY SO EXPENSIVE?
Handeselecta's fonts are priced at industry standards. The base price of a single font is about $38.
We sell all of our fonts in discounted packages that include at least one, or two versions of alternate capitals per weight. Fonts can take several months or even years to develop. Handselectas fonts can take even longer, as they are collaborative efforts between artists. The relative number of hours and work compared to the possible monetary reward is slim, especially with a digital technology that is so easily shared. Fonts are very much a DIY industry. Handselecta requests that designers respect the work of font designers by purchasing and not sharing fonts. Bill your clients for the cost of your supplies. A carpenter would not eat the cost of lumber on a job. Designers should not eat the cost of the supplies needed to do their jobs.

HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR FONTS?
We work very closely with our contributors. First we scan their handwritten samples and trace them to create vector art. After we have the basic forms saved as vector art we begin to edit and tweak them to make the alphabet consistent. We try to only alter things like the height, weight and angle of characters. The forms themselves are largely just as the writers create them. After we have the completed alphabet in Illustrator we then take the outlines into Fontlab, a font creator software. This software is vector based, like drawing in Adobe's Illustrator. It also allows you to build other information into your font like metrics, and kerning, the space around and in between character when the font is used. Fontlab then exports the file as a font that any computer can read, install and use.

WHAT ABOUT OPENTYPE?
All Handselecta fonts are sold as Opentype (Standard versions). They do not currently have any Opentype Pro features. Although we are hoping to utilize Open Type features eventually, it is Handselectas intention to develop strong fonts first that are measured by their integrity as strong designs and not overtly dependent upon the features of a new technology. This project is a labor of love. Handselecta's Founders (like the majority of Type Designers) are full time graphic designers in other areas of the design world, and are self taught at the practice and technique of font design. While the product we produce is top notch, there is room for improvement. Opentype programming is at the top of our list, with contextual alternates, swashes and ligatures. We plan on releasing all of our fonts with Opentype as "Pro" versions eventually. There will be a slight difference in price accordingly, however any purchases of the base versions of any fonts will be honored with a discounted upgrade fee when the Opentype versions become available.

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT?
You can view the terms of our EULA here.