An amusing exercise - abbreviations becoming characters

[Wiewauters]

http://www.underware.nl/download/bello/pdf/bello-practical.pdf

[g_u_y_t]

i think it should look like this more or less
from 2 reason 1.its not connecting anything , so it should be clear
2 it should have some continuty(?).................maybe

[jazzsammich]

I really like your symbols, Mark, but they still look rather linguistic to me. I would think evolution would take them one step further, like so:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/jazzsammich/wtf.gif

--Jim

PS -- would somebody with the inline image option please repost this picture for me? Thanks!

[engelhardt]

Here's jazzsammich/Jim's image (above) for those who don't want to click off to see it:

[g_u_y_t]

nevermind

[Mark Simonson]

Guy--your LOL looks just like a delete mark (used in proofreading).

[paul d hunt]

i could really use a ROFLMAO ligature. >^D

[g_u_y_t]

really?
and for that ill say LOL

[fractal]

ROFLMAO

not sure if this will come through…

pd

[stughead]

FWIW...

I showed jupiterboy's wtf to a non-graphic artist colleague. He glanced at the screen, and said "What the f--?" Obviously an excellent and highly recognizable representation. We both want t-shirts!

[geesedude]

You have to consider the ease of writing these symbols; obviously if the symbol is harder to write than the acronym, then it wouldn't be widely used. Usually this means one continous motion going in one direction (left loop, left to right) and can't be too different than how language (Western) is written. For LOL, i would suspect two quick loops, punctuated with a dot to close. For WTF, 3 spikes, with a quick line and a dot; i was also thinking perhaps the dot would go away altogether after a while and just have a single bar at top of the "w".

[engelhardt]

> You have to consider the ease of writing these symbols

I think Mark Simonson's wft is just about as easy for most as the &. Frankly, many people are too lazy to even write the &, opting for an even less complicated mark like +.

[fheaney]

Mark's "wtf" (and Jim's shortening, which seems like a likely evolution) is actually more satisfying to me than an ampersand to write, because the ampersand is drawn diagonally up from the bottom right, a weird place to start a character.

[engelhardt]

> because the ampersand is drawn diagonally up from the bottom right

Hm. Then... I must be writing my ampersands in reverse!

[dave bailey]

Hm. Then… I must be writing my ampersands in reverse!

It took me a minute to figure out if I did it in reverse too, but alas I write them diagonally up and to the left as he stated. Although, I could see myself doing it your way too... :D

[jiggery_pokery]

James,

I've had a look for a FAQ which might save me asking this question - couldn't find one, though this may be due to an error in my search rather than the document's absence - and I don't know whether it's a massive etiquette breach to even ask this, but:

I really like one of your wtf ligatures. Please may I start to use it, giving you appropriate credit?

Thanks in advance,
Chris
(having checked to see whether it's possible to e-mail you this rather than posting it to the board)

[jlt]

Gee, nice to see that the ops can delete my posts in 5 minutes but that nasty garbage has been there for almost an hour.

---

jlt : http://www.hewnandhammered.com : rnrmf!

[dave bailey]

hmmm yeah, what's the deal with that. It's not that late..

[jlt]

There are 7 ops, right? I know it's the Wednesday before thanksgiving, but someone needs to delete this junk.

---

jlt : http://www.hewnandhammered.com : rnrmf!

[Elesirdur]

This is some really great stuff. geesdude I think you've got two excellent ideas, especially for pen writing. I'm not sure how easily the looped L's would work with a sans-serif console-style font, but as some kind of TT character it could definitly work.

The WTF t-shirt is a great idea, someone get Cafepress on the phone.

[Ikean]

This is a modification to simplify the submission of Mark Simonson. I noticed, that in it's shape, the W was inherent as the center of the symbol already and the weight in the beginning was unnecessary.

[jupiterboy]

James,
I’ve had a look for a FAQ which might save me asking this question - couldn’t find one, though this may be due to an error in my search rather than the document’s absence - and I don’t know whether it’s a massive etiquette breach to even ask this, but:
I really like one of your wtf ligatures. Please may I start to use it, giving you appropriate credit?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
(having checked to see whether it’s possible to e-mail you this rather than posting it to the board)

”Start to use it” is rather open ended.The odd exercise like this is fun, but if we can keep the work here open and collaborative, without the worry of the work being used, I think we preserve the intent of the group. Drop me a note at [email protected] if you would like to discuss further.

Someone call the janitor.

[paul d hunt]

sorry 'bout that, folks. i mopped it up as soon as i could. thanks, edward for calling this to my attention. as you were, gentlemen.

[dave bailey]

Ah finally, hopefully that doesn't become a regular occurance!

[Andrew Layman]

There are some beautiful symbols here. (I especially like Ikean's
2005-11-24 2am based on an idea of Mark Simonson's.) Here are another two possible evolutions of LOL starting from script, and one of them, my favorite, ends up looking remarkably like cerulean's 2005-11-19 WTF, though the other is more suggestive of a smile: