An Arsenal First!

"J." said it perfectly. It's hard to explain this to people that don't come from a graffiti background without sounding like a total elitist dickhead, but the truth is the truth..no matter how harsh it comes across.

Also, I second what "J." said...you need/want graffiti in a design/project you are working on? Hire someone to do it for you (someone that actually knows what time it is, not one of these dudes that only ACT like it). Your work will look a million times better (not to mention, authentic!) and you'll be helping out someone who put in MANY years of work and practice in order to achieve a dope handstyle!

Oh, he was also right about what Handselecta has done (using well known veteran writers from different areas w/ different styles). That's the ONLY time i've seen this done right at all..and even then, the finished project will still not look nearly as good as it could (if you would have hired a writer to do it for you).

I caught some comments at your blog about Target shirts. I thought the designs looked great. No they aren't mine. Target doesn't design the shirts. They buy the shirts from people that design them and print them. You guys don't screenprint shirts....so don't expect Target to come to you. To suggest this, in your blog, showed ignorance of the process. The buyer at Target has NO idea who you are.

Graffiti fonts are the design equivalent of asking your grandmother to do a layout. If your eye isn't trained for something, what looks good to you is making others cringe. Most quality hands that you see in the street have more to do with logotype than handwriting, and took the better part of a decade to get decent. I say this not to be elitist, but merely in the spirit of working harder for better design. There's just as many rules to it as there are with any other form of working with letters, why are they to be ignored? That "Go Vandal" logo is atrocious! The spacing is completely wonky, and the instead of being a buildup of paint or ink in the correct places the drips make it look like its drooling! The only exception to my rant thus far has been the work done by Handselecta (http://www.handselecta.com/). They at least are taking regional styles by veteran graffiti writers, and melding it with typographic sensibilities to create graffiti fonts that look more professional, and closer to the real thing. Beyond that, any use of graffiti fonts for logos or display type should be avoided, that grandmasterb header is awful. If you have an actual project that needs a graffiti look, find an actual writer who knows what they're doing to do the display, there's hundreds of them out there, hell, a lot of them do design too.

I am really glad you guys took my suggestion. I thought I was being narcissistic when I saw the front page about the font, until I read my name in the full article. You guys are awesome for really taking our suggestions and mainfesting them into such great products(we are talking a little less than a month here, folks). I am a major gas bill, birthday present, tank of gas, and lost bet away from buying this font myself.
This could really expand into a major sub-category for the Arsenal. In regard to the quality of the handstyle, I think you answered that perfectly, and whose to say that this is the only graffiti font that will be created. For all those people with the skills, help the GOmedia team out with some samples to work from. We all benefit in the end.Keep up the good work. To me, you guys really set the standard for the pre-packaged vector market.
P.S.- Jeff, I have a crappy (but unique)little font I tried to make that you guys may be able to tweak. If you would like to have it to take a look, I would be glad to send it to you.

I dont know about Checquered Jeff but I have this little dream that 2.0 will allow people to put together their own packs. I would love to be able to pick out any 7 individual packs for the price you charge for the sets (or why not any 5 for a discount or 10 for a bit more of a discount)

Heath, yeah we know it's impossible to replicate real graffiti in a font. And a real graffiti artist isn't going to use it anyway. It's one step closer though, and we encourage people to play with the letters and use the vector pack that came with it to get a more custom look.

@Checquered - Any reason why you're waiting for Arsenal 2? I'm wondering if there is a specific reason and if other people might be waiting too. Just curious.

I know how tough it is to get a smooth transition on hand-styled graffiti. When I created the header design on my site, it took me forever to get the lettering done just right. This font/vector pack is a fantastic addition to the Arsenal and I can't wait to get it.

Hmm I think this will definitely be on my list of t0-get's once Arsenal 2.0 comes around. Looks great.

Oh, also..a better handstyle would have helped tremendously.

Hey, at least you guys tried. Graffiti fonts never translate well. You have to have the fluid motion of actually writing for it to look real. Although, I know most people will not be able to tell and it'll do the trick. I do enjoy a lot of your other stuff, though.

This site is a freakin' gold mine!

So much to learn.

Nice work!!

Great work!
U gotta Love that Arsenal!!!!!!!!

Has Go media ever done any articles on how to separate colors in Photoshop & Illustrator for screen printing?

I never would've guessed you guys could pull off a graffiti package so well! I'm highly impressed; it looks fantastic.

Wooooooooooooooooooooou!

This is so good!!
I absolutely love the Go Media Arsenal!

Congratulations for blog
Regards

Daniel