Gabriola font
This is the new Gabriola font. Splendid, isn’t it? It will come with Windows 7, and perhaps other new software from Microsoft as well.
Yes, of course this font was made on Gabriola Island, and named after the island, too. It was designed for Microsoft by John Hudson of Tiro Typeworks. Here’s a bit about the Gabriola font from Microsoft.com.
Update, November 2009:
Here’s an article from a Gabriola Island newspaper about the Gabriola font and its designer: Writing to Gabriola in ‘Gabriola’.
Related posts on Gabriolan.ca:
Filed in Gabriola Island,Gabriola people 7 Comments so far
7 Responses to “Gabriola font”
Nate on 08 Sep 2009 at 4:25 am #
Hey there. I’d love to get a copy of this font family…
Gabriolan on 08 Sep 2009 at 10:46 am #
So would everybody, Nate! The Gabriola font will ship with Windows 7, so buying that version of Windows will be one way to get a copy. I hope the font will eventually be available for purchase on it’s own, like maybe at Ascender or some place like that.
Jeannie on 30 Dec 2009 at 7:04 pm #
I just got a new computer with Windows 7. (Which I love) However, it only came with ‘Gabriola Regular’ It doesn’t do those letter swooshing.
Am I doing something wrong?
Gabriolan on 30 Dec 2009 at 8:59 pm #
Jeannie, take a look at the Gabriola font variant page for more info. To get the letter swooshing you want, you have to have a software program that supports this feature.
Jeannie on 30 Dec 2009 at 9:55 pm #
Thank you. I have CS3. So I didn’t ever realize that I can do that to OpenType fonts. I am in heaven. However, it only works with the OT Pro fonts. I have had CS3 for almost 3 years now. I am sure the new purchases now have Gabriola OT Pro… I went to Adobe’s website to check for any updates and I couldn’t find any that related to fonts. Do you know how or where I can obtain an update?
Thank you so much. You’ve created a wonderful font.
Gabriolan on 30 Dec 2009 at 11:44 pm #
Glad you’re happy, Jeannie. I didn’t create the Gabriola font – John Hudson did that. The page I sent you to about how to use the font’s features is one that John wrote for this blog, because readers were asking for that information. John provided those tips as a favour to Gabriolan.ca.
This site (Gabriolan.ca) is a blog about Gabriola Island. I’ve blogged about the Gabriola font here because it’s news that a font is named after our little island.
I can’t answer your questions about the font, but perhaps John will do that.
John Hudson on 31 Dec 2009 at 8:04 am #
Hi Jeannie. You don’t need an update or special version of the Gabriola font to work in your Adobe CS3 applications. The OpenType Layout tables that the Gabriola font uses to do its clever stuff can be added to any TrueType or Postscript OT font (file extensions .ttf or .otf). Gabriola was designed and built ‘from the ground up’ with this kind of fancy layout in mind.
In InDesign CS3, for example, type some text using the Gabriola font, select the text you want style, and then navigate to the OpenType menu and the Stylistic Sets sub menu. Here is an introductory tutorial on working with OpenType Layout in InDesign.
Take a look around inside the OpenType menu for other features supported by the Gabriola font, such as smallcaps, superior and inferior letters and/or numerals, and different numeral styles.
[As an aside: the term ‘Pro’ is used by Adobe in reference to their own font library to indicate an extended character set, not necessarily more or less advanced layout features. Both ‘Pro’ and ‘Standard’ Adobe OT fonts may have support for e.g. proper smallcaps, ligatures, etc.; what distinguishes them are the number of languages covered. Some other font producers have adopted the same terms, while others have their own terminology. I'm afraid it is often confusing for users.]