Geometric, Bauhaus-esque font used on the cover of the single "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child

Question

Hello all!

This font was used on certain formats and editions of the single "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child, which was released in 1999. The uppercase G and M, as well as the lowercase g are particularly unique.

The first image is a scan of one version of the track list, whereas the second image is my approximation of all the characters I have seen so far.

I hope that this is indeed a font and not custom type, but I have never seen it used anywhere else other than on the cover of this single.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you so much for reading!

Comments

Frans, may I ask how you composed the sample alphabet?

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Hi, Pannonica.

Sure, no problem! I imported a few scans of the single covers into Inkscape to create a vector using bezier curves and lines. No automatic tracing. I hope it doesn't look awful.

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On the contrary, it looks very good!

Sorry to further digress from the focus of your original query, but is Inkscape preferable in any way to e.g. Adobe Illustrator (I have a non-subscription CS6 version of that)?

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I wouldn't say it's preferable in any particular way. To be honest, I use Inkscape because it is open source and I am far more comfortable using it than Adobe Illustrator. Then again, I dabble in vector-based graphic design purely as a hobby, not professionally. It's important to note, though, that many of the effects (gradients, etc.) aren't always cross-compatible between Inkscape and Illustrator, but if your aim is simply to create outlines, Inkscape is wonderful. I have even used it to create fonts of my own (with FontForge).

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Thank you very much for the information and your assessments, Frans!

I dabble as well, and though I wouldn't call myself anything like a professional, I have had some paying jobs making vector-based logos. I've also had a longstanding interest in typography so maybe it's time to explore a program like FontForge.

Answer 1

Hi Frans,

This is Dana Line, designed by Doug Olena of Keystrokes. My understanding is that his fonts are now available on request.

Consider submitting images of the single to Fonts In Use, if you can spare a minute.

Comments

Hi, Florian!

That's it! Thank you so, so much! I have e-mailed Doug Olena about Dana Line.

I'll do my best to get a decent scan of the Say My Name single for the Fonts In Use website (which is, I might add, a fantastic resource).

Thank you again!