Script Font for Name with Suffix

[_Mike_Lonardo_]

Hello all,
I am designing an invitation and I need to find a traditional script font that will work with a name with a suffix - like John Smith III. The III at the end looks terrible with a script I. (I had wanted to use Edwardian Script.)

I know swashes and alternates can solve the problem, but I've had to look at each font in InDesign to see if alternates are available and I can't find a way to look for that on the major font sites. I'm on a PC with CS3.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[_Dominic_Hurley_]

Have you suggested to the client that you write John Smith the Third instead?

[D__McCahill]

Consider also using lower case i for the suffix. I have seen this in places, and it is definitely better than three consecutive swash I's.

[_Dominic_Hurley_]

That's unusual - I haven't seen that before. I'd probably think it was a mistake if I did see it.

[Neil_Keller]

Dominic,

I somehow recalling that usage as well -- and it is far less jarring than the three (script) cap "I"s. Not sure what else to recommend here. Italic cap I from another font? Still jarring.

Neil

[Ramón G Castañeda]

How would a calligrapher write it with a quill, pen or brush?

[_Herb_V_B_]

I think I would try to find a plain font even Times New Roman (!) to
use for the III. It should be selected so the general color balances,
and it should be at the same slant and sized to match the script font.
I just tried a few, and it looks fine - if very carefully selected. A
simple (not the best) example is CommercialScript at 72 point with TNR
italic at 64 pt.

[Thomas Phinney]

Speaking as a typographer who has such a numeral at the end of his name, I would cast my vote for Dominic and Herb's suggestions, both of which I have used in the past on different occasions.

Cheers,

T

[_Dominic_Hurley_]

>I somehow recalling that usage as well

It may well be that I'm unfamiliar with it because the whole naming children after their parents convention seems more of an American and English thing - I don't see many people with "III" or "iii" or "the Third" after their names down here (or even "jnr" or "snr").

[Neil_Keller]

Who was it? Boxer George Foreman who named each of his children "George" but added "II", "III", "IV"... to their names, to distinguish one from the next?<br /><br />Don't even bother with the over-inflated ego involved there!<br /><br />Neil (The First, The Last, and The Only) <g>

[Ramón G Castañeda]

>the whole naming children after their parents convention seems more of an American and English thing

I'd say the whole naming children numerically convention seems exclusively an American and English thing. I've never encountered it in any other culture.

[Neil_Keller]

But...maybe this all stems from the time-honored conventions of monarchial succession as used in many cultures.

Neil

[Ramón G Castañeda]

Monarchs don't use last names. :D

Now that I think of it, they don't use the numerals themselves either.

[BobLevine]

> Now that I think of it, they don't use the numerals themselves either.<br /><br />Nope, only the cruise ships named after them do. <g><br /><br />Bob

[Neil_Keller]

So, King George III signed his name as just plain "George"? <g><br /><br />Neil

[_Dominic_Hurley_]

Actually, he signed it "George R" (for "Rex"). See the image at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom . I believe they all do this. So, Queen Elizabeth signs "Elizabeth R" (though in that case it stands for "Regina").

(Not that any of this helps Mike. Mike, have you tried setting it in small caps? That's assuming the font you want to use has them, and not many script faces do.)

[Neil_Keller]

Dominic,<br />>Not that any of this helps Mike<br /><br />I think we are just biding time here, eagerly awaiting Mike's return! <g><br /><br />Neil

[_Mike_Lonardo_]

I'm really sorry everyone - I've been having trouble logging back in, but I've been following the conversation religiously!

So I tried a few different versions and none made the client happy. We wound up going back to the standard business-classy Americana Extra Bold and avoided the problem entirely. I did try a few Roman fonts and outlined them in Illustrator and tilted them myself to try to match the slant of the ital. Mediocre at best, but I think it could have worked if they'd wanted to continue in that direction.

It's interesting though - when it happened, I just imagined that I was missing something so basic and that I'd get a string of "Duh" replies. But even the folks at fonts.com and myfonts.com had no suggestions except to try any font that looked like it might work! :)

Thanks again for all your time, and may the Prince of Wales be an inspiration to us all... (ie don't use the roman numerals, they're just a pain in the arse.)

Mike

[typegirl]

If I follow... For future reference Fontshop.com now has a feature to show the entire glyph-set for any of the fonts they license.

[Freiberger]

Just another idea: Poetica would be my choice. It has four A-z sets with different ornaments. You may use a flourish one to the whole text and a simpler to the III. Zapfino Pro has also a similar resource. These fonts also include true small caps, which is the correct choice to roman numerals.