WIP 4x4 pixel font
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18755
Printed Date: 15 September 2025 at 7:57am
Topic: WIP 4x4 pixel font
Posted By: jambox_josh
Subject: WIP 4x4 pixel font
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 10:16am
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So I started making a 4 pixel by 4 pixel font with the goal of having every letter be of equal height and width, Here's what I have so far. Just looking for critiques on readability and any alternatives. I'm still alittle shaky on some letters (lower case 'g' , upper case 'M' and 'W', and the 'Y' 'y' and 'V' 'v')
row 1: A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i row 2: J j K k L l M m N n O o P p Q q R r row 3: S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z . , row 4: [ ] ( ) ^ < > ! ? " ' ; : ~ & @ * row 5: | _ \ % + - / = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 x1 size: 
x4 size: 
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Replies:
Posted By: shark jacobs
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 1:32pm
| I kinda feel like that big Z doesn't fit in, its looks so skinny compared with everything else |
Posted By: jambox_josh
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 1:35pm
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I agree, It was just hard to find another unique shape (that wasn't '2') unless I just mirror 'S'
here's an update. I also tweaked some numbers as I didn't realize how awful '4' '6' and '7' were for readability. fixed w/o (hopefully) ruining the "Chunky" style 
EDIT: i should also note I'm having a really tough time getting a Currency symbol to work '$' |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 1:54pm
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I have no comments really but do want to commend you for attempting a 4px font. Its a very challenging size because its an even px height. ------------- |
Posted By: jambox_josh
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 2:07pm
| yeah, I'm trying to do stuff like this to really maximize all the space I'm given. it started as a challenge to myself to make the smallest possible font that was still readable. I started with 6x6 (really easy), 4x6, then 5x5, then 3x5. Once I got to 4x4 I was playing around with some letters and really liked the 'chunky' cube-like look, so I started expanding to do both caps and lower case, punctuation, and numbers. I'm almost certain I won't be going any smaller unless I start integrating multiple colors into the palette, with shading I could maybe get a 3x3 or 3x4 to work :P |
Posted By: jambox_josh
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 2:27pm
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Just to show what I mean here's what I had done on a 3x3:
(magnified for your viewing pleasure) 
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Posted By: showtime
Date Posted: 25 April 2014 at 9:13pm
| Interesting challenge! Reminds me of http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/50115.htm - this font by onek. |
Posted By: jambox_josh
Date Posted: 01 May 2014 at 1:52pm
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Originally posted by showtime
Interesting challenge! Reminds me of http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/50115.htm - this font by onek. This Blew my mind. I'm giving up on tiny fonts now. freaking subpixels! |
Posted By: showtime
Date Posted: 01 May 2014 at 8:34pm
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I didn't mean to discourage you! Just thought you would appreciate it. |
Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 02 May 2014 at 6:00am
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Nice stuff! Some comments and opinions: A lot of the small letters have more black around them than the capital letters... I can imagine in the end it might be much more readable if all the capital letters pop out extra dark even if that means they are 'smaller' than their non-cap version... Also, the small letters are often really unreadable! This is of course an issue since the small letters will be used much more than the capital letters! I made an edit where all the caps are bold and all the non-caps are thin. Left is yours, right is mine. Top row is non caps, middle caps first letter and bottom all caps.  EDIT: Oops, I see my small L is not 4 px wide, but neither is yours... ------------- |