Before Breakfast is a hand-drawn slab display font I made in under ten minutes on an iPad, using iFontMaker and my index finger.
Short answer: Before Breakfast is a one-weight hand-drawn slab serif display typeface with over 300 glyphs. It was drawn directly on an iPad screen in a self-imposed ten-minute challenge, which is where the name comes from — the faster it was finished, the sooner I got to eat. The speed is visible in the letterforms, and that is the point.
Can you really design a font in ten minutes?
Yes, but only a particular kind of font. A ten-minute face has to be single-weight, hand-drawn and forgiving of irregularity. What you cannot do in ten minutes is space it properly, kern it, or build a wide character set — that work came afterwards and took considerably longer than the drawing did.
The drawing is the fast part of type design. The finishing is not. Anyone claiming a complete, production-ready family in ten minutes is describing the sketch, not the typeface.
How I made it
I drew it in iFontMaker on an iPad. The app lets you draw each glyph directly on screen and then compiles the set into an installable font file, which removes the usual round trip between drawing software and a font editor.
The workflow was straightforward:
- Draw each glyph on the iPad screen with a finger — no stylus, which is part of why the strokes wobble.
- Tap upload, and the app converts the drawings into a working font file.
- Email yourself the download link and install it on the desktop.
- Space, kern and extend the character set properly — the slow part, done afterwards.
Drawing with a finger rather than a stylus matters more than it sounds. A finger is a blunt instrument, so the strokes come out slightly uneven and the terminals never land quite where you intended. Those accidents are what give the face its character.
What Before Breakfast looks like
It is a playful hand-drawn display face with slab-style elements worked into the stems. The proportions are relaxed rather than precise, the baseline wanders a little, and no two letters carry quite the same weight.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Category | Hand-drawn display, slab-influenced |
| Styles | One — regular |
| Glyph count | Over 300 |
| Drawn on | iPad, in iFontMaker |
| Best for | Headlines, packaging, greeting cards, kids' editorial |
| Not suited to | Body copy, dense interfaces, formal or corporate identities |
| Price | From £10 |
Where to use it
Before Breakfast works where warmth matters more than authority. It suits packaging for food and drink, greeting cards, children's books, cafe menus, market stall signage and social graphics that need to feel made by a person rather than a committee.
It is a display face, so keep it to headlines and short callouts and set your running text in something clean. Like most hand-drawn faces it should also be sized generously — the irregularities that give it charm at large sizes turn into noise when reduced.
Avoid it where precision is the promise. Financial, legal, medical and safety-critical work all need letterforms that look deliberate, and a wandering baseline reads as carelessness in those contexts.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of font is Before Breakfast?
A hand-drawn display typeface with slab-serif influences. It has one weight, regular, and over 300 glyphs. It is designed for headlines and short text rather than paragraphs.
What app was used to make Before Breakfast?
iFontMaker on an iPad. The app lets you draw glyphs directly on screen and compiles them into an installable font file, which is why the whole drawing stage fits into a few minutes.
Can you design a usable font in ten minutes?
You can draw one. Spacing, kerning and extending the character set take much longer, and those are what turn a set of drawings into a font that works in real layouts.
Is Before Breakfast good for body text?
No. It is a display face. The uneven strokes and wandering baseline that give it personality at large sizes become tiring to read at paragraph sizes. Pair it with a clean sans or serif for running text.
Does Before Breakfast cover other languages?
The set runs to over 300 glyphs, which covers standard Western European accented characters alongside the basic Latin alphabet, numerals and punctuation. For a specific language requirement, ask me before you buy.
Can I use Before Breakfast in a logo?
Check the licence terms for your intended use. Retail font licences often exclude trademark registration, app embedding and high-impression campaigns. If you need exclusivity or broad rights, a bespoke typeface is usually the better route.
Get the font
Before Breakfast is available here from £10 →
If you want something in this spirit but drawn specifically for your brand — hand-made, imperfect, and nobody else's — I take custom typeface commissions.