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一個香港字型的誕生 The Birth of Hong Kong Font

寫字佬遺下2000字手稿, 經歷多年修復變成電腦字體。這是個怎樣的故事呢? Calligrapher left 2,000 manuscripts and dusty for many years. After years of restoration into computer fonts. What is this story about?

招牌佬 x 寫字佬的友情 Friendship between a signboard maker and a calligrapher

故事發生在1990年前後。當時要做招牌,如果要用字,就要坐車去找寫字匠寫的,不似現在可以隨時在電腦上打字那麼方便。而李漢,就是其中一個在旺角街頭擺檔的寫字匠了。李威因工作關係認識李漢,一見如故,成了好友,稱兄道弟。 九十年代初,李漢自覺身體日差,開始計劃退休,李漢擔心日後沒人替李威寫字,便有計劃把墨寶留下來,他按字典部首順序寫楷書,前後寫了兩次,留下了大量手稿。 大約1992年,李漢把兩個紅白藍袋放在李威店前,然後便告老還鄉了。李威的兒女亦開始在店內幫忙。然而當時乃電腦化年代,來自台灣的中文電腦字被大量使用,因此這批珍貴的手稿便擱在一旁二十年了。 The story takes place around 1990. At that time, if someone wanted to make a sign board and make use of words, he had to find a calligrapher to write, and not as convenient as now in which you find from the computer any time. Lee Hon was one of the calligraphers on the streets of Mong Kok. Because of the work, Lee Wai knew Lee Hon and they became a very close friend. In the early 1990s, Lee Hon began to plan his retirement, fearing that no one would write for Li Wei in the future, so he had plans to leave the manuscript behind. He wrote according to the order of the dictionary, wrote twice before and after, leaving a large number of manuscripts. About 1992, Lee Hon put two bags in front of Lee Wai store, and then back to his hometown. Lee Wai's children also began to help in the store. However, it was the age of computerization, and Chinese characters from Taiwan were used extensively, so this precious collection of manuscripts was put aside for 20 years.
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開始字體修復 Start for font restoration

2015年,李威的兒子李健明偶爾在電台節目得知有台灣公司可將手寫字編碼成電腦字,便馬上聯絡對方。李健明便於2016年開始將李漢字稿掃描入電腦,並用電腦軟件一筆一劃地勾畫,同時把李漢沒有寫出來的字拼湊出來。李健明更把字體命名為 “李漢港楷”,寓意為 “你看香港的街”。 In 2015, Lee Wai's son, Lee Kin Ming, occasionally learned on radio that a Taiwan company could encode handwriting into computer font. So Lee Kin Ming immediately contacted them. Lee Kin Ming began scanning Lee's manuscript into a computer in 2016 and sketched it stroke by stroke with computer software, while piecing together words that Lee Hon hadn't written. Lee Kin Ming also named the font as " Lee Hon Kong Kai" meaning "You look at the streets of Hong Kong".
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眾籌 Crowdfunding

之後, 李健明用了近4年的時間,每晚一點一滴把字體復修和校對, 終於完成了超過7000個中文字的造字工程,同時亦考慮在李漢港楷體的基礎上再創造新的字體,於是在2020年, 開展了 眾籌計劃, 獲社會各界的支持得以成功。 After that, Lee Kin Ming spent nearly four years, little by little every night to revise and proofread the font. Over 7000 characters' font had been completed. At the same time, it is also considered to create a new font based on Lee Hon Kong Kai's italics. So in 2020, a crowdfunding project was launched, which was successful with the support of the community.
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李漢港楷的特色 Characteristics of Lee Hon Kong Kai

「李漢港楷」筆劃較粗,一目了然,尤其是在當時的香港招牌林立的環境。另一個最大的特色是「一體成形」, 在製作和安裝都非常方便。適合用於招牌、手工藝製作、立體字、節目標題字、平面廣告印刷、數碼媒體設計、海報旗幟和產品包裝等等。 Bold strokes, obvious at a glance, one complete form are the main characteristics of Lee Hon Kong Kai. It is very suitable on signboards, art craft production, 3D characters, headline wordings, graphic design, digital media design, posters, flags and product packaging, etc.
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持續活化(展覽) - Exhibition

2019年, 我們成立了 "香港招牌研究會" 並於石硤尾賽馬會創意藝術中心舉辦了一次 "港人港字 - 由手寫招牌到電腦字型 - 李漢港楷"展覽會, 詳細講述李漢港楷的故事和推廣香港的招牌文化, 是次參觀人數達數千人次。自此, 承蒙各大機構的邀請, 在不同的地方舉辦了很多和招牌文字有關的展覽, 希望香港傳統招牌文字和文化得到大眾的認識, 得以保存。 In 2019, we established the Hong Kong Signage Research Society. An exhibition titled "Beyond Hong Kong Font - Exhibiting the story of Lee Hon Kong Kai - From the Street Chinese Calligraphy to Typography" was held at the Shek Kip Mei Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre to tell the story of Lee Hon Kong Kai and promote Hong Kong's signage culture. Since then, at the invitation of various organizations, many exhibitions related to signage culture have been held in different places, hoping that Hong Kong's traditional signage culture will be recognized by the public and preserved.
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著作: 你看港街招牌 - Book: Look at Hong Kong street signage

眾籌以外, 李健明也寫了一本有關香港招牌的書, 命名為"你看港街招牌" 。這是第一本有系統地論述香港招牌文化的書, 並於2019年獲得 第17屆十本好讀中學生組 中學生最愛書籍第5位及2021年第三屆香港出版雙年獎 生活及科普類「出版獎」。因為眾籌成功的關係, 為了回饋大眾, 李健明自費每間中學一本, 贈書予全港474間中學, 希望年輕一代對香港招牌有多一點的認識。 In addition to crowdfunding, Lee Kin Ming has also written a book about Hong Kong signage , titled "Look at Hong Kong Street Signage". It is the first book to systematically address Hong Kong's signage culture. The book won the 5th place in the 17th HKPSB Secondary School Students' Favorite Book in 2019 and the 3rd HKPSB Biennial Awards in 2021. Thanks to the success of crowdfunding, in order to give back to the public, Lee Kin Ming donated one book per secondary school to 474 secondary schools in Hong Kong, hoping that the younger generation would have a better understanding of Hong Kong's signage culture.
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工作坊/講座分享/導賞 Workshop / Sharing / Tour

舉辧不同活動, 例如各種不同的工作坊, 講座分享及招牌導賞團, 讓公眾對招牌製作或背後的故事有更多認識。 歡迎查詢及度身定做適合的活動 Various activities, such as workshops, sharing and signage tours, will be held to raise public awareness of signage culture and making or their story behind. Enquiries and tailor-made activities are welcome
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製作精品及參與市集 - Souvenir Production and Fair Paticipation

把李漢字體加上製作招牌的技術製作各種富有香港特色的精品, 如匙扣, 手提袋, 耳環等, 送禮自用兩相宜, 除了網店及各個寄賣點, 我們不定期參與不同地區的市集, 希望以另一種形式把李漢港楷繼續保留。 Make us of Lee Hon Kong Kai and the signage making skill, We created a lot of Hong Kong-style products such as key chains, handbags, earrings, etc. can be self use or as gifts. In addition to online store and consignment stores, we regularly participate in various local markets. We hope to retain Lee Hon Kong Kai in another form.
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