I released Hydrogen Whiskey on October 28, 1997, as a free display typeface. The design was built around wide, capsule-shaped letterforms that echoed the aesthetics of 1960s science fiction. My influences included MICR fonts, Westminster, Data ‘70, and even the pill symbol on Kaneda’s jacket from Akira. Capsules had a futuristic quality that I wanted to capture, and this design was one of my earliest attempts at that idea.

The process began with a pixel font. I blurred it in Photoshop to smooth the edges, then auto-traced the shapes and cleaned them up. In the 2010s, I tightened the vectors to create more balanced outlines. The design remained purely a display face; I never intended it for text settings.

On July 20, 2021, I updated the font with small adjustments, fixing minor technical issues. Then in April 2024, I released it into the public domain along with other older free fonts. Hydrogen Whiskey never saw notable use, but it stands as a record of my early exploration into capsule-inspired letterforms.