Single Leg Gallows

[Stefan Wirtz_2]

Indeed some space saving can be observed around those "big" letters, but this is mostly done otherwise:

p and f are followed by all small letters without problems (and are never directly combined).
But if there is a leading letter, very often this can be seen:



The front-end curl is just straightened to keep away from small leading letters.

So p  and  f are not simplifications of  t and k  (they are all already simplified), but similarily developed and just lifting a leg: 
If I had to "invent" or simplify an alphabet, I would try to keep the character set simple also.
Those things can continue to be different letters at all.