Get Helvetica Off Our Money • Hacker News Board

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#21

Post by zck » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 4:10 AM UTC

All the new dollar bills seem like they were designed piecemeal, with little thought as to how they coalesce into one image. Independence Hall is cut off on the right by the giant 100. It's not cut off on the left. Who cares about symmetry?

The back of the $20 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_$20_Series_2006_Reverse...) looks like a child took a highlighter and drew 20 on the bill dozens of times. There's no discernible pattern; it looks like noise.

The front of the $10 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US10dollarbill-Series_2004...) has three things going on in the exact same place. Look at the seal on the right of the bill. It also has TEN written over it, and We The People in the same spot. Is it harder to counterfeit if you can't read it? It simply looks lazy to me.

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#22

Post by ax0n » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 4:32 AM UTC

Is there a genuinely compelling reason to banish one font or another from our currency? Really? Font Nerds are very high up on the list of geek subcultures that I do not understand. Not quite as high up as furries, though.

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#23

Post by az » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 6:06 AM UTC

I think we should add braille like some countries

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#24

Post by qq66 » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 7:54 AM UTC

Out of curiosity, why is there so much hand-wringing on the Internet about fonts? I agree that typography has importance in design. But the attention given to it seems totally incommensurate with its importance.

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#25

Post by thwarted » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 9:06 AM UTC

zck wrote: post #21

All the new dollar bills seem like they were designed piecemeal, with little thought as to how they coalesce into one image. Independence Hall is cut off on the right by the giant 100. It's not cut off on the left. Who cares about symmetry? The back of the $20 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_$20_Series_2006_Reverse... ) looks like a child took a highlighter and drew 20 on the bill dozens of times. There's no d…

The back of the $20 looks like a child took a highlighter and drew 20 on the bill dozens of times. There's no discernible pattern; it looks like noise.

But it's not noise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation

The front of the $10 has three things going on in the exact same place. Look at the seal on the right of the bill. It also has TEN written over it, and We The People in the same spot. Is it harder to counterfeit if you can't read it? It simply looks lazy to me.

Yes, that's exactly why, it's an anti-counterfeiting device. Are you really having trouble reading "We the People" or using that TEN to determine the denomination?

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#26

Post by duck » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 11:55 AM UTC

techiferous wrote: post #16

duck wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alright, since no one else is commenting on this... why?

It's about as appropriate as "In Zeus We Trust". It's not something that is representative of the consensus of the American people.

They say statistics can be used to prove anything, so I'm not expecting this to change your mind, but poll after poll shows that the majority of people in the USA are Christians.

http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#27

Post by techiferous » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 12:54 PM UTC

duck wrote: post #26

techiferous wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about as appropriate as "In Zeus We Trust". It's not something that is representative of the consensus of the American people.

They say statistics can be used to prove anything, so I'm not expecting this to change your mind, but poll after poll shows that the majority of people in the USA are Christians. http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html

But there are two things: (1) relevance and (2) I'm guessing the consensus among Americans is that we wouldn't want merely a majority-rule democracy, but a democracy that also respects the rights of minorities.

Using the reasoning of popularity, we could put "Land of the Whites" on our money.

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#28

Post by jessriedel » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 1:39 PM UTC

duck wrote: post #6

jessriedel wrote: post #5

I'd sacrifice increased counterfeiting if it meant we could get rid of all those colors. For the longest time, the US had currency that was truly unique looking compared to the rest of the world. Now, it's beginning to look like every other foreign currency: rainbow colors, large and detailed faces, and asymmetric denomination marks.

Really? In the end the public pays for counterfeiting. I do agree it's beginning to look the same and it seems like we could come up with something more original, but in the end I don't care what it looks like as long as whats in my back pocket is real.

Yes, I understand that I would pay for it.

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#29

Post by jessriedel » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 1:41 PM UTC

nonrecursive wrote: post #8

jessriedel wrote: post #5

I'd sacrifice increased counterfeiting if it meant we could get rid of all those colors. For the longest time, the US had currency that was truly unique looking compared to the rest of the world. Now, it's beginning to look like every other foreign currency: rainbow colors, large and detailed faces, and asymmetric denomination marks.

I thought the other reason for the variety of colors and sizes was that it made it easier for visual impairments to handle money. It would indeed be nice, though, if US currency became more usable while remaining unique.

I don't think the size has changed. If it did, it would bother me a lot less (aesthetically) than the departure from green.

Re: Get Helvetica Off Our Money

#30

Post by jessriedel » Thu, Apr 22, 2010, 1:43 PM UTC

mga wrote: post #17

duck wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alright, since no one else is commenting on this... why?

we (and when I say "we" I mean "you" because I'm not from the US) should be more concerned about the un-separation of church and state and less about the design

The large majority of Americans are Christian, and any even larger percentage believe in some sort of God. Do you really think a major hang-up preventing a separation of Church and State is the phrase on the money? This phrase is an indicator, not a contributing factor.