Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#21

Post by flixic » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:03 PM UTC

sefrost wrote: post #18

dmix wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they even responsible for creating those show branding/advertising graphics used in the examples? I thought that'd be the responsibility of the production companies as they submit content. Although maybe they want some consistency when it's within the Netflix app... But agreed, I hope it becomes their UI font and not used in everything out of laziness or some pursuit of functional standardization over emotional a…

I got the impression the article author had put those together.

Credit below these images goes to Netflix and Dalton Maag (one of the most famous typeface design studios, https://www.daltonmaag.com/)

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#22

Post by Nadya » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:04 PM UTC

peter_vukovic wrote: post #11

Because none of the 858 open source, free for commercial use Google Fonts were a good fit? Such an excess.

Or the FLOSS alternative Google created to specifically solve the whole "International Audience" problem. [0]

The slight curve on the lower-t of Netflix Sans actually bothers me because it's the only curve of its kind. The "straight exit strokes" and "flat horizontal terminals" makes it inconsistent. Why not use that curve for the starting verticals of the lower-b, lower-d, or lower-h? [1]

[0] https://www.google.com/get/noto/

[1] https://vgy.me/kJ2plQ.png

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#23

Post by harrisjt » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:05 PM UTC

sefrost wrote: post #18

dmix wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they even responsible for creating those show branding/advertising graphics used in the examples? I thought that'd be the responsibility of the production companies as they submit content. Although maybe they want some consistency when it's within the Netflix app... But agreed, I hope it becomes their UI font and not used in everything out of laziness or some pursuit of functional standardization over emotional a…

I got the impression the article author had put those together.

Seems like an odd thing for them to do. For me it came off as netflix either changing the branding or wanting to show off the font in a creative way.

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#24

Post by amyjess » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

hoofta wrote: post #6

ggregoire wrote: post #3

> creating a bespoke font was driven by escalating costs > With the global nature of Netflix’s business, font licensing can get quite expensive How does it work? I thought commercial fonts were a one-time purchase, is it different for businesses like Netflix?

Yes. Most commercial fonts are actually not a one time purchase, but are instead licensed over a period of time. The licensing agreement usually stipulates how many time they may serve that font from their services - the more time it is served, the more $$$ it costs

In that case, why not use an open-source font like Noto? No licensing fees and no need to spend money hiring a type designer.

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#25

Post by WorldMaker » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

flixic wrote: post #8

As a UI font, this is pretty great. Almost a mix between Circular and San Francisco, it should work well. However, most disappointing and worrying part of font presentation is applications to different movies and TV shows. With the same typeface, they completely lose their identity. Strong, condensed typeface of House of Cards. 80s-inspired typeface for Stranger Things. Minimal and geometric typeface for OA. Cyrillic…

My assumption was that the design firm wanted to make sure the font held up well when used dynamically in complex media, using well known photography available to Netflix, not that they were proposing logo changes for those properties.

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#26

Post by dsr_ » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

I, too, like the Neue Haas Grotesk variant of Helvetica. But I can't get too excited about another teeny tweak to it.

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#27

Post by Freak_NL » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

amyjess wrote: post #20

flixic wrote: post #8

As a UI font, this is pretty great. Almost a mix between Circular and San Francisco, it should work well. However, most disappointing and worrying part of font presentation is applications to different movies and TV shows. With the same typeface, they completely lose their identity. Strong, condensed typeface of House of Cards. 80s-inspired typeface for Stranger Things. Minimal and geometric typeface for OA. Cyrillic…

> As a UI font, this is pretty great. I disagree. With high-resolution displays becoming the norm, I'm questioning why so much of the industry is still stuck on sans-serif fonts for UI, and worse, regressing from humanist sanses to neo-grotesk fonts, which are the worst (seriously, if you have to use a sans, use something like Myriad or Noto Sans... which Apple and Google used to use before they jumped on the neo-gro…

> With high-resolution displays becoming the norm

It will be years before TVs as well as desktop monitors are HiDPI in overwhelming numbers. 720p/1080p is pretty much the norm for those now. These fonts are meant to be usable on the vast majority (> 95%) of customer's screens, not just the minority (majority soon) of HiDPI screens.

> The only reason to not use a serif font is because at low resolutions, the serifs blur into a mess, […]

Nonsense. It's also an aesthetic call. We are not just using sans-serif fonts because our screens can't do better; sometimes they just work on their own merits (whether that's legibility or appearance).

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#28

Post by ggregoire » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:15 PM UTC

amyjess wrote: post #24

hoofta wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Most commercial fonts are actually not a one time purchase, but are instead licensed over a period of time. The licensing agreement usually stipulates how many time they may serve that font from their services - the more time it is served, the more $$$ it costs

In that case, why not use an open-source font like Noto? No licensing fees and no need to spend money hiring a type designer.

I guess for branding. Now they have their own font associated with their service.

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#29

Post by PeCaN » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:19 PM UTC

amyjess wrote: post #20

flixic wrote: post #8

As a UI font, this is pretty great. Almost a mix between Circular and San Francisco, it should work well. However, most disappointing and worrying part of font presentation is applications to different movies and TV shows. With the same typeface, they completely lose their identity. Strong, condensed typeface of House of Cards. 80s-inspired typeface for Stranger Things. Minimal and geometric typeface for OA. Cyrillic…

> As a UI font, this is pretty great. I disagree. With high-resolution displays becoming the norm, I'm questioning why so much of the industry is still stuck on sans-serif fonts for UI, and worse, regressing from humanist sanses to neo-grotesk fonts, which are the worst (seriously, if you have to use a sans, use something like Myriad or Noto Sans... which Apple and Google used to use before they jumped on the neo-gro…

>Serif fonts have objectively better readability

This claim is often repeated but questionable at best.

>subjectively they're much prettier than anything else

They might be pretty to you (and this is such a subjective claim that using it as evidence for favoring serif fonts is pointless) but users are pretty used to sans UI fonts at this point, and there's 0 reason to alienate them with something "prettier".

Re: Netflix Sans, a new custom typeface

#30

Post by MrL567 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 3:26 PM UTC

amyjess wrote: post #20

flixic wrote: post #8

As a UI font, this is pretty great. Almost a mix between Circular and San Francisco, it should work well. However, most disappointing and worrying part of font presentation is applications to different movies and TV shows. With the same typeface, they completely lose their identity. Strong, condensed typeface of House of Cards. 80s-inspired typeface for Stranger Things. Minimal and geometric typeface for OA. Cyrillic…

> As a UI font, this is pretty great. I disagree. With high-resolution displays becoming the norm, I'm questioning why so much of the industry is still stuck on sans-serif fonts for UI, and worse, regressing from humanist sanses to neo-grotesk fonts, which are the worst (seriously, if you have to use a sans, use something like Myriad or Noto Sans... which Apple and Google used to use before they jumped on the neo-gro…

Have to agree, it's bit disappointing the most common style of font used are the minimalist ones like Google's font or Facebook's. I mean for pixel blurring reasons it makes sense but if we have stronger computers, we can avoid that problem more often, no?