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A Checklist for Choosing Type

fonts.google.com

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Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#11

Post by giraffe_lady »

squokko wrote: post #6
golergka wrote: post #2

Is it just me, or are there a lot of posts about typefaces on HN front page lately?

Overall people in software cannot stop talking about fonts

We're in kind of a golden age of font quality and variety, and have widely available screens able to actually show & benefit from the details. It's almost the only fun thing about the current stage of computers/the internet.

I think we're also individually creatively starved from a generation+ of dismissing artistic and aesthetic pursuits. It's a socially-acceptable-within-computer-people-society way to acknowledge and participate in the creation of beauty.

Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#12

Post by taremareby »

> Comic Sans is perfect for setting children’s activity timetables that are displayed in a school playground. It’s perhaps not as appropriate for announcing scientific breakthroughs.

If it was good enough to present the discovery of the Higgs boson [1], it is good enough for me.

[1] https://youtu.be/m-dNqCbRc_Y?t=26

Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#13

Post by behnamoh »

taremareby wrote: post #12

> Comic Sans is perfect for setting children’s activity timetables that are displayed in a school playground. It’s perhaps not as appropriate for announcing scientific breakthroughs. If it was good enough to present the discovery of the Higgs boson [1], it is good enough for me. [1] https://youtu.be/m-dNqCbRc_Y?t=26

Higgs Boson scientists are not necessarily graphics design experts. From what I’ve seen, a lot of times scientists just pick a font from Word and don’t care much about it.

Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#14

Post by mgaunard »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #11
squokko wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall people in software cannot stop talking about fonts

We're in kind of a golden age of font quality and variety, and have widely available screens able to actually show & benefit from the details. It's almost the only fun thing about the current stage of computers/the internet. I think we're also individually creatively starved from a generation+ of dismissing artistic and aesthetic pursuits. It's a socially-acceptable-within-computer-people-society way to acknowledge a…

and yet Arial and Courier New remain the go-to fonts for me.

Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#17

Post by gffrd »

taremareby wrote: post #12

> Comic Sans is perfect for setting children’s activity timetables that are displayed in a school playground. It’s perhaps not as appropriate for announcing scientific breakthroughs. If it was good enough to present the discovery of the Higgs boson [1], it is good enough for me. [1] https://youtu.be/m-dNqCbRc_Y?t=26

But imagine the response the Higgs boson COULD have gotten by setting it in Arial instead!!!

Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#18

Post by pickingdinner »

I love how only 1 is about design and 2, 3, 4 are all technical.

> Its personality will prompt the appropriate emotional response(s) from our audience

For this to be just a bullet point, you need to understand the personality of fonts, then understand emotional responses of form, then understand audiences.

> Its design fits the intended use

Not so easy when you actually consider what this is asking. The design is what, and it applies to intent how?

The takeaway being, fonts are really really hard. They're not even supposed to stand out (your content is).

Re: A Checklist for Choosing Type

#19

Post by aredox »

pickingdinner wrote: post #18

I love how only 1 is about design and 2, 3, 4 are all technical. > Its personality will prompt the appropriate emotional response(s) from our audience For this to be just a bullet point, you need to understand the personality of fonts, then understand emotional responses of form, then understand audiences. > Its design fits the intended use Not so easy when you actually consider what this is asking. The design is wha…

"Only" 1 is so important, in the author's opinion, it has a whole other webpage dedicated to it: https://fonts.google.com/knowledge/choosing_type/emotive_con...
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