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Kermit: A typeface for kids

microsoft.design

101–110 of 181 posts

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#101

Is this open / free / something we can download and try out? I did a super-brief search on the page but "download" didn't turn up any results. Does anyone else know where we can download this from?

They're using it on the page, which presumably means that your browser already downloaded it! You can probably dig around the page source/network tab to find it.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#102
As someone teaching their 4 year old to read right now, I don't buy it. The text is long on "friendly" and random stuff like that, but that's not what I'm looking for in a font for kids.

Just off the top of my head the "v" in there doesn't have a point on the bottom, which is one of the confusions my daughter has ("u" vs "v"). And I don't think the "n" needs the serif on the right foot, as that's not the "platonic" shape of a lower case N. I do appreciate that their lower case "a" is more like a handwritten one, as is the lower case "g".

I've been going through the Teach Your Child to Read[0] book, and it introduces a "learner-friendly" font, which actually helps. It has special glyphs for "th", for example, and other font tricks like making silent letters smaller, and different variants for the vowels depending on their sound. Eventually, those tricks are minimized and the kid is reading a normal font, though.

In other words, I'm interested in the idea of a font that's useful for early readers, but this font doesn't seem to be concretely designed in that way, and I'm put off by the vague "friendly" type stuff it seems to be focusing on.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child-Read-Lessons/dp/0671...

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#103

Is this open / free / something we can download and try out? I did a super-brief search on the page but "download" didn't turn up any results. Does anyone else know where we can download this from?

https://microsoft.design/wp-content/themes/wp-base-theme/dis...

https://microsoft.design/wp-content/themes/wp-base-theme/dis...

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#104
post #84

If you want to read it on a site that doesn't mess with scrolling, try here : https://kermit-font.com

that website is also terrible - no scrolling issues because you cannot scroll at all - and no idea what to click because not a single labeled button/link on the entire page, only some vague unlabeled icons. even on hover you get nothing

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#106

Is this open / free / something we can download and try out? I did a super-brief search on the page but "download" didn't turn up any results. Does anyone else know where we can download this from?

There us no mentioned license, neither on the original post or the website. It is only mentioned that it will be added to M$ office indicating (to me) that it will be proprietary/part of the product.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#108

It's super hard to read when you hijack scrolling (and do a poor job of it), regardless of the font used.

yes, not only poorly implemented but also completely pointless

Like, I kind of get it when it's part of some parallax effect, I get asked to make them all the time (and only do when I lose the argument)… but this is effing dumb.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#109

As someone teaching their 4 year old to read right now, I don't buy it. The text is long on "friendly" and random stuff like that, but that's not what I'm looking for in a font for kids. Just off the top of my head the "v" in there doesn't have a point on the bottom, which is one of the confusions my daughter has ("u" vs "v"). And I don't think the "n" needs the serif on the right foot, as that's not the "platonic" s…

Stroke 6 of the "r" is weird in that it is making an upward stroke rather than a down stroke. I guess that this still grates after those years learning calligraphy with pens that would not work trying to draw up. All strokes were made with a downward/pulling motion. Pushing a pen like that just didn't work.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#110
As a left handed person I learned to write everything differently.

I cross the t's going the opposite way that this font recommends, and I write some numbers (like 4 and 7) with some strokes going the "wrong" way.

Most of the world (writing included) isn't designed for lefties. But sometimes doing things the "wrong" way works better when you're in the minority. I'm not sure if this font helps or hurts.

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