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Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

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31–40 of 112 posts

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#31
post #10

Are there any great variable and open serif web fonts around?

I am very fond of Merriweather (which I recently saw on a list of over-used fonts, for those who believe that you should use a different obscure and, hopefully, hard to read font in every document). It pairs nicely with Merriweather Sans, Cascadia Code, and for math Libertinus Modern, though I do have to tweak ex-heights to match.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#32
post #9

Where possible, I've stopped picking fonts that don't distinguish lowercase l and uppercase I. Words virtually always have redundancy (or context in the sentence) and it's fine in 98% of cases, but too often someone sends a token, password, name, or other string where you need to copy it out to another application to see it and just... why? Why bother? I/O test for Sans Flex: https://snipboard.io/wXCQq5.jpg It passes…

Almost no fonts do this by default and instead offer it as context alternate, but I feel a font should always use a dashed or preferably dotted zero. Zero being slightly skinnier than capital O is not enough for rapid visual clarity.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#34
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man, I already spend way too much time stressing about size & weight. This is enough toggles to let you really spend hours trying to get it perfect!

Thin weights are eyecandy, but don't forget to also decontrast the color! Nothing screams "made by a designer" like thin grey prose that, if you're lucky and they hired a professional, sits precisely at the minimum of the WCAG contrast legibility standard

You need to make sure people can’t read the actual content so that they’ll focus on the ads.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#35
post #9

Where possible, I've stopped picking fonts that don't distinguish lowercase l and uppercase I. Words virtually always have redundancy (or context in the sentence) and it's fine in 98% of cases, but too often someone sends a token, password, name, or other string where you need to copy it out to another application to see it and just... why? Why bother? I/O test for Sans Flex: https://snipboard.io/wXCQq5.jpg It passes…

Many fonts have a disambiguation option. Inter by default doesn't pass the I test - but it can be enabled.

Google Flex Sans supports font-feature-settings: "zero" - but doesn't seem to support lower-case l, upper-case I disambiguation.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#36

> as well as an axis for rounded terminals (as in terminals in letters, not command-line apps). Now I want to see a rounded terminal (as in command-line apps, not terminals in letters.) Would I type in a circle? Sounds cool.

The earliest CRT terminals were round.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#37

> as well as an axis for rounded terminals (as in terminals in letters, not command-line apps). Now I want to see a rounded terminal (as in command-line apps, not terminals in letters.) Would I type in a circle? Sounds cool.

Perhaps they are trying to improve the Gemini performance on https://clocks.brianmoore.com/ .

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#38
post #9

Where possible, I've stopped picking fonts that don't distinguish lowercase l and uppercase I. Words virtually always have redundancy (or context in the sentence) and it's fine in 98% of cases, but too often someone sends a token, password, name, or other string where you need to copy it out to another application to see it and just... why? Why bother? I/O test for Sans Flex: https://snipboard.io/wXCQq5.jpg It passes…

One would think that this would be a fundamental principle in font design, distinguishing letters from each other.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#39

I don't love this new font as others have already pointed out, there's not enough distinction between some letters[1]. However, the general movement toward redistributable and license-friendly fonts is wonderful and I'm very happy to see it continue. As someone who has had to deal with font licensing hell in the past, having these available is a huge improvement. Even just setting up my personal linux systems and hav…

I agree with you, but this font is less notable for its glyph design than for the fact that you can obtain many variations of it by choosing suitable parameter values (hence the "Flex" name).

This is a feature that few, if any, open source typefaces possess.

Being open source, the same techniques can be reused in the design of another parametrized font, with less ambiguous glyphs.

Re: Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

#40
post #9

Where possible, I've stopped picking fonts that don't distinguish lowercase l and uppercase I. Words virtually always have redundancy (or context in the sentence) and it's fine in 98% of cases, but too often someone sends a token, password, name, or other string where you need to copy it out to another application to see it and just... why? Why bother? I/O test for Sans Flex: https://snipboard.io/wXCQq5.jpg It passes…

> I've stopped picking fonts that don't distinguish lowercase l and uppercase I.

Serif fonts solved this problem generations ago.

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