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Google releases its new Google Sans Flex font as open source

omgubuntu.co.uk

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

#51

Post by JumpCrisscross »

adrian_b wrote: post #46
GaryBluto wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've stopped picking fonts that don't distinguish lowercase l and uppercase I. Serif fonts solved this problem generations ago.

Yes, but the way in which they have solved this is partially the reason why many sans-serif fonts suck from this point of view. Serifs have appeared as a feature of the Latin letters of the inscriptions in stone of the Roman Empire, which are the model for the present capital letters. On the other hand, the model for the present small letters are the letters of the manuscripts of the Carolingian Empire, written with…

It’s comments like these that make me love HN. Thank you.

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

#52

Post by amoshebb »

samoyy wrote: post #44
apt-apt-apt-apt wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It’s just not a common enough feature of handwriting, I assume.

Yes, but even with my worst handwriting, in situations where I and l matters, I can always choose to do an especially I I or particularly l l even if most are indistinguishable which a font can not do

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

#53

Post by pdimitar »

amelius wrote: post #41
torbengee wrote: post #28

I've tried so many fonts in my coding life, but I think I've finally found my forever font: JetBrains Mono. Crisp, all characters distinguishable, slightly larger lowercase for better reading ... I recently compared it once more to others – https://www.programmingfonts.org/ makes it easy to narrow down to your favourites one by one ... JetBrains Mono still wins. :)

My favorite coding font: Iosevka Term. https://github.com/be5invis/Iosevka It takes a day or so to get used to the condensed form factor, but after that you can enjoy much more horizontal space in your terminal windows. There is one downside: all the other fonts will look bulky :)

I like that family of fonts but ultimately couldn't live with how tall they are. I want to have 50-60 lines of code on my screen. With it I had 35-40.

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

#54

Post by YesBox »

torbengee wrote: post #28

I've tried so many fonts in my coding life, but I think I've finally found my forever font: JetBrains Mono. Crisp, all characters distinguishable, slightly larger lowercase for better reading ... I recently compared it once more to others – https://www.programmingfonts.org/ makes it easy to narrow down to your favourites one by one ... JetBrains Mono still wins. :)

heh, Im using this font in my game. Picking fonts is hard, and I feel like I've just dipped my toe in the water so far. Im not 100% satisfied with the non-monospace font I use (Adobe Source Sans), but I have more important things to focus on right now

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

#55

Post by eahm »

Svoka wrote: post #13

I am a simple person. Not a designer. But for all fonts I type 'iIlL0Oo' and if I can't tell what is what I skip it. This font fails hard.

1 too: https://fonts.google.com/?preview.text=i1IlL0Oo

IMO Ubuntu Mono and Ubuntu Sans Mono are two of the best fonts ever made, comparable to Consolas, which I think it's still the best monospace font... talking about monospace fonts.

Funny enough I think Reddit Mono is a very good monospace font too https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Reddit+Mono?preview.text=i...

And Hack: https://dafont.com/hack.font?text=i1IlL0Oo

For monospace fonts only:

https://fonts.google.com/?preview.text=i1IlL0Oo&categoryFilt...

https://dafont.com/theme.php?cat=503&text=i1IlL0Oo

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

#56

Post by Marazan »

lucb1e wrote: 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…

monofur - my monospaced programming font of choice for decades now has an almost psychotic dedication to glyph disambiguation, every character is exceedingly distinct.

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

#58

Post by tolerance »

I understand that there are many good reasons not to want to use fonts where the lowercase L and uppercase I are indistinguishable.

But am I the only one who actually prefers both to be relatively identical? Or at least the lowercase L must not have any quiggles or crooks? I like em both north-south. 12:30.

I think typically the I will be a little thicker than the i for regular (text? roman?) weights and below.

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

#59

Post by chiefalchemist »

lucb1e wrote: 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…

Lately I’ve become a fan of:

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Atkinson+Hyperlegible

Mainly for its attention to detail. It’s careful to make it obvious when it matters. For example, O and 0, lower case L and 1, and others.

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

#60

Post by chiefalchemist »

jorvi wrote: post #32
lucb1e wrote: 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.

I believe this font does

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Atkinson+Hyperlegible

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