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Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

symbolset.com

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Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#41

Post by mrspeaker »

imajes wrote: post #18

This appears to be the current list of keywords: info subtract delete heart alert checkmark replay cart dropdown navigateup navigatedown twitter globe view user creditcard desktop cell search link reply

Thanks! I was getting a strong "old school text adventure" vibe from this interesting UX choice!

  YOU CAN TYPE TO SEE THE SYMBOLS.
  > facebook
  IM SORRY, I DONT UNDERSTAND 'facebook'.
  > music
  IM SORRY, I DONT UNDERSTAND 'music'.
  > help
  IM SORRY, I DONT UNDERSTAND 'help'.
  > f*#(@&F!!!

Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#43

Post by PawelDecowski »

duopixel wrote: post #9

Perhaps it should also include a non-ligature way of displaying icons. In current accessibility practices, when you place a description after its image you are supposed to include an empty alt attribute. So say you have social icons... ◈ Facebook ◈ Twitter You are supposed to write Facebook Twitter As to cue screen readers to not read out loud filename or the alt attribute. In this case Symbolset works as the alt pro…

     Facebook
You’re not supposed to use the element for presentation (which icons are).

Instead, you should use CSS:

    Facebook

    .facebook {
        background-image: (...)
        padding-left: (...)
    }
element should be used for graphics that are part of the content: photos, illustrations, etc.

Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#44

Post by Kerrick »

biftek wrote: post #21
imajes wrote: post #18

This appears to be the current list of keywords: info subtract delete heart alert checkmark replay cart dropdown navigateup navigatedown twitter globe view user creditcard desktop cell search link reply

We're using a subset of the font that only includes the icons we're using on the site. The distributed font contains much more. :)

Do you have a preview of all 139 glyphs? I don't care if they're bitmapped and watermarked, I just want to see what's available before I pre-order.

Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#46

Post by kevingadd »

If the social set is going to include common social media icons and logos, does that mean it's going to be free? Charging money for a font that is made out of other people's trademarks doesn't seem like it would be legal unless you got their express permission.

Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#48

Post by jahewson »

chii wrote: post #38
dedward wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, but you cant give other people the ability to compose (use) these fonts...... they aren't yours to license. They are licensed to you for use in your own apps, to display them, but you don't have the right to pass that on to others - pretty straightforward. Bad legalese, that's all.

So in other words, a developer can display menu/text in their app in this font, but is not allowed to give the user a way to enter their own text and have this font rendered for them. Am i interpreting it correctly?

No, the font can be used in any way inside the app, such as rendering a text box where the user would enter their own text. What's not allowed is the redistribution of the font outside the app. e.g. If your app generated CSS for users to paste into their own sites, then including the font as a @fontface hosted on your server, or as a data-url would not be allowed.

Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#49

Post by worldimperator »

runn1ng wrote: post #40
worldimperator wrote: post #37

You might also want to check out FF Chartwell, a font that transforms numbers into charts: https://www.fontfont.com/how-to-use-ff-chartwell

Wow, this is so hacky and yet so cool :)

It's actually not such a big hack - it just uses technology that is meant to be used for writing systems that have to put together characters as pieces, because there are so many of them, like many asian languages require :-)

Re: Symbolset - symbol font using clever opentype ligature hack

#50

Post by jahewson »

kevingadd wrote: post #46

If the social set is going to include common social media icons and logos, does that mean it's going to be free? Charging money for a font that is made out of other people's trademarks doesn't seem like it would be legal unless you got their express permission.

This probably falls under "nominative fair use", where use of a trademark to simply refer to a product is allowed. Given that the icons are clearly intended to be used as social media buttons, the de facto manner of linking to a social media site, I don't see selling them being a problem. From a copyright perspective, one might also argue that their conversion into a font is "transformative", but that's a much more subjective issue.
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