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Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

reuters.com

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Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#411

Post by hamandcheese »

bulbar wrote: post #382
zzo38computer wrote: post #55

Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…

Nothing is more inefficient than the secretary of state thinking about and conducting meetings about the font used in documents. It just doesn't matter in the sense that it "doesn't move the needle". I expect the leaders of a government deciding on matters that have a real impact on people's live, not on stuff that from a practical point of view is totally irrelevant.

> not on stuff that from a practical point of view is totally irrelevant.

The modern era we live in has far, far too much of this attitude. It's the same force eroding craftsmanship, attention to detail, and human dignity.

I find it quite reasonable for someone to care about the presentation of official government communications.

And just so we are clear, I also think Rubio is a horrible person.

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#412

Post by echelon »

moomoo11 wrote: post #333
zzo38computer wrote: post #55

Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…

No. I don’t want the gov wasting money making a fucking font. There’s a few dozen off the shelf fonts that would work for 99.99% of people. For those who it doesn’t work, deal with it. It’s a font. Or fallback to system font.

You know the fonts on our roads are standardized? And a lot of other official documents?

Designing a font that will be public domain forever costs next to nothing. It's a one-time cost that pays dividends into the future and that will probably outlive us.

The government would create something standard and accessible, and anyone could use it. No encumbered licensing.

I think companies refreshing design systems is a waste of money, but the government doing it is actually incredibly prudent.

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#413

Post by dragonwriter »

gerdesj wrote: post #250
zzo38computer wrote: post #55

Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…

A font was the en_US version of fount. A fount was a particular example of a typeface. A typeface is something like TNR or Calibri. They all seem to have been munged into a single set of synonyms except for fount which has been dropped (so why do we still have colour and all that stuff)? A print, then typewriter, then computer typeface emulates a written script but also takes on a life of its own. Handwriting in engl…

> English prides itself on not having diacritics, or accents or whatever that thing where you merge a A and E is called, unless they are borrowed

Its called the letter “ash” and its borrowed from... (Old) English. Though its functionally reverted to being a ligature, which is what is was before it was a letter.

(Also, English has &, which was a letter even more recently—its current name being taken from the way it was recited as part of the alphabet [“and, per se, and”], including the effect of slurring with speed—and which also originated as a ligature.)

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#414

Post by vintermann »

codechicago277 wrote: post #387
Fnoord wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For aesthetic or other preferences you change the default font to whatever you please. The default font shouldn't be about aesthetics, it should be first and foremost about usability. Especially on printed media since there it cannot be changed in a whim. A couple of years ago I went into archives of Dutch newspapers to learn whether and how the famine of hunger in Ukraine (known as Holodomor) was reported back in 19…

Off topic but did you find anything interesting? I spent a few days researching Holodomor and was surprised how poorly understood it still is even today, and badly reported at the time. Good propaganda case study. There’s a dramatic film about the reporting too, Mr. Jones (2019).

I haven't researched it explicitly, but I do come across "what happens in the wider world" notices in small historical newspapers and sometimes I search to see what it was about. Saw a mention about some general winning an important victory, searched his name, found out he was one of the whites, and the first thing claimed about him was that he only came in "once the war was already lost".

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#415

Post by moomoo11 »

echelon wrote: post #412
moomoo11 wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I don’t want the gov wasting money making a fucking font. There’s a few dozen off the shelf fonts that would work for 99.99% of people. For those who it doesn’t work, deal with it. It’s a font. Or fallback to system font.

You know the fonts on our roads are standardized? And a lot of other official documents? Designing a font that will be public domain forever costs next to nothing. It's a one-time cost that pays dividends into the future and that will probably outlive us. The government would create something standard and accessible, and anyone could use it. No encumbered licensing. I think companies refreshing design systems is a wa…

I don't think you understand how gov spends money lol.

What you think is "next to nothing" will 99% turn into $300 million dollars and 10 years later about $4 billion will have been spent.

And 100% there are people waiting to milk the gov doing this. Maybe you are one of them? In that case...

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#416

Post by rjzzleep »

vintermann wrote: post #384
pinkmuffinere wrote: post #92

When I read the headline i thought “well obviously they don’t mean Marco Rubio, there must be some famous publicist or something”. Cannot believe it actually was Marco Rubio, lol

Spending time on something like this suggests he doesn't actually have much to do besides throwing his power around.

People will often use their power to do seemingly meaningless things, when they don't know how to solve the actual problems on their plate.

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#418

Post by wavemode »

pinkmuffinere wrote: post #92

When I read the headline i thought “well obviously they don’t mean Marco Rubio, there must be some famous publicist or something”. Cannot believe it actually was Marco Rubio, lol

The entire thing literally reads like an Onion piece. If I'd read this exact article in The Onion I would've considered it brilliant comedy.

Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

#419

Post by chinathrow »

> U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.

What a waste of government time and spending.

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