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Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

arun.is

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Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#71

Post by rleigh »

ardy42 wrote: post #58
ramraj07 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you still use a 1024 x 768 monitor or what?

> Do you still use a 1024 x 768 monitor or what? No, I have some nice, large 16:10 monitors. However, that brings up a good point: if you're designing your stuff to only look good on a MacBook's retina display, you're doing it wrong.

You need to cater for both nowadays, I think.

I recently upgraded from a 26" 16:10 1920×1200 display to a similarly-sized 16:9 4K display. I ran them side-by-side for a few days to compare. The difference in text quality was night and day. After using the 4K for a week the quality of the old display looked terrible: blurry and unreadable. Like going back to 800×600! I sold it; I saw no value in it as a secondary display. If I do ever need a second, it will be another 4K. Or 8K when it's available and affordable. If you're developing, writing or reading all day long, the improved legibility makes such a difference for ease of reading, eyestrain and headaches that it makes little sense to retain the old.

We clearly need to support low DPI displays for some time to come; the installed base is huge. However, high DPI displays are the future, and it's going to be increasingly a requirement that they are also properly catered for.

I'm not a particularly big fan of the trend by Microsoft (for example) to use very thin fonts with Windows 10. Just because you can to show off the technology, doesn't mean you should. I'd prefer bolder, more easily legible text even with a hi-DPI display, even if the thin ones are fashionable for some reason.

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#72

Post by mattferderer »

michaelt wrote: post #40
Rotten194 wrote: post #2

I don't think most tech companies actually want a completely custom, radically new typeface. They want a designer to trace Helvetica so they don't have to pay licensing fees.

The article contains an image [1] showing several tech-company-funded fonts side-by-side. The fonts have some differences, but I'd have to agree with you the changes are so subtle it's hard to believe they resulted from an attempt to make a _radically_ new typeface. [1] https://www.arun.is/blog/custom-typefaces/unique_typefaces_m...

I'm curious if there are any lawsuits based on basically tracing & duplicating fonts? Does adding the slightest accent to the letter "a" allow you to trace the other 99%.

Also many of these look like they just adjusted the weight ever so slightly. With variable fonts, I'm curious how this come into play when considering copyrights.

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#73

Post by [deleted] »

ardy42 wrote: post #65
asaph wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I disable font smoothing on my machines. Why?

Because if you're not using a retina-type display, it can make text look blurry and out of focus. I'm nearsighted but take my glasses off at computers, and the blurriness is an unconscious cue to move my head closer to bring things into focus, which is futile with fonts that are born blurry. I also personally like the look of well-hinted screen fonts.

[deleted]

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#74

Post by dcow »

falcolas wrote: post #68
crispyambulance wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think designers have the very challenging job of "threading the needle" between business considerations and aesthetics. Both can be critical depending on the mission. Unfortunately, "subjective" is often used as a dirty word especially around here where some folks even claim to prefer html stripped of all styling. As you pointed out, there is a lot of thought and sweat that goes into the creation of a typeface. The…

> The artistic aspects deserve respect and attention not just from the practitioners but also from their users. As a developer and sysadmin: Let me know how that works for you. End users will rarely if ever recognize your contributions; will only really notice your contribution when it doesn't work. Sorry.

I don’t think your comment is fair mostly because the sysadmin-developer rarely gets to inject aesthetics into their work. When they do, it’s not targeted at end users it’s targeted at other developers.

However let me offer a counter anecdote: I love the BSD man pages. Do I think BSD is objectively better than other systems? That’s debatable. But I sure do appreciate the meticulous care with which the BSD manual is maintained. I don’t remember names off the top of my head but I always read the authors section of a BSD man page.

If you’re really seeking end user appreciation I’d suggest you try your hand in a relatively more creative context, like writing a user interface. The amount that people care matters enough that a program with fewer features, or that is less stable, or inferior on an “objective” technical level, but with a snazzier, more refined, UI will often be preferred to a technically superior one by users.

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#75

Post by niklasrde »

johneth wrote: post #10
baxtr wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't the fonts Google provides free of charge? At least for web-design?

They use it in multiple languages (World Service), mediums (TV, online, print), and use-cases (serious for news, legible for preschoolers learning to read, edgy for comedy trailers, etc.), for which the web fonts may be too limited or restrictive in number and variation of styles or characters. It's also an opportunity to brand something as uniquely theirs, unlike a Google web font that anybody can use.

Just to note, that print here refers mostly to advertising and corporate brochures.

We do have magazines and merchandise for some franchises, but as far as I know, those were secondary when it came to BBC Reith/Reith Sans. TV & Online are big, and especially when it comes to legibility across resolutions and encoding systems (PAL/NTSC/SD/Pixel Ratios/HD/4K/Mobile/High-DPI..)

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#77

Post by ry4nolson »

johneth wrote: post #6

It's not just tech companies. The BBC has commissioned a typeface[1] for their massively varied output, to cut down on licensing costs. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/gel/articles/introducing-bbc-reith

Even CapitalOne bank has their own font: http://mtaylordesign.com/optimist/

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#79

Post by mbesto »

charliecurran wrote: post #15

This is one of those times where as a working creative that frequently reads Hacker News I straight up face palm. I have to imagine a lot of these commenters would say the same in regards to any sort of subjective artistic choice that isn't purely optimized for efficiency. I would like to leave you with a quote by Briano Eno from a really good lecture he gave several years ago that I hope can provide a jumping off po…

> I hope can provide a jumping off point for alternate ways to think about style, and why I think y'all are asking the wrong questions.

Except that quote has nothing to do with business decision making around aesthetics. It's about arts & entertainment and an existential pondering about human thirst for creativity. For profit software (which is the topic we're talking about here) is about providing a solution to a real world problem.

That being said there is some research around aesthetics from a usability perspective: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/aesthetic-usability-effect/

    Summary: Users are more tolerant of minor usability issues when they find an interface visually appealing. This aesthetic-usability effect can mask UI problems and can prevent issue discovery during usability testing. Identify instances of the aesthetic-usability effect in your user research by watching what your users do, as well as listening to what they say.

Re: Why are tech companies making custom typefaces?

#80

Post by dmerfield »

mattferderer wrote: post #72
michaelt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article contains an image [1] showing several tech-company-funded fonts side-by-side. The fonts have some differences, but I'd have to agree with you the changes are so subtle it's hard to believe they resulted from an attempt to make a _radically_ new typeface. [1] https://www.arun.is/blog/custom-typefaces/unique_typefaces_m...

I'm curious if there are any lawsuits based on basically tracing & duplicating fonts? Does adding the slightest accent to the letter "a" allow you to trace the other 99%. Also many of these look like they just adjusted the weight ever so slightly. With variable fonts, I'm curious how this come into play when considering copyrights.

Per Ch 37, Sec. 202.1(e) of the Code of Federal Regulations, typefaces cannot be copyrighted in the United States:

https://www.bitlaw.com/source/37cfr/202_1.html

Note that although the design of the typeface is not copyrightable, the computer programs which generate typefaces (‘fonts’) contain elements which are:

https://www.copyright.gov/history/mls/ML-443.pdf

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