Kermit: A typeface for kids • Hacker News Board

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#71

Post by parsimo2010 » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 3:57 PM UTC

cosmotic wrote: post #62

When new fonts are released, they always include what they tried to improve: readability, comprehension, etc. Just once I'd like to know what they sacrificed.

In this case they sacrificed a feeling of professionalism. Helvetica is "serious" and used by real publications. Kermit would probably not be used by a major publication (like NYT or WaPo) because people wouldn't take them seriously even if it's easier to read.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#72

Post by internetter » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

hersko wrote: post #12

I get: "Site is unreachable"

Its very slow to load for me. Baffling that Microsoft may very well be hugged to death by HN

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#73

Post by codexb » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

cosmotic wrote: post #62

When new fonts are released, they always include what they tried to improve: readability, comprehension, etc. Just once I'd like to know what they sacrificed.

Variable font width, height, and kerning is more difficult and slower to read. It's fine if you're reading a short childrens book at out loud, but if you're reading an entire novel silently formatted like that, it would become exhausting quickly.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#74

Post by eviks » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:06 PM UTC

nice extra features, though the speech' subtitles has all the words jumping up and down - wouldn't that make it harder to read?

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#75

Post by rco8786 » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:12 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#76

Post by anonymousiam » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:16 PM UTC

Name already taken: https://www.columbia.edu/kermit

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#77

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

> While we haven’t implemented automatic prosody yet

That is a really interesting use for LLMs I would never have even considered. The example video with JFK's speech is pretty compelling.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#78

Post by o_m » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:20 PM UTC

iNic wrote: post #6

Is there any evidence that any font has a positive impact on reading (beyond obviously bad fonts being slow)? I'm very suspicious of this whole idea.

I remember reading somewhere that reading a text with an unfamiliar font face you spend more time reading it, so you're using more cognitive load and are more likely to understand the text. Which might suggest it is just the novelty impacting the reading and not the font face itself.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#79

Post by spoonjim » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:22 PM UTC

Cool font bro, but what's the license? I can "use" it in Microsoft Office? That raises more questions than it answers.

This is why I only use Google fonts. They're all permissively licensed so I don't have to worry about anything.

Re: Kermit: A typeface for kids

#80

Post by dole » Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:24 PM UTC

trustinmenowpls wrote: post #11

Yikes, I gave up reading this after about 20 seconds, idk what it was but this font is unreadable.

I feel like the lowercase lacks risers, it's kerned too tightly to be legible quickly. It's ornamental but I don't feel easier, it's more difficult to read if anything.