Questions about the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. Text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole.
1
vote
4answers
3k views
What's the best way to make a curly brace used for grouping items together?
Many documents (especially older ones) use what looks like a curly brace { to join multiple elements together. Here's an example of this to illustrate programming code, and here's a thread about ...
4
votes
1answer
167 views
Hyphenation on many line breaks
Sometimes, word processors screw up hyphenation by hyphenating a series of consecutive lines. This just happened to me in a spectacular way:
What's most annoying in the above case is ...
5
votes
2answers
112 views
Is this an effect or a type of font?
I have seen a lot this type of fonts (the ones in the bar). It is a relief effect or the font is just like that?
0
votes
4answers
116 views
Cognitive Science-Related Font?
Looking for fonts that have anything to do with cognitive science. E.g., a type that somehow evokes either brains, thoughts, science, biology, psychology, connectionist networks, mind, etc. Anyone ...
7
votes
2answers
425 views
How does random choice of alternate characters work in OpenType fonts?
I have a question similar to “Writing text with character variations”: I would like to create a casual hand-written-style font, that reproduces the natural variety between occurrences of the same ...
6
votes
4answers
182 views
Does the difference between a 'font' and a 'typeface' subside?
Originally, the typeface is a particular design of type, while a font is a type in a particular size and weight. In short, a typeface usually gathers many fonts.
Nowadays, with digit design of ...
0
votes
1answer
243 views
Text hyphenation in iOS apps
I'm not sure if there are any typography gurus here that might be able to answer this question, but I don't know where else to look. I'm looking to add text hyphenation into one of my projects, and ...
4
votes
1answer
66 views
How can I create a font from my handwriting?
A quick Google search turns up many websites that claim to make a customized script font from a sample of your handwriting. How do they compare, and would you recommend any such service? Are there ...
1
vote
2answers
171 views
Object > Expand on font seems to change the weight of the font
I am creating a logo for a client, I have two simple lines of text in Ai.
I have duplicated the logo and moved the copy below the original so I can compare the 2.
It seems that when I do Object > ...
9
votes
4answers
179 views
How do I deal with line spacing when a single descender is getting in the way?
I'm making a sign for my kids' school, and am having trouble with one detail. The primary text is "Walking School Bus Stop". This, the school name, and a whimsical graphic all go into a 3:4 aspect ...
9
votes
3answers
261 views
Should underline clash with text descenders?
CSS3’s text-decoration module includes a text-underline-position property, which specifies whether the underline should be positioned below the whole text:
or just below baseline, letting ...
2
votes
2answers
161 views
How good is the fonts.com webfont solution compared to the current @font-face standard?
I guess the title says it all. I've been successfully working with @font-face (with near-perfect cross-browser support, if you use all the hacks).
However, a client really wants to use Helvetica, and ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
How to control word-spacing in justified text with CSS?
I have 2 blocks of text that are pretty small (just under a paragraph each) and they really look better justified but the problem is that text-align: justify; sometimes adds really large spaces and ...
5
votes
4answers
220 views
What are beginner’s books on typography?
Hum, for some reason I would like to buy myself a book about typography. I have a lot of interest in this field, and already have some knowledge learnt from reading Typophile now and then, among other ...
7
votes
1answer
82 views
How wide should the word space after nobiliary particles be? (von, de la, …)
Is it preferable to write a thin space after nobiliary particles (von, de la, …)?
Does for example Miguel de\,Cervantes y\,Saavedra look better than the standard width spaced equivalent?
8
votes
3answers
132 views
The role of the designer in content – should he have one and how big should it be?
I'm a designer, not a marketer, and not a writer (at least not professionally). A lot of the work I do involves working with material in a field that can be above my head. Because of that, I'm content ...
4
votes
1answer
296 views
What is a flow line in typography?
I am reading a short text on typography, which refers to the “flow line” without defining what it is. My dictionary has a non-typographic definition:
flow line
a route followed by a product ...
4
votes
1answer
79 views
Are there typographic methods of rendering a document traceable?
I seem to recall an anecdote on how one branch of the British government had designed a way to circulate seemingly identical for-your-eyes-only documents to a small circle of high-level collaborators, ...
4
votes
2answers
206 views
When should text figures/lining figures be used?
Many standard computer fonts don’t have text (aka “old-style”, "hanging") figures, like these:
Also, basic software like Microsoft Office don’t use them by default, even when selecting a font that ...
12
votes
4answers
561 views
Baseline Grid vs. Readability
Any designer worth their salt will talk about the importance of the grid, and rightfully so. However, as I've continued to practice my trade, I've found that the baseline grid in particular doesn't ...
0
votes
2answers
250 views
Font Identification
I recently discovered this font in the July/August edition of Little White Lies Magazine.
Here's an example of the font:
Is anyone familiar with this font? I have used WhatTheFont to try and find ...
0
votes
2answers
3k views
How to add drop caps in photoshop?
It's an option in InDesign, CSS, and MS Word. I'm not finding it in Photoshop CS5.
0
votes
2answers
1k views
What fonts are similar to Candara, but available on Google Docs?
I've got several documents using Candara that I'd like to shift from Microsoft Word to Google Docs for collaboration; which font is going to be the closest match when using Google?
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Examples of good academic poster design
Do you have any good examples of academic poster design? Most posters look exactly the same (I don't want to pick on anyone in particular), and from my experience at conferences, almost nobody reads ...
1
vote
1answer
158 views
Can FontLab edit and output a webfont without losing data?
A font vendor who shall remain nameless sold me a webfont under the premise that all modern browsers would support switching the old style figures to lining figures without any trouble. Well, by "all ...
0
votes
2answers
137 views
Hollow fonts on android
I use the typeface "Lobster_1.0_.otf" in my Android application, but the problem is, that some of the letters appear "hollow", with a black&white outline. You can see the problem on the following ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Popular serif and sans-serif browser compatible font combinations?
I was curious as to which combinations of serif and sans-serif fonts are preferable to use that are compatible with most browsers.
While I am aware that with the introduction of CSS3 importing ...
1
vote
3answers
4k views
Typography combination for Georgia
I want to use Serif font Georgia. Which Sans Serif fonts go well with Georgia. I am using Impact for my Logo.
Can some one help in identifying a good Sans Serif font that can go well with Headers ...
4
votes
1answer
135 views
Can I use fleurons/hedera as bullets in a list?
I can't find much about using fleurons/hedera as bullets in a list online or in Bringhurst, but I did find several "floral heart bullets" in Unicode. Are these still only for decorative use? Would ...
5
votes
2answers
103 views
What typefaces would go well with Metalista?
Metalista is a modern blackletter font (afaik :)) designed by Suitcase Type Foundry as a tribute to "the persistency of the metal culture."
What other typefaces (used as subtitles) would mix best ...
4
votes
2answers
98 views
Making ogoneks with GREP style
I followed this solution to make Polish ogoneks in InDesign through GREP style BUT every time I use it, the negative tracking is also be applied to the space or next character which immediately ...
3
votes
1answer
497 views
What are great fonts for information-heavy data tables?
I'm designing a web application which has lots of data tables with business information both as numbers (sales, hours etc) and text (product names, region names etc).
What fonts are great for dense ...
2
votes
4answers
3k views
Creating a custom grid for a logo in Illustrator
I always wondered how to create a those custom grids like you can see on David Pache's works (http://dribbble.com/helveticbrands) and Igor Duibanov.
I found out how to create a tangent to a circle ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
Optimum line height in relation to font size
Is there an agreement on the optimum mathematical proportion of line height and the size of a text? And if there is, is it the same for print and web?
7
votes
3answers
214 views
The selection and use of typefaces for the non-designer
I am looking for a short, concise resource that will help me better choose and use typefaces.
I think the ideal resource would have a thoughtfully chosen list of about a dozen of the most important ...
3
votes
3answers
474 views
What's wrong with Droid fonts?
I have seen on various places that people consider Droid font family with contempt. In latest Android it has been replaced with another family called Roboto.
I'm interested in why is that, from ...
2
votes
3answers
256 views
Font choices for logotypes, body text and headlines
Should designers base their font choices for body text and headlines on the typeface used in the logotype (if used) to achieve brand consistency?
1
vote
2answers
313 views
CSS LetterPress Effect
I can't seem to get the color values/names correct so that I can get a Letter Press Effect on the text
To create the appearance of text that has been stamped, choose a text colour that is darker ...
4
votes
2answers
162 views
How far back does the concept of a “bold” typeface variant go
What I'd like to know is where in history the idea of having a bold variant of a typeface came about.
I suspect that back in Garamond/Caslon's time there would not have been any bold version of their ...
2
votes
1answer
133 views
Can you identify this font in an image?
Ignore the thing on top of the 'A' in 'DNA', I put that there. I used What The Font and it gave me close matches, but none that carried that stylistic 'S' and the slightly rounded corners. I love ...
1
vote
4answers
303 views
How to make typography hi-res for web?
Suppose I'm going to make a typography poster (or whatever) that's going to be posted for advertisement in, let's say, Facebook, how high should the resolution be? Any specific numbers I should have ...
3
votes
1answer
110 views
Should a period be included in a drop cap letter that represents an abbreviation?
I have a paragraph that is drop capped and begins with the word 'U.K.' Currently, the CSS (cascading style sheet) standard for Web browsers is to include the period following the 'U' in the drop cap, ...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
What does “PDF-compatible glyph names” mean?
In Fontographer 5, when I want to generate font files, it asks me do I want to "Keep glyph names as they are" or make glyph names "PDF-compatible".
What does the "PDF-compatible glyph name" mean ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
what is the largest glyph width in Arial?
Im designing a DIV container that will contain some rows of text.
Every row can contain 0 to 35 chars.
I need to specify a fixed width for the div, but I cannot predict how "wide" the string can be.
...
0
votes
1answer
299 views
What is the widest character in the “Helvetica Neue” font? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
what is the largest glyph width in Arial?
Doing some web design and I need to give a div a specific size. However, I do know how many characters are in the text box, so ...
0
votes
2answers
97 views
Should I be concerned about optimal font size for a particular font
I am aware that certain fonts, are designed for use at certain sizes,
at least in the physical print world.
They make uses of things like Ink Traps to prevent running.
With type for the digital ...
5
votes
7answers
580 views
Building hand-written fonts for lettering
I am looking to build a custom font from my handwriting for lettering a comic.
what professional tools exist to build such a font and export it into one of the mainstream formats (TTF, OpenType, or ...
0
votes
2answers
143 views
“Cutout” effect in Fontographer 5
When I paste a thinner version of a letter on a bolder one, I get this cutout effect inside it, somewhat similar to this:
(please note that this is not my image, not my font and that I do not claim ...
1
vote
2answers
235 views
How can I outline (LaTeX) text in Inkscape?
This is a difficult question to google, as the term "outline" does not mean the same in Inkscape as it does in, e.g., Powerpoint.
However, Powerpoint does not support Latex.
How can I outline a ...
6
votes
1answer
320 views
How to construct “lowercase digits” (i.e. text figures)?
Is there an accepted way to adjust font glyphs in order to simulate text figures?
Background
Text figures are "lowercase" digits. You normally use lowercase digits where you also use lowercase ...
