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
1answer
23 views
Delete a horizontal bar in an 'A' character in Glyphs
I'm trying to delete that horizontal bar using Glyphs. I can delete the four points that create it, but have no way of joining the inner points back up again.
I've been trawling through the meager ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the best font for use in legal contracts?
What are the best font for legal contracts, and why?
3
votes
0answers
45 views
High-Resolution Operina Scans
I'm not sure if this is the right forum but there doesn't seem to be a dedicated typography forum.
I'm looking for high-resolution scans from pages of Arrighi's La Operina, which is a classic manual ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
What's the hardest part about typography in digital design for you? [closed]
I'm conducting a casual survey about the designer's struggles with typography. This question is quite general, so it can apply to any type of typography you do, whether it's choosing fonts for the web ...
7
votes
4answers
321 views
Alternative to Lorem Ipsum (dummy text) for websites
Lorem Ipsum has been the known default for dummy text. Per a search the last discussion in regards to alternatives is two years old. I thought I would post a new thread on this topic. So, what are ...
9
votes
2answers
124 views
How should ascenders and descenders that share the same space be handled?
This is the initial registration page for my client's communication app. ( I covered over the logo - note the white box - for his privacy)
I do not like that the "y" descends and the "h" ascends into ...
2
votes
2answers
52 views
How do I mix both uppercase and lowercase in Illustrator
I'm trying to mix both uppercase and lowercase of a font together for a logo, but increasing the lowercase font to match makes the font weight a bit bigger so it looks messed up. Is there a simple way ...
2
votes
5answers
528 views
Should I use Illustrator or Photoshop for Collateral Design?
I am creating a web advertising rate card. Basically a brochure. It will be a PDF file. Should I do brochure designs or collateral designs using Illustrator and then import the non vector images from ...
3
votes
2answers
178 views
What font is similar to Zapfino One but a bit more legible?
I am looking for a font for my wedding invitation. I like Zapfino One but I think it is not readable enough for an invitation. Especially the letter "f" is very large. Is there any professional ...
2
votes
3answers
127 views
What are the good and free alternative to Helvetica when use as web font? [duplicate]
Sans-serif typeface is usually in web, so what are the free/open/cross-platform choices that can replace Helvetica?
By replacing Helvetica I mean are there any font which is better than Helvetica for ...
1
vote
2answers
71 views
What does “Ratio Of Headline to Body Font Size” mean
in a smashing magazine article, I read "According to our study, on average, the ratio between the headline and the body copy is around 2.5" - and this is the formula HEADLINE ÷ BODY COPY = 2.5
Does ...
4
votes
1answer
78 views
Fonts not combining correctly into a family (PC)
I'm using FontCreator 6.5 professional. I have two fonts in the same family, and in "naming" I've given them the same Font Family Name, and in Subfamily one is called Regular and the other is called ...
12
votes
2answers
478 views
Is ampersand allowed at the beginning of line?
In my recent project, playing with responsive web design, I've noticed that ampersand in my text landed at the beginning of a line with certain page widths. I personally find it a bit ugly...
I can ...
3
votes
1answer
40 views
What size, spacing and baseline shift for tm and numerals in superscript?
Is there a set formula / ratio for creating a trademark symbol (TM) or adjusting numerals such as 2nd or 3rd to create the proper visual effect on the superscript? Currently I always just eyeball it ...
13
votes
3answers
364 views
Does hyphenation increase legibility?
All I could find on the subject was this paper, which is pretty interesting in itself. But it only deals with preference. 57% of the test subject prefers hyphenated text.
This is kind of surprising ...
5
votes
1answer
156 views
What are some obscure/rare/endangered/extinct typographic symbols?
Just discovered the "asterism" today:
⁂
Super cool. I had never heard of it or seen it before. Wikipedia has more about it.
What other typographic symbols are out there that were never all that ...
4
votes
1answer
73 views
How can I extend an existing font to include punctuation and numbers?
I'm in the process of developing a site for a client, and she really likes the font Sell Your Soul for the main headings. Only problem is that it's incomplete - it doesn't contain numbers or any ...
5
votes
2answers
45 views
Is there a term for 'reference-marker symbols'?
While this is loosely graphic-design related, when doing design for some kind of annotations, one have to work with symbols used as 'reference markers', such as 1 in foo 1. When you need to discuss ...
1
vote
3answers
176 views
7
votes
1answer
56 views
Does ideal measure change with language?
The ideal measure for single column of text is most widely accepted as around 65 characters, but does this depend on the language of the text? Some languages like French have much longer words than ...
12
votes
2answers
148 views
What is the effect of ligatures in web, regarding SEO
All designers love ligatures but vanilla web typography just sucks. I heard of smartypants that solves many of thoses issues, bringing sexy quotes, gorgeous ampersands and all. It's just perfect, ...
0
votes
1answer
98 views
How to: Line 3D effect?
How would one go about creating a lined 3D effect as shown in the image below?
1
vote
2answers
221 views
Advice about fallback font stacks for Proxima Nova and Adobe Garamond Pro
Can anyone suggest a good stack of fallback fonts for Adobe Garamond Pro (serif) and Proxima Nova (sans-serif)?
The obvious choices are of course:
"Garamond Pro","Hoefler Text","Times New ...
4
votes
3answers
103 views
How to calculate the best type colour for a random background colour?
I might need to present content at multiple levels depending on the distance of the observer to a display. Let's say from far away the user perceives a flat colour, but from a close distance the user ...
-1
votes
1answer
71 views
Instructions to give a print designer looking to use non-system fonts for websites
So we often run into print designers who choose all these crazy fonts that don't look good for the web.
As a backend web programmer, what do I tell print designers to help them select non-system ...
1
vote
1answer
150 views
Can anyone suggest a free equivalent of the Hoefler Text font?
Can anyone suggest a free equivalent of the Hoefler Text font
On Identifont
7
votes
3answers
141 views
How to find open source alternatives to commercial fonts?
What is the best way to find an open source alternative to a commercial font? I was thinking as some service as alternativeto.net or a whatthefont.com that would spit out fonts that are similar to the ...
7
votes
3answers
157 views
How can I represent a country with a font?
I am working on a multilingual book about some European Union countries. The selected are: Poland, Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania, Czech Republic, Austria, Turkey anb Estonia.
I wish to write a ...
4
votes
2answers
141 views
When did books start using underlines?
Various sources (such as Wikipedia) say that underlining words is a practice originally from handwritten documents, intended to show the printer that the words needed to be emphasized (with italics or ...
0
votes
1answer
24 views
Can't find font for the newspaper “Le Temps”
I need to identify the logo font for "Le Temps", a swiss newspaper. It is similar to a times-like font, but not exactly sure. Whatthefont doesn't help me...gives me over 60 matches.
10
votes
3answers
1k views
Why do newspapers use multiple columns?
This might not be the right place to ask, but I was wondering why newspapers use multiple columns? Does it take up less space, or is there a visual reason?
10
votes
5answers
731 views
What characters are good to start with when designing a typeface?
Given many characters in a typeface build on others and even just a couple of characters can reveal a lot of the features of a given typeface, what characters are good to start with when designing a ...
30
votes
6answers
1k views
What are best practices for choosing and pairing fonts?
I've always found font selection to be a little bit of a mystery. What factors should be considered when choosing a font? How does one successfully incorporate two fonts into a design?
I realize that ...
8
votes
2answers
286 views
Ascender and descender heights: all equal?
Are all ascender and descender heights typically equal in well-designed typefaces? Does using identical ascenders and descenders increase readability, or is it not an issue at all?
0
votes
1answer
66 views
Identifying a couple more fonts
These two fonts are a pain to identify because of the formatting (one is partially masked) and the other is on a background that makes it hard to identify. There are two different images for the 2nd ...
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Identifying several fonts
I am trying to identify several fonts but hitting a brick wall.
Can anyone help me identify these fonts please?
2
votes
1answer
85 views
How to change the line height of a font
I want to change the "line height" of a font, that is the space between lines when the font is typed. I'd like to increase the space. (I need to use several fonts font in a text app with a fixed (non ...
5
votes
1answer
105 views
How typographers make bolder/lighter versions of their fonts?
I suppose in older times typographers had to redraw the entire character set, but I'd guess there's some good heuristics to make a character bolder/lighter in software and then make some manual ...
2
votes
2answers
102 views
What font does Apple use for printed document?
Serif font such as Times New Roman is usually used in printing document in Windows.
What is the equivalent font in Apple?
4
votes
1answer
21 views
What the name of the part of the character that holds the counters and the eyes in a stencil typeface?
Is the a name to the shape that connects the outside of a stencil letter to its interior enabling the letter to be cut through and retain its counters.
9
votes
1answer
106 views
Justification and hyphenation without proper time and tools?
In my computer science studies we are being forced to write a report every now and then. I have a background in web development and have worked closely with both print and web designers for many years ...
2
votes
1answer
78 views
What typeface is used on the AMOK album cover?
Just out of curiosity. I know it's designed by Stanley Donwood. It looks like Futura with the M reaching slightly below the baseline.
5
votes
4answers
157 views
Is it good practice to add additional space before a punctuation mark after emphazised text?
Is there a typographic convention or practice about placing punctuation marks after emphazised text?
I ran across this example on a website today that adds an additional space after emphazised text ...
4
votes
6answers
899 views
How to create SVG for good typography on the web without buying Illustrator?
I have a web font which I would like to display using SVG instead of in HTML. The reason for this is that I want to display large typographically beautiful text, and I don't see any way of getting the ...
4
votes
3answers
141 views
Unicode character that conveys 'synchronization'?
In current common usage, is there a Unicode character consisting of two arrows in a circle, or similar character that could convey 'synchronization'?
For instance something like:
I browsed the ...
1
vote
1answer
167 views
Best practices for combining header/body typeface WITH a brand/corporate ID existing typeface?
I have recently become aware of a fundamental mistake I had been making; I have been matching a company's identity's typeface and using it for the headers of my websites, which in hindsight really ...
16
votes
6answers
15k views
What font types are good for a technical document?
What are some good fonts to use for a highly technical document? Is there any specific type that should be used/avoided?
7
votes
3answers
435 views
Readability and appeal of justified text
If I write a document that I have to hand in to somebody (a report, summary, draft, whatever) I usually justify the text because it seems more appealing (at least to me) if it all finishes at the same ...
3
votes
3answers
100 views
Is a 10 point font big enough to use for small descriptions in a cv?
I am creating my CV on an A4 and I am wondering whether a 10 point font size is big enough. here is screenshot and I am talking about the content next to the crosses: http://d.pr/i/LDKK.
in fact do ...
4
votes
2answers
36 views
Hyphenation of compound words
When a compound word is hyphenated, should a second hyphen he added at the beginning of the line? And what is the case for compound words connected by a dash instead of a hyphen?
Is one of the ...
