[HN Gopher] Times New Roman alternatives: You can do better
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Times New Roman alternatives: You can do better
Author : benbreen
Score : 40 points
Date : 2020-06-01 17:55 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (practicaltypography.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (practicaltypography.com)
| mrob wrote:
| The best three fonts are: "sans-serif" (for general use),
| "monospace" (for code), and "serif" (for when you need a
| secondary font for contrast).
|
| The choice of implementation for these fonts should be left to
| the reader (who will probably use the defaults for their
| browser/ebook reader). This way everybody gets the fonts they're
| used to, which are the easiest fonts to read. I don't even know
| which exact font I'm looking at now, but I know that I don't
| allow web designers to change it.
| frank2 wrote:
| I would be interested in reading more about how you prevent web
| designers from changing the page's font. I used about:config on
| Firefox to stop fonts from downloading, but that made it hard
| for me to use github.com and one or 2 other sites because those
| sites use a font to render icons that are essential parts of
| the UI.
| mrob wrote:
| I remember some trouble with Github many years ago, but it
| uses inline SVGs for icons now.
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| Been an option in the preferences since the days of Netscape,
| perhaps Mosaic.
| pavlov wrote:
| IMO the default for body text should be serif, with sans used
| for headlines and display text.
|
| There's a reason books and magazines are set in serif fonts:
| they are easier to read for long text paragraphs.
|
| GUIs defaulted to sans serif fonts because displays didn't have
| enough resolution to properly render serifs, but that's mostly
| not the case anymore.
| quietbritishjim wrote:
| Most monitors are definitely still not high enough resolution
| to render serif fonts more clearly than sans serif ones. (By
| resolution, I mean the original meaning of pixel density per
| unit area, not the modern usage of total pixel count.)
|
| Mobile screens are obviously higher resolution so it's less
| clear cut, but sans serif are still a bit clearer in my view.
| I think the problem here is that the text is much smaller in
| physical size, so now the resolution of the human eye has
| come into play.
| hatmatrix wrote:
| It's also hard to distinguish among numbers in many sans
| serif fonts.
| mrob wrote:
| I don't think there's anything inherently more legible about
| either serif or sans-serif fonts. Whichever one you read the
| most will be most legible to you, which means the default
| shouldn't be changed even when it's no longer technically
| necessary.
| henriquez wrote:
| The DejaVu Serif fonts bundled with Ubuntu are a really nice
| alternative to Times New Roman (and much nicer licensing!)
|
| I have a hard time quantifying why, but they're much easier on
| the eyes.
|
| Not a shameless plug I swear but we converted DejaVu Serif to a
| web font and used it here, if you want to see it "in action:"
| https://www.obsessivefacts.com/memespeech
| dsr_ wrote:
| For long-form text, my eyes are now persuaded that only TeX Gyre
| Pagella and very close relatives -- Palatino, Palladio -- will
| do.
|
| Luckily I can usually arrange for that.
| jtth wrote:
| Fitzcarraldo makes Times New Roman sing. It's fine if you give
| attention to other aspects of typography.
|
| https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com
| mtm7 wrote:
| I love a good font (and try to use one on my own blog), but part
| of me gets really giddy when I discover a site with very little
| styling. It's like I've found some secret oasis that's going to
| have a high signal-to-noise ratio, or at least some more "raw"
| writing than you'd find on ${popularNewsWebsite}. Some sites that
| come to mind:
|
| - https://danluu.com/
|
| - https://100r.co/site/home.html
|
| - https://meagher.co/
|
| - https://macwright.org/
|
| Where Times really shines is printed material. I find it (and
| Garamond) extremely easy to read.
|
| For longform _screen_ reading, I usually prefer Georgia, Freight
| Text, Source Serif, and Tiempos. San Francisco is a nice sans-
| serif font for this, too.
| FelipeCortez wrote:
| I finished Practical Typography yesterday and highly recommend
| it! In fact, I recommend anything Matthew Butterick I've seen so
| far. Triplicate is a perfect programming font, Pollen, Beautiful
| Racket, Reversing the Tide of Declining Expectations [1], his
| newsletter...
|
| [1] https://unitscale.com/mb/reversing-the-tide/
| julianeon wrote:
| This was an interesting read, thanks.
|
| I can see Times New Roman being the choice of no choice - when
| you don't think about it, you get that.
|
| Reading this inspired me to think that I should search for an
| article like, "best fonts for people who don't know anything
| except Google Fonts" (I searched Google, wasn't very
| illuminating).
|
| I don't know much more than Comic Sans bad, Helvetica good, Times
| New Roman meh. But, I'm learning.
| Jonnax wrote:
| Honestly speaking for myself I think roboto and Calibri are
| excellent fonts.
|
| Readable and aesthetically pleasing, what's the general opinion
| on these default fonts in the typography world?
| joe5150 wrote:
| I don't care for Calibri and I wish Segoe were the default in
| Word.
| joegahona wrote:
| Do you know if this is available in Google Docs? This is the
| font Notion uses, and I really like it.
| pvorb wrote:
| Yes! Segoe UI looks brilliant. I'm not sure how it looks on
| paper, though.
| tln wrote:
| They are excellent fonts. Neither is default across platforms
| though, nor are they serif fonts...
|
| For a sans serif, default font, I like Palatino. Classic, nice
| open counters.
| throwaway287391 wrote:
| I don't mind Calibri, but I've always thought it was a
| surprising choice as a default since whenever MS Word switched
| to it. It just looks too "friendly" for "serious business" to
| me. I think if you interpolated between Helvetica and Comic
| Sans you'd get something like Calibri on the way. (PS I know
| nothing about typography.)
| Avshalom wrote:
| I'd bet that was partly on purpose to try and curb comic sans
| usage
| currysausage wrote:
| My opinion: Calibri is an excellent font, created by one of the
| leading contemporary typographers, but like every default font,
| it is a non-choice, too boring for professional applications
| where style is a concern, thanks to its ubiquity.
|
| Roboto is (or: has become, its beginnings were somewhat rough)
| a great screen font, but for printed applications, it tends to
| look a little dull. This has to do with ubiquity, but also with
| the simplicity that is inherent to most screen fonts.
| xupybd wrote:
| I really can't tell between a good font and a bad one. I have no
| idea how to develop a sense for good typography despite
| recognising it's importance.
| aasasd wrote:
| Has the default font on that site been changed? IIRC it was
| Valkyrie, but now Century Supra is selected for me, and it
| doesn't seem to elicit quite the same breath-taking effect. (Not
| talking about Times New Roman on the linked page.) If my memory
| and senses don't fault me in the tiredness and drunkenness, then
| switching to Valkyrie (at the bottom) is highly advised, as with
| it this site is the most beautiful on the whole web. Every single
| interval is perfect, which causes fits of irremediable envy for
| me.
|
| However, Firefox Preview on my phone doesn't seem to answer my
| efforts towards the aesthetic bliss and refuses to load the font.
| [deleted]
| stuartd wrote:
| I personally dislike all Serif fonts, but TNR most of all. Too
| much Windows, probably (I also loathe Arial)
| pvorb wrote:
| I think there's a chance that if a document is set in Times New
| Roman, the author focussed on the content rather than the
| presentation, which usually is a good thing.
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(page generated 2020-06-02 23:00 UTC)