Inquiry: Font/Typeface Aesthetics

[Tiassa]

What Do You See?

What do you see when you read this post? What font are you seeing?

• The actual font called "monospace"?

• Your system or browser assigned monospace font (e.g., "monospace", "courier new", &c.)?

• Latin Modern Monospace 10-Pitch (LM Mono 10)?​

The image in the spoiler below contains Georgia, Courier New, and LM Mono 10 as rendered at Sciforums on a Linux system running Firefox.

It's a personal preference thing; I happen to really, really like LM Mono 10, but I don't use it here because I don't expect many people actually have it on their systems. It's fairly easy for Linux users, as the fonts are usually available through Software Manager; the fonts are also available through GUST↱ and any number of font-download sites around the web.

Spoiler

 

[Tiassa]

And this is what it looks like in this thread:

Spoiler

 

[wegs]

It shows as ''Georgia'' for me.

 

[Tiassa]

It shows as "Georgia" for me.

Thank you. I had a circumstance where it showed Century Schoolbook, but that's my designated serif font, and apparently what my browser reverted to when I used a different―incorrect―designation for LM Mono according to a weird question that arose because of a (not disruptive) strange issue with LibreOffice.

(Is Georgia designated in your browser or system? Or I wonder if it simply reverted to the Sciforums default? At any rate, I suppose the mysteries are fun but they're all actually side issues. I'm just trying to find an excuse to LM Mono more.)​

Spoiler image: Blog version including LM Mono 10 boldface; Arial and Centuy Schoolbook (incl. CS boldface), at eighty percent of I forget what point size; and, you know, I can't actually match that H1 font for the title, yet. I'll have to poke around in the markup.

Spoiler

 

[Dr_Toad]

I don't really care about typeface when I'm reading a web page: I just let the browser defaults do their thing.

If I'm writing something that should be seen as professional as well as be professional, I take great care to properly choose font and kerning, and line spacing tweaks if needed.

I'm on Linux with Firefox, but I didn't see some of the fonts as they should have been. Maybe I'll install more..

 

[wegs]

Thank you. I had a circumstance where it showed Century Schoolbook, but that's my designated serif font, and apparently what my browser reverted to when I used a different―incorrect―designation for LM Mono according to a weird question that arose because of a (not disruptive) strange issue with LibreOffice.

(Is Georgia designated in your browser or system? Or I wonder if it simply reverted to the Sciforums default? At any rate, I suppose the mysteries are fun but they're all actually side issues. I'm just trying to find an excuse to LM Mono more.)​

​

​

LOL
It seems that ''Georgia'' is the default for Sciforums.

 

[Tiassa]

It seems that ''Georgia'' is the default for Sciforums.

Aye. Actually, that's partially my fault. Once upon a time, we used a basic sans serif font, I think Lucida Grande; I asked the former owner, Dave, if we could please have a serif font. In truth, sans serif really is hard on my eye. Five percent coverage (e.g., paperback novel typesetting) looks so much different sans serif, feels so much harder on the eye to me. As I recall, a few people agreed, but more to the point so did Dave. Georgia is pretty good for what we use it for; it actually looks better, at this size, than if I force Century Schoolbook, though strangely it's the other way around at the personal blog I most frequently link to, which is the one with the Trump quote and not the one I'm storing these images on ... er ... never mind.

I've always wondered about font preferences; it's astounding to me how many people never change the system and browser defaults. My daughter's generation, though ... I don't know what she's using for her browser window title, but it's nearly illegible.

• • •​

I'm on Linux with Firefox, but I didn't see some of the fonts as they should have been. Maybe I'll install more..

I would also note that we have more available through the software manager than we will ever need; on the predecessor to this computer, I managed to download a ridiculous number of artistic fonts for, say, handbill and flyer design, that I would never, ever use for any reason.

Yeah, that's probably why my daughter does the thing with her system display fonts. She started writing stories in the most elaborate fonts she could still manage to read.

I get it, but I'm a double-spaced, monospaced manuscripter. I remember reading this news story about a controversy in the UK about papers submitted to journals being rejected without reading for being printed in Calibri, not Arial; all I could think is that in fiction writing you submit in standard monospace typeface because variable and proportional width, sans serif, and pretty much anything screwing with this particular time-tested regularity hurts their eyes and gives professional manuscript readers and editors headaches. The idea that this journal wanted papers submitted in Arial 11-point blew my mind.

You can easily overload your fonts folder; do be careful.

 

[wegs]

Aye. Actually, that's partially my fault.

No worries, I happen to love Georgia. The font, not the state. This might sound odd, but I tend to choose favorite fonts based on how they look italicized. ''Georgia'' is very pleasing to the eye when it appears italicized.

Once upon a time, we used a basic sans serif font, I think Lucida Grande; I asked the former owner, Dave, if we could please have a serif font. In truth, sans serif really is hard on my eye. Five percent coverage (e.g., paperback novel typesetting) looks so much different sans serif, feels so much harder on the eye to me.

Sans Serif isn't bad, kind of simple/plain. Grateful that ''Comic Sans'' isn't offered, here - that's one of my least favorite fonts.

As I recall, a few people agreed, but more to the point so did Dave. Georgia is pretty good for what we use it for; it actually looks better, at this size, than if I force Century Schoolbook, though strangely it's the other way around at the personal blog I most frequently link to, which is the one with the Trump quote and not the one I'm storing these images on ... er ... never mind.

You have your own blog?

I've always wondered about font preferences; it's astounding to me how many people never change the system and browser defaults.

It's interesting how many people don't pay attention to their font or don't care about it, but I'm convinced that when I use ''Georgia'' in business writing scenarios, I've been receiving more enthusiastic and positive replies to emails and such. lol All in my head? I don't think so. #fontmatters

 

[Dr_Toad]

Tiassa, I'm so old-school that I use Garamond fonts.

 

[Daecon]

On my Playstation Vita, the text in the OP looks like Arial, and standard text seems to be rendered in Times New Roman.

 

[wegs]

http://www.onextrapixel.com/2015/06/30/what-does-your-chosen-font-say-about-your-personality/

lol Grateful my favorite isn't ''courier new.''

 

[Tiassa]

No worries, I happen to love Georgia. The font, not the state. This might sound odd, but I tend to choose favorite fonts based on how they look italicized. ''Georgia'' is very pleasing to the eye when it appears italicized.

Georgia is a wonderful font online, and it looks awesome italicized. I admit, though, mainly when it comes to serif fonts I just don't get the thing with Times New Roman. It's great for what it's for, I agree, but ... okay, so, I know this guy who ... and all of that, but once upon a time he signed with a publisher who turned out to be a cog in a larger scheme that ended up being sued by its stable. Looking back, I think the idea that his novel was published in TNR ... I mean ... they didn't go find anything not in your basic, out of the box default? At least when it was Palatino, the italics looked really good. And Palatino great on a page. I haven't figured out where Georgia fits on the published page; I know it from somewhere, but I can't figure. (Oh.)

You have your own blog?

A few. They're easy to start, a lot harder to give time and effort to. There's no point in enterprise.

It's interesting how many people don't pay attention to their font or don't care about it, but I'm convinced that when I use "Georgia" in business writing scenarios, I've been receiving more enthusiastic and positive replies to emails and such. lol All in my head? I don't think so. #fontmatters

Well, there's a great place for Georgia on a printed page. I couldn't see it in my mind's eye as a type for a novel, but since it was designed for Microsoft in 1993 (see also Miller, circa 1997, which finds growing usage in newspapers) that would probably be why.

• • •​

Tiassa, I'm so old-school that I use Garamond fonts.

Actually, I'm looking at this random article about five fonts for interior book design↱, and thinking, yeah ... Garamond, Caslon ... I like those for printing. I don't know if I had known the one was called Janson, but the list includes both Bembo and Electra, and I did actually once have a textbook printed with Electra-Bembo, but it was so long ago I couldn't tell you exactly how the blend worked, but I remember it because it was the first time I'd encountered the word "bembo".

There's some geeky nostalgia.
____________________

Notes:

Friedlander, Joel. "5 Favorite Fonts for Interior Book Design". The Book Designer. 31 August 2009. TheBookDesigner.com. http://bit.ly/2dYGwID

 

[Tiassa]

I need to get the Georgia version cropped and uploaded, still. I'll get to that in a little while; it's not the prettiest on my display. The version you're seeing here is from a personal blog↱; the fonts are Century Schoolbook (tagged "serif", assigned through browser) and Arial (tagged "arial, sans serif", assigned through browser). The Schoolbook size is a straight conversion from the WordPress CSS; the Arial is marked to 90%.

Spoiler

So it wasn't quite as unpretty as I suggested; the Georgia version:

Spoiler

 

[Dr_Toad]

and thinking, yeah ... Garamond, Caslon ... I like those for printing. I don't know if I had known the one was called Janson, but the list includes both Bembo and Electra

Now I have a little research to do, thank you.

Edit: Garamond is more appealing to me, with the slightly heavier stroke. Caslon and Bembo are so similar to it, except in the lower-case characters, and Electra just seems to be a lighter version of Garamond.

Just me...

 

[Tiassa]

Now I have a little research to do, thank you.

I should note my Software Manager includes Arkandis Tribun ADF, which ... oh ... my ... I had forgotten what that looked like. The Arkandis Digital Foundry↱ rocks. Tribun is absolutely beautiful.

 

[wegs]

Do you have a version that resembles ''Book Antiqua?" That's another personal fave and looks clean for publication/blogss, in my opinion.

 

[Dr_Toad]

Damn y'all.

I'm going to have to install a bunch of fonts, just to play some now. I haven't needed the skills for a while, but you've whetted my appetite and challenged my limited disk space.

Thanks.

 

[wegs]

Damn y'all.

I'm going to have to install a bunch of fonts, just to play some now. I haven't needed the skills for a while, but you've whetted my appetite and challenged my limited disk space.

Thanks.

Can't wait to see your new fonts

 

[Tiassa]

Do you have a version that resembles ''Book Antiqua?" That's another personal fave and looks clean for publication/blogss, in my opinion.

For Sciforums, just tag a font; if your system carries the font, it will display. I have this paragraph tagged to Book Antiqua.

Or perhaps:

For Sciforums, just tag a font; if your system carries the font, it will display. I have this paragraph tagged to URW Palladio L, which is a stand-in for Palatino, which is what Book Antiqua is styled after, or something.

†​

The blog excerpt in Tribun ADF Med Std:

Spoiler

And again, in URW Palladio L:

Spoiler

Update: I should at least mention that the Book Antiqua paragraph defaulted, in my browser display, to its designated serif font, Century Schoolbook L. (7 Oct. 2016, 23:09 PDT)

 

[Tiassa]

It occurs to me to test this, but I'm not certain what I'm testing.

(1) The text is tagged to font=Palatino.

(2) My system recognizes the idea of Palatino.

(3) The font it displays is URW Palladio L.​

When I was learning to blog, there was a font tag, but over time I learned to replace it with font-family. I don't quite get how it works, but my system or the browser itself Palatino, and seems to understand that URW Palladio L has a familial association. The Palatino tag, having nothing to correspond to, does not revert to a familial association as a serif font, and therefore display as the browser has assigned, Century Schoolbook, but, rather defaults within the family to URW Palladio L.

I did not know it worked this way until now, and should be useful for those wishing to tag Palatino; Linux and Mac users, at least, should be able to meet you there. And it only appears to work in that direction; font=URW Palladio L won't necessarily revert to Palatino on a system without the specific font installed.

Wait a minute ... goddamn it, I've lost track. But, yeah, I don't have Palatino, but tagging font=Palatino works; this post shows in URW Palldio L on my system.