7 ms·

Periodic table of typefaces

48 points by quicklycode 17y ago

jiaaro 17y ago
That is awesome... and it's a fun coincidence that Helvetica starts with H. Definitely analogous to Hydrogen.
- rauljara 17y ago
  I wonder if that observation was the catalyst for the whole project.
- jfoutz 17y ago
  i'd thought the sans fonts would be the noble gasses. i think a much better representation would be sans as metals, serifs as organics and transition from very spartan to very ornate. Helvetica and Times new roman as the top row. stuff built as postscript/pdf in the second row. not sure where to go after that. certainly a disconnected wingding series as a separate row on the bottom. A Knuth column would be fun.
plesn 17y ago
I'm happy there are regularly quite a few links about typefaces on HN. For me it was part of realizing that form has an impact on perception, and I'm trying to develop my taste. I feel quite alone amongst my friends though, as I want to rationnalize why choosing this font, and which other font does it play well with... This is still very dificult for me!
- callahad 17y ago
  Take the Helvetica vs. Arial quiz[0] at Ironic Sans. The final logo should help further convince you as to the importance of good typographic design. [0]: http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/ http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/
  - plesn 17y ago
    Wow, I'm surprised I actually got them all right: I used the force for the mattel and toyota one's ;-)
kurtosis 17y ago
I admit I love the sight of a periodic table, but I think this abuses the metaphor. Elements on the periodic table aren't ordered by their rank (abundance in earth or in space) and the grouping of the elements in rows and columns has a very clear interpretation as to their physical properties. I don't see any rules emerging here about which typefaces are related to each other or how they can be combined. also I'm a little disturbed by the absence of comic sans?
- rauljara 17y ago
  I think you aren't giving the table the credit it deserves. The fonts aren't ordered by rank at all. They are arranged by class (grotesque on the left, proceeding to geometric and didone on the right). I'll admit though, the rules don't seem entirely consistent to me. But they are consistent enough that I feel like there's an order here that I'm not quite grasping. I'd really like to see a post about how the table was put together, and whether the inconsistencies are arbitrary, or whether there really is a system behind it.
  - jcl 17y ago
    The creators have a FAQ which describes their methodology: http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html Interesting: The fact that Helvetica is number one and matches up with Hydrogen's position is purely a nice coincidence.
- baddox 17y ago
  To be fair, typefaces aren't natural, and they don't exhibit periodicity. If they were and did, we could probably predict properties of yet-undiscovered typefaces.
  - nooneelse 17y ago
    Are there no natural metrics for typefaces? I doubt that. If there are some, then order typefaces along those and project that higher dimensional space down to 2 or 3. Jigger a bit with the projection to make the output as legible as possible while preserving all or most all of the information it can covey. Done. That is what the chemists did. It took them quite a bit of work (years, iirc), and that is why we laud them. They didn't lazily appropriate some previous table's shape and force the elements to fit it. Well, hell, maybe some chemists did do that sort of cargo cult "info"graphicing. But we rightly forgot about them because what they made was silly in comparison to the actual periodic table, which conveys real information about our world.
iamwil 17y ago
The periodic table of anything other than the elements is almost always nearly useless, especially if it looks anything like a periodic table of elements. The periodic table is about the relationships of the elements to each other. Unless typefaces have the same relationships to each other as atoms, it shouldn't look at all like the periodic table of elements.
- nooneelse 17y ago
  Indeed, this table is pure cargo cult. The superficial appearance of information without the true inner workings of it.
jcl 17y ago
I'm a bit disappointed Computer Modern didn't make the list, but I guess this chart is purely from a designer's perspective. The sources are lists of "best", "most popular", and "typefaces no one gets fired for using". Still, I don't think it should claim to contain "notorious" typefaces while omitting Comic Sans, Arial, Brush Script, and Papyrus. :)
- RodgerTheGreat 17y ago
  My thoughts exactly. Comic Sans is widely (on the internet) regarded (by designers) as one of the worst typefaces of all time, and in everyday life I see it everywhere- storefronts, menus, newsletters, etc.

48 points by quicklycode 17y ago

jiaaro 17y ago

That is awesome... and it's a fun coincidence that Helvetica starts with H. Definitely analogous to Hydrogen.

rauljara 17y ago
I wonder if that observation was the catalyst for the whole project.
jfoutz 17y ago
i'd thought the sans fonts would be the noble gasses. i think a much better representation would be sans as metals, serifs as organics and transition from very spartan to very ornate. Helvetica and Times new roman as the top row. stuff built as postscript/pdf in the second row. not sure where to go after that. certainly a disconnected wingding series as a separate row on the bottom. A Knuth column would be fun.

plesn 17y ago

I'm happy there are regularly quite a few links about typefaces on HN. For me it was part of realizing that form has an impact on perception, and I'm trying to develop my taste. I feel quite alone amongst my friends though, as I want to rationnalize why choosing this font, and which other font does it play well with... This is still very dificult for me!

callahad 17y ago
Take the Helvetica vs. Arial quiz[0] at Ironic Sans. The final logo should help further convince you as to the importance of good typographic design. [0]: http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/ http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/
- plesn 17y ago
  Wow, I'm surprised I actually got them all right: I used the force for the mattel and toyota one's ;-)

kurtosis 17y ago

I admit I love the sight of a periodic table, but I think this abuses the metaphor. Elements on the periodic table aren't ordered by their rank (abundance in earth or in space) and the grouping of the elements in rows and columns has a very clear interpretation as to their physical properties. I don't see any rules emerging here about which typefaces are related to each other or how they can be combined. also I'm a little disturbed by the absence of comic sans?

rauljara 17y ago
I think you aren't giving the table the credit it deserves. The fonts aren't ordered by rank at all. They are arranged by class (grotesque on the left, proceeding to geometric and didone on the right). I'll admit though, the rules don't seem entirely consistent to me. But they are consistent enough that I feel like there's an order here that I'm not quite grasping. I'd really like to see a post about how the table was put together, and whether the inconsistencies are arbitrary, or whether there really is a system behind it.
- jcl 17y ago
  The creators have a FAQ which describes their methodology: http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html Interesting: The fact that Helvetica is number one and matches up with Hydrogen's position is purely a nice coincidence.
baddox 17y ago
To be fair, typefaces aren't natural, and they don't exhibit periodicity. If they were and did, we could probably predict properties of yet-undiscovered typefaces.
- nooneelse 17y ago
  Are there no natural metrics for typefaces? I doubt that. If there are some, then order typefaces along those and project that higher dimensional space down to 2 or 3. Jigger a bit with the projection to make the output as legible as possible while preserving all or most all of the information it can covey. Done. That is what the chemists did. It took them quite a bit of work (years, iirc), and that is why we laud them. They didn't lazily appropriate some previous table's shape and force the elements to fit it. Well, hell, maybe some chemists did do that sort of cargo cult "info"graphicing. But we rightly forgot about them because what they made was silly in comparison to the actual periodic table, which conveys real information about our world.

iamwil 17y ago

The periodic table of anything other than the elements is almost always nearly useless, especially if it looks anything like a periodic table of elements. The periodic table is about the relationships of the elements to each other. Unless typefaces have the same relationships to each other as atoms, it shouldn't look at all like the periodic table of elements.

nooneelse 17y ago
Indeed, this table is pure cargo cult. The superficial appearance of information without the true inner workings of it.

jcl 17y ago

I'm a bit disappointed Computer Modern didn't make the list, but I guess this chart is purely from a designer's perspective. The sources are lists of "best", "most popular", and "typefaces no one gets fired for using". Still, I don't think it should claim to contain "notorious" typefaces while omitting Comic Sans, Arial, Brush Script, and Papyrus. :)

RodgerTheGreat 17y ago
My thoughts exactly. Comic Sans is widely (on the internet) regarded (by designers) as one of the worst typefaces of all time, and in everyday life I see it everywhere- storefronts, menus, newsletters, etc.