3 ms·
This site made me realize what a powerful effect fonts have on our perception of a text. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading the words of modern h
by jasperry 9y ago
This site made me realize what a powerful effect fonts have on our perception of a text. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading the words of modern historians and not a scan of some 400-year-old document.
- pmontra 9y agoAgreed. But it also made me search for the setting to disable web fonts. I understand why they're using that font but if I've a choice I'll read like it's at least 1980 (I think I got an Arial). Reenabling them now.
- tallanvor 9y agoMy reaction was the opposite. I want to scream at the site designer that we have readable fonts these days.
- adrianratnapala 9y agoHmm, I agree the font was annoying, but it not unreadable. Indeed it is much easier to read than the grey-on-grey text that you often find on modern sites. And contra the parent comment, it doesn't look like a scan of a centuries old document -- it just looks a scan of a book from the mid 20th century. I've read lots of such books, and while some have better typography than others, they are all quite easy to read. I think we have a habit of conflating "this is ugly I wish it were different" with "I can't read this".
- SippinLean 9y agoLots of things hamper the legibility of that site. Poor font choice, pure black text on pure white, long line length, narrow leading, small size. Looking at the site header it appears the typography decisions were based on decoration instead of legibility.