4 ms·

Looking at Interface's glyph map, I see that letter-O (O) is slightly wider than number-zero (0). Capital-eye (I) is indistinguishable from small-ell (l), thoug

Looking at Interface's glyph map, I see that letter-O (O) is slightly wider than number-zero (0). Capital-eye (I) is indistinguishable from small-ell (l), though number-one (1) is distinguishable from both. What other glyph ambiguities do you look out for on new fonts?

andrewguenther 9y ago
I noticed that as well. Difficult to claim "highly legible" with an oversight like that.
jack_jennings 9y ago
Slashed 0 and Ø in nordic countries. Though not abiguous in sharing the exact same shapes, many characters can share similar structures that (arguably; citation needed) can cause visual confusion. For example; 3 and 8 in a typeface like Helvetica are very similar. Opening the aperture of the 3 or using a form with a corner in the upper right can be observed in some UI typefaces. The "single story a" can be an issue in typefaces that ise it, adding to the plethora of round forms (eopdqbc etc.). Breaking up the monotony of those shapes is also frequently advised. "Tail-less" t and r in sans type can be problematic at small sizes.
- wodenokoto 9y ago
  What is a tail-less t? Google didn't help me at all on this one.
  - jack_jennings 9y ago
    Compare Futura's "tail-less t": http://www.identifont.com/show?M2 http://www.identifont.com/show?M2 to Source Sans with a hooked tail: http://www.identifont.com/find?font=Source+Sans&q=Go http://www.identifont.com/find?font=Source+Sans&q=Go
    - majewsky 9y ago
      Looking at the Futura specimen left me with a distinct taste of Swedish meatballs in my mouth.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
baldfat 9y ago
I really hate that O and 0 are so alike and right next to each other on QWERTY. Wish a slash like in my coding fonts was the norm in USA.
- tyrust 9y ago
  >I really hate that O and 0 are so alike and right next to each other on QWERTY. Damn, I never noticed that. Now I hate the typeface on my keycaps.
- bramen 9y ago
  I hate that you made me notice that and I'll never be able to unsee it! :-) A slash or a dot in the middle would be nice.
rasmusfabbe 9y ago
This is by design. A wider "O" would indeed make separating zero from "O" easier (and an earlier iteration of Interface had a wider "O") but it adds some uneven pace to how longer words and sentences read. The hope is to add a stylistic set for character disambiguation to the font, which when enabled would enable graphic features on glyphs like upper-case "i" and lower-case "l", zero and "O", and so on. Tracked here: https://github.com/rsms/interface/issues/1 https://github.com/rsms/interface/issues/1

andrewguenther 9y ago

I noticed that as well. Difficult to claim "highly legible" with an oversight like that.

jack_jennings 9y ago

Slashed 0 and Ø in nordic countries. Though not abiguous in sharing the exact same shapes, many characters can share similar structures that (arguably; citation needed) can cause visual confusion. For example; 3 and 8 in a typeface like Helvetica are very similar. Opening the aperture of the 3 or using a form with a corner in the upper right can be observed in some UI typefaces. The "single story a" can be an issue in typefaces that ise it, adding to the plethora of round forms (eopdqbc etc.). Breaking up the monotony of those shapes is also frequently advised. "Tail-less" t and r in sans type can be problematic at small sizes.

wodenokoto 9y ago
What is a tail-less t? Google didn't help me at all on this one.
- jack_jennings 9y ago
  Compare Futura's "tail-less t": http://www.identifont.com/show?M2 http://www.identifont.com/show?M2 to Source Sans with a hooked tail: http://www.identifont.com/find?font=Source+Sans&q=Go http://www.identifont.com/find?font=Source+Sans&q=Go
  - majewsky 9y ago
    Looking at the Futura specimen left me with a distinct taste of Swedish meatballs in my mouth.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

baldfat 9y ago

I really hate that O and 0 are so alike and right next to each other on QWERTY. Wish a slash like in my coding fonts was the norm in USA.

tyrust 9y ago
>I really hate that O and 0 are so alike and right next to each other on QWERTY. Damn, I never noticed that. Now I hate the typeface on my keycaps.
bramen 9y ago
I hate that you made me notice that and I'll never be able to unsee it! :-) A slash or a dot in the middle would be nice.

rasmusfabbe 9y ago

This is by design. A wider "O" would indeed make separating zero from "O" easier (and an earlier iteration of Interface had a wider "O") but it adds some uneven pace to how longer words and sentences read. The hope is to add a stylistic set for character disambiguation to the font, which when enabled would enable graphic features on glyphs like upper-case "i" and lower-case "l", zero and "O", and so on. Tracked here: https://github.com/rsms/interface/issues/1 https://github.com/rsms/interface/issues/1