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Please STOP using tufte fonts for everything that's displayed on a web site. No exception ever. These fonts are only available on Apple OS. They will render po

Please STOP using tufte fonts for everything that's displayed on a web site. No exception ever. These fonts are only available on Apple OS. They will render poorly on everything else, making the text hard to read and killing your readership. You don't need to believe me, just ask any web designer recommending tufte fonts what operating system he's using? You'll quickly realize that they're all on apple. Tufte (1942 - present) did a lot of work on typesetting for printing books, sadly his work was never adapted or ported to computers.

kps 9y ago
> These fonts are only available on Apple OS. Eh? The article uses https://github.com/edwardtufte/et-book https://github.com/edwardtufte/et-book with fallback to various names of Palatino, which as one of the base 35 Postscript fonts has been available everywhere for approximately forever.
yoklov 9y ago
I'm reading from Windows, and the fonts used look good to me?
TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
It sounds like you're referring specifically to Gill Sans [0], which is shipped with macOS and appears to be the font used on Edward Tufte's website [1]. However, it looks like Windows 10 now bundles Gill Sans Nova [2], although I'm uncertain how well it renders. Maybe instead of avoiding it completely, you'd consider suggesting a bundled alternative to use as fallback for other platforms? I wasn't aware of the font's existence before now, but I'm on macOS and I agree it looks nice on this platform. Personally, I'll typically disable remote fonts on my browser, since it just makes sites load slower. On desktop it's not as significant, but on mobile it's rather drastic. Sites don't have to render exactly the same on every platform and browser, it's fine, really! The Medium redesign [3] a few years back convinced me to try system fonts, and I've been really happy with the result. In case any reader is interested, Using UI System Fonts In Web Design [4] has all the info needed. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans [1] https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans#Gill_Sans_Nova_.282015.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans#Gill_Sans_Nova_.2820... [3] https://medium.design/project-tnt-4b9b4ea97cda https://medium.design/project-tnt-4b9b4ea97cda [4] https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-fonts-practical-guide/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-fon...
theoh 9y ago
Tufte is not a typographer. He knows when to employ a designer (as he did on his first major book, The Visual Display...) but he wouldn't make the claim that he has done "a lot of work on typesetting". In fact, he says "The lessons to be learned from my book-making process are boringly autobiographical and have little broader relevance." https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000262 https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=... Tufte is a smart perfectionist with a compelling message about graphic organization, but it's wrong to cast him as a master book designer or typographer. His books and display strategies are best understood as personal expressions, not professional masterclasses or templates to be imitated. So maybe we agree, in the sense that blind imitation of minor details of Tufte's style is foolish.

kps 9y ago

> These fonts are only available on Apple OS. Eh? The article uses https://github.com/edwardtufte/et-book https://github.com/edwardtufte/et-book with fallback to various names of Palatino, which as one of the base 35 Postscript fonts has been available everywhere for approximately forever.

yoklov 9y ago

I'm reading from Windows, and the fonts used look good to me?

TheAceOfHearts 9y ago

It sounds like you're referring specifically to Gill Sans [0], which is shipped with macOS and appears to be the font used on Edward Tufte's website [1]. However, it looks like Windows 10 now bundles Gill Sans Nova [2], although I'm uncertain how well it renders. Maybe instead of avoiding it completely, you'd consider suggesting a bundled alternative to use as fallback for other platforms? I wasn't aware of the font's existence before now, but I'm on macOS and I agree it looks nice on this platform. Personally, I'll typically disable remote fonts on my browser, since it just makes sites load slower. On desktop it's not as significant, but on mobile it's rather drastic. Sites don't have to render exactly the same on every platform and browser, it's fine, really! The Medium redesign [3] a few years back convinced me to try system fonts, and I've been really happy with the result. In case any reader is interested, Using UI System Fonts In Web Design [4] has all the info needed. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans [1] https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans#Gill_Sans_Nova_.282015.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans#Gill_Sans_Nova_.2820... [3] https://medium.design/project-tnt-4b9b4ea97cda https://medium.design/project-tnt-4b9b4ea97cda [4] https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-fonts-practical-guide/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-fon...

theoh 9y ago

Tufte is not a typographer. He knows when to employ a designer (as he did on his first major book, The Visual Display...) but he wouldn't make the claim that he has done "a lot of work on typesetting". In fact, he says "The lessons to be learned from my book-making process are boringly autobiographical and have little broader relevance." https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000262 https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=... Tufte is a smart perfectionist with a compelling message about graphic organization, but it's wrong to cast him as a master book designer or typographer. His books and display strategies are best understood as personal expressions, not professional masterclasses or templates to be imitated. So maybe we agree, in the sense that blind imitation of minor details of Tufte's style is foolish.