5 ms·

So, is it me, or is their font choice obnoxiously hard to read? Why can't people just choose screen readable fonts. This is their font: http://www.hoftype.com/

So, is it me, or is their font choice obnoxiously hard to read? Why can't people just choose screen readable fonts. This is their font: http://www.hoftype.com/sinanova http://www.hoftype.com/sinanova It is very obvious it was designed for printed text, not screens. It's like they wanted Garamond (ahem: https://designforhackers.com/blog/garamond/ https://designforhackers.com/blog/garamond/), but shot themselves in the foot with an even worse one. Usually I can prove bad font choices happen because of web developers being obsessed with rare computers (Retina-equipped Macs, forgetting the rest of the universe uses normal-DPI Windows machines), but I just looked on my HiDPI screen... it's nearly unreadable there too. Is anyone else having this problem?

manigandham 8y ago
Agreed. It's scientifically proven that sans-serif fonts are easier to read on digital screens because of pixel rendering, brightness and the vertical scrolling surface. It's the fault of designers who think UX is just pretty UI.
quakeguy 8y ago
Same here, the font is terrible for mobile devices telling from seeing it on iOS and Android. Strangely, the web version with an updated browser does not have this problem.
- DiabloD3 8y ago
  So, I tried it in other browsers (look, if I have to use other browsers to read things, the Internet has a problem), Edge is most readable in LoDPI, Chrome still is visually fatiguing but readable, Firefox has the most correct rendering but also the worst readability (I'm primarily a Firefox user). On HiDPI (2x DPI on Apple Retina), its, eh, all of them are readable but fatiguing, no clear winner. On my 3x dpi Android phone, its the least bad due to just the shear number of pixels. In Firefox and in Chrome, it still exhibits a lot of oddity. The stems are inconsistent in their width (being skinny and being at such high DPI makes it very noticeable), and the visual rhythm of the words is even worse. I don't even want to read the article anymore, screw it.

manigandham 8y ago

Agreed. It's scientifically proven that sans-serif fonts are easier to read on digital screens because of pixel rendering, brightness and the vertical scrolling surface. It's the fault of designers who think UX is just pretty UI.

quakeguy 8y ago

Same here, the font is terrible for mobile devices telling from seeing it on iOS and Android. Strangely, the web version with an updated browser does not have this problem.

DiabloD3 8y ago
So, I tried it in other browsers (look, if I have to use other browsers to read things, the Internet has a problem), Edge is most readable in LoDPI, Chrome still is visually fatiguing but readable, Firefox has the most correct rendering but also the worst readability (I'm primarily a Firefox user). On HiDPI (2x DPI on Apple Retina), its, eh, all of them are readable but fatiguing, no clear winner. On my 3x dpi Android phone, its the least bad due to just the shear number of pixels. In Firefox and in Chrome, it still exhibits a lot of oddity. The stems are inconsistent in their width (being skinny and being at such high DPI makes it very noticeable), and the visual rhythm of the words is even worse. I don't even want to read the article anymore, screw it.