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> Regardless of whether you’re pro or anti Helvetica, I think we can all agree that it’s not up for the job. … we can? (From https://twitter.com/DerritDeRouen

by jchw 5y ago

> Regardless of whether you’re pro or anti Helvetica, I think we can all agree that it’s not up for the job. … we can? (From https://twitter.com/DerritDeRouen/status/1354548649561186306 https://twitter.com/DerritDeRouen/status/1354548649561186306)

zamalek 5y ago
Yeah, that tweet was a definite WTF moment for me. Having to explain what cargo culting is to tech folks, is becoming more rare for me. Yet we continue to try to summon those gods.
snazz 5y ago
Helvetica definitely was not designed with screens in mind—Apple replaced it with San Francisco for both a legibility and a brand cohesiveness purpose. That said, this feels like a weird argument given that Twitter didn’t use Helvetica on any modern platform when it used system fonts. SF Pro, Segoe UI, and Roboto are all designed for screens unlike Helvetica.
- jchw 5y ago
  Personally, I find Helvetica to be extremely sufficient for reading text on screen. Maybe it isn’t the best possible font, but I think their statement is kind of non-sensical, it makes it sound like it would’ve been a problem to use Helvetica… I doubt it.
  - dbbk 5y ago
    There was one version of macOS where the system UI font was Helvetica and it was horrible.
    - jchw 5y ago
      And iOS, no? I don’t recall that being a huge problem.
    - sgerenser 5y ago
      It was Helvetica Neue, not regular Helvetica, in MacOS 10.10 Yosemite. In theory that variant had adjustments to make it more suitable for on screen use and I don’t recall it being particularly bad.