5 ms·

That page hurts my eyes. Not the font, the colors and motions. I do not understand why we design pages like this anymore. Does anyone like that style? Sorry to

That page hurts my eyes. Not the font, the colors and motions. I do not understand why we design pages like this anymore. Does anyone like that style? Sorry to be a Negative Nelly. I'm sure some devs worked hard on that sigh. I do like the typeface itself.

Tomte 5y ago
Less informative/marketing/design, just the downloads: https://github.com/IBM/plex https://github.com/IBM/plex
- tommi 5y ago
  As this seems to be old news, was there a reason why you posted it? Edit: (2018) in the title would be in order.
  - Tomte 5y ago
    I just found it. On a closer look, the current release is from 2021.
st3ve445678 5y ago
100% agree. I can't stand pages like this. It adds nothing but jankiness and confusion.
bravetraveler 5y ago
I'm with ya. I'm a fan of the font (been using monospaced off and on for years) The page design trend though feels user hostile. No, you can't scroll directly to the information. Your eyes must see all this JavaScript glory
forgetfulness 5y ago
Hah same reception as four years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16701009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16701009 But really, it's jarring, jumpy, doesn't feel consistent (why are some transitions done by scrolling and others by clicking, when they look the same?), choppy, unnecessarily interactive, it's simply awful. There are good interactive content experiences on the web, this isn't one of them. Compare with: "The Pianist and the Lobster" in the NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/21/opinion/editorials/errol-morris-lobster-sviatoslav-richter.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/21/opinion/edito...
ehayes 5y ago
This is a more simple place to get a sample of the typeface: https://beautifulwebtype.com/ibm-plex-sans/ https://beautifulwebtype.com/ibm-plex-sans/
- cpach 5y ago
  BWT is so good. I dare say it’s the best web typography site I’ve found.
BitwiseFool 5y ago
And why force me to watch an animation covering the screen with blue and white bars? And, they disable my ability to scroll until it's done. Don't they realize people today have no patience for such things?
- listenallyall 5y ago
  It's the opposite. This page is specifically made for people who do have time to spare. You don't go to IBM.com to find your next font -- you go to Google fonts or any font "buffets" where you can preview hundreds/thousands of fonts and pick the right one. If you landed on this site, it's because you found IBM Plex elsewhere and decided to take some time to find out more about it. And IBM knows you have a choice of thousands of fonts, so it purposely wants to go overboard on the presentation, show you how much thought went into these fonts, and hopefully even make you a bit nostalgic or emotional. It's also a typography presentation, anyone viewing it on mobile isn't really the target audience anyway.
  - BitwiseFool 5y ago
    You're right, I do sense that this was made for designers first. It's more of a portfolio demo than a font demo. The bulk of the page is graphics rather than in-depth text samples. That being said, I still think its a poor all-around presentation.
dayvid 5y ago
A graphic designer probably wanted to beef up their resume/portfolio. For a webpage about a font it's a little much.
- listenallyall 5y ago
  You're missing the whole point of the page.
- thekiptxt 5y ago
  I had the same thought. It only recently hit me how much of the world around me is sneakily driven by individuals wanting to strengthen their resume. I had underestimated how often the frameworks/languages chosen was influenced by a developer simply wanting to built up skills in that area, rather than it being the best tool for the job. But, interestingly enough, it seems to me that this can often lead to great results! The developer is motivated both to prove that their decision could solve the problem and also to learn the technology for reasons beyond that project alone. It seems that might be what’s going on here: the graphic designer is flexing, and a page about a font is trending on HN.
frankzander 5y ago
This page matches the nature of this font. It's OK in this context
gruturo 5y ago
Wow I thought you were exaggerating. That is one awful page. It feels so... hostile.
hurricanesugar 5y ago
I love it. The internet would be a boring place if it weren’t for “pages” like this. We design pages like this because unique, one-of-a-kind creations matter. For the target audience, who think about typefaces more critically, there is value in a deep dive into the unique characteristics of this typeface. The why, the how. The entire site experience expresses and reinforces these ideas.
- krapp 5y ago
  There's also the site for Jony Ive's design collective LoveFrom[0]. And the inevitable dumping on by HN[1]. [0]https://www.lovefrom.com/ https://www.lovefrom.com/ [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28861601 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28861601
dang 5y ago
"Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—things like article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage. They're too common to be interesting." They also tend to get upvoted to the top, where they choke out interesting conversation. That's where this one was before I marked it off-topic. The upvotes are the greater problem, but it's harder to do anything about that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- tentacleuno 5y ago
  Thanks dang! I regularly see these types of comments on articles linking to Twitter, but those tend to remain at or near the top, from what I remember at least.
webmaven 5y ago
> That page hurts my eyes. Not the font, the colors and motions. I do not understand why we design pages like this anymore. Does anyone like that style? If I were to guess, whoever designed the page was consciously riffing off of Paul Rand's (designer of the IBM logos that this typeface is based on) graphic work, particularly from the late 70s to early 90s: https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html Except that the colors in particular which were a bold choice in print, are positively eye-watering on modern screens.

Tomte 5y ago

Less informative/marketing/design, just the downloads: https://github.com/IBM/plex https://github.com/IBM/plex

tommi 5y ago
As this seems to be old news, was there a reason why you posted it? Edit: (2018) in the title would be in order.
- Tomte 5y ago
  I just found it. On a closer look, the current release is from 2021.

st3ve445678 5y ago

100% agree. I can't stand pages like this. It adds nothing but jankiness and confusion.

bravetraveler 5y ago

I'm with ya. I'm a fan of the font (been using monospaced off and on for years) The page design trend though feels user hostile. No, you can't scroll directly to the information. Your eyes must see all this JavaScript glory

forgetfulness 5y ago

Hah same reception as four years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16701009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16701009 But really, it's jarring, jumpy, doesn't feel consistent (why are some transitions done by scrolling and others by clicking, when they look the same?), choppy, unnecessarily interactive, it's simply awful. There are good interactive content experiences on the web, this isn't one of them. Compare with: "The Pianist and the Lobster" in the NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/21/opinion/editorials/errol-morris-lobster-sviatoslav-richter.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/21/opinion/edito...

ehayes 5y ago

This is a more simple place to get a sample of the typeface: https://beautifulwebtype.com/ibm-plex-sans/ https://beautifulwebtype.com/ibm-plex-sans/

cpach 5y ago
BWT is so good. I dare say it’s the best web typography site I’ve found.

BitwiseFool 5y ago

And why force me to watch an animation covering the screen with blue and white bars? And, they disable my ability to scroll until it's done. Don't they realize people today have no patience for such things?

listenallyall 5y ago
It's the opposite. This page is specifically made for people who do have time to spare. You don't go to IBM.com to find your next font -- you go to Google fonts or any font "buffets" where you can preview hundreds/thousands of fonts and pick the right one. If you landed on this site, it's because you found IBM Plex elsewhere and decided to take some time to find out more about it. And IBM knows you have a choice of thousands of fonts, so it purposely wants to go overboard on the presentation, show you how much thought went into these fonts, and hopefully even make you a bit nostalgic or emotional. It's also a typography presentation, anyone viewing it on mobile isn't really the target audience anyway.
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  You're right, I do sense that this was made for designers first. It's more of a portfolio demo than a font demo. The bulk of the page is graphics rather than in-depth text samples. That being said, I still think its a poor all-around presentation.

dayvid 5y ago

A graphic designer probably wanted to beef up their resume/portfolio. For a webpage about a font it's a little much.

listenallyall 5y ago
You're missing the whole point of the page.
thekiptxt 5y ago
I had the same thought. It only recently hit me how much of the world around me is sneakily driven by individuals wanting to strengthen their resume. I had underestimated how often the frameworks/languages chosen was influenced by a developer simply wanting to built up skills in that area, rather than it being the best tool for the job. But, interestingly enough, it seems to me that this can often lead to great results! The developer is motivated both to prove that their decision could solve the problem and also to learn the technology for reasons beyond that project alone. It seems that might be what’s going on here: the graphic designer is flexing, and a page about a font is trending on HN.

frankzander 5y ago

This page matches the nature of this font. It's OK in this context

gruturo 5y ago

Wow I thought you were exaggerating. That is one awful page. It feels so... hostile.

hurricanesugar 5y ago

I love it. The internet would be a boring place if it weren’t for “pages” like this. We design pages like this because unique, one-of-a-kind creations matter. For the target audience, who think about typefaces more critically, there is value in a deep dive into the unique characteristics of this typeface. The why, the how. The entire site experience expresses and reinforces these ideas.

krapp 5y ago
There's also the site for Jony Ive's design collective LoveFrom[0]. And the inevitable dumping on by HN[1]. [0]https://www.lovefrom.com/ https://www.lovefrom.com/ [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28861601 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28861601

dang 5y ago

"Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—things like article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage. They're too common to be interesting." They also tend to get upvoted to the top, where they choke out interesting conversation. That's where this one was before I marked it off-topic. The upvotes are the greater problem, but it's harder to do anything about that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

tentacleuno 5y ago
Thanks dang! I regularly see these types of comments on articles linking to Twitter, but those tend to remain at or near the top, from what I remember at least.

webmaven 5y ago

> That page hurts my eyes. Not the font, the colors and motions. I do not understand why we design pages like this anymore. Does anyone like that style? If I were to guess, whoever designed the page was consciously riffing off of Paul Rand's (designer of the IBM logos that this typeface is based on) graphic work, particularly from the late 70s to early 90s: https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html Except that the colors in particular which were a bold choice in print, are positively eye-watering on modern screens.