4 ms·

While the name Aptos is explained in the article, I was more curious about the previous name Bierstadt (because the font is "inspired by Swiss typography", but

• atonse 3y ago
  This is exactly the kind of Wikipedia excursion I would’ve gone through. thanks for saving me the time!
• derekp7 3y ago
  I've always wondered if Ariel was named such so that it sorts at the top of the list of fonts. Thereby making it the default. Then, that brings the question -- is it default because it is the first in a sorted list? Or did they name it purposely so that it would sort to the top?
  • jxramos 3y ago
    that's an interesting question, like "AAAA Plumbing" back when the physical phone book was the route for discovery. Folks would deliberately vie for position in that thing.
    • hiccuphippo 3y ago
      Same for Apple, so it would show up before Atari in the phone book.
    • tenebrisalietum 3y ago
      Asus was either originally going to be or originally intended to be Pegasus, but it was changed to "Asus" to be alphabetically first. I'm sure that's also the story behind the name Abit.
      • bombcar 3y ago
        Interesting, that would imply it should be pronounced uh-sis not Ay-sus.
  • ghaff 3y ago
    Probably not. Here's something I read: Arial: originally called Sonoran Sans Serif, the designers changed the name to Arial because they wanted a name that would evoke a modern, industrial feel, and because it sounded similar to "aerial," as in "aerial view," which they felt captured the font's modern and futuristic qualities.
• _jyty 3y ago
  When they refer to Swisss typography, they're likely referring to the International Typographic Style, which is also known as the Swiss Style (it's on Wikipedia). It's a style of graphic design. It typically uses a Grotesque sans serif font, like Helvetica or Univers (as opposed to a humanist sans serif).
  • otterley 3y ago
    Closing the loop a bit, Helvetica is the second word of the Latin name of Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica). It's why the ISO 3166 code for the country is .ch.
    • andylynch 3y ago
      That would be a great name for a font site, but it’s Helvetia, from the same root in the Helvetii peoples’ name.
      • roelschroeven 3y ago
        No, it's really "Confoederatio Helvetica", as you can see e.g. on this coin: https://worldcoinsinfo.com/world_coins/swiss-5-franken-1888-1916-coin.html https://worldcoinsinfo.com/world_coins/swiss-5-franken-1888-... "Helvetia" exists too, as the female national personification of Switzerland. Both are indeed derived from the Helvetii.
• twobitshifter 3y ago
  That interview is a great example of fluff responses with Bierstadt being the fluffiest where the fluff starts to conflict with itself. First: In today’s world, I believe a grotesque typeface’s voice needs a bit of a *human touch* to be more approachable and less institutional. Bierstadt’s systematic design contains organic touches to help *humanize* digital environments and *soften the regimented order* of grid typography. Later: My approach was to design a sans serif that would contrast with Arial by being *far more mechanical and rationalized.*. The terminal endings are *precisely sheared at 90°* — a modern note *contrasting the softer, angled endings* in Arial — and a lack of somewhat fussy curves found in Arial’s “a,” “f,” “y,” and “r.” Maybe Arial was too human?
  • Aloha 3y ago
    Its' a better looking arial, I've long avoided the new MS core fonts and tend to stick with arial on windows documents I create.
  • deleted 3y ago
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