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It is actually amazing how much effort is seemingly expended on things like this. I think it's pretty simple: - there are a lot of people out there who love o

by mlsu 3y ago

It is actually amazing how much effort is seemingly expended on things like this. I think it's pretty simple: - there are a lot of people out there who love obsessing over typography - they want to obsess over typography - so they invent a purpose for obsessing over typography I love it, I'm here for it, and I think we should give people money for obsessing over typography.

notatoad 3y ago
i think it's even simpler - there are not that many people out there who love obsessing about typography - the few that do have figured out that they can make a viable business of selling typefaces for slightly less than the cost of licencing helvetica - writing a document like the one linked here makes people feel a bit better about cutting a big cheque for a typeface
Kon5ole 3y ago
I suspect you're on to something ;-) It might also be that people who obsess about typography are more inclined to create pretty documents whenever they can. API authors and DB designers are maybe less interested in making pretty documents, which is why their (at the very least equally important work) is often described in a readme.txt meant to be read from the terminal in the typeface of the reader's choice.
- jacobr1 3y ago
  I've met DBAs, when that role was more common, that obsessed over creating ERDs and other data digrams - posted them all over the walls. But that was because they wanted to do it and were sufficiently empowered. It clearly was related to their work, but most other engineers wouldn't really have cared if they existed or not.
imiric 3y ago
I think that's an overly cynical take for the work type designers do. Design in general is highly detail oriented. In interior design, there are philosophies about the proper arrangement of furniture (feng shui). In visual design the balance of colors is crucial, and there are complex theories about the best ways to match and offset colors. This is highly technical work that might seem overly pedantic to outsiders, but really has an established theory about how it impacts the viewer. So is the case with type design. There are infinite combinations of shapes and sizes of symbols, and an entire science behind how humans interpret characters to form words and communicate ideas. Think about how much design went into just this paragraph you're reading. A bad type can be tiring to read, while a good one can make the words flow off the page/screen. As readers, we take this for granted, but a type designer needs to take all this into consideration. Consider the work it takes to design a logotype, and how it sometime seems deceptively simple, when in reality it takes a keen eye to design a brand logo. Now extrapolate that to all letters of all alphabets that a modern type should support, and it's no wonder that great type designers deserve all the praise and recognition. So, yes, all these documents are necessary, and explain the intent of the designer, or how the user feels the type helps with transmitting their message.
MAGZine 3y ago
It is actually amazing how much effort is seemingly expended on things like this. I think it's pretty simple: - there are a lot of people out there who love obsessing over software - they want to obsess over software - so they invent a purpose for obsessing over software I love it, I'm here for it, and I think we should give people money for obsessing over software. Just because it's simple on the surface does not mean that there's a lot that goes into it, or that the details don't matter. I feel like what you've written is a little reductionist to the hard work people put into designing frameworks for communications like this, and how much it can help to give voice and unify messaging in intra- and inter-institution communication. How do you keep two government agencies on the same page wrt to design language? or is it ok that one agency likes to produce communications in comic sans while the other uses sans and the third uses helvetica? It's one of those 99% invisible things.

by mlsu 3y ago

notatoad 3y ago

i think it's even simpler - there are not that many people out there who love obsessing about typography - the few that do have figured out that they can make a viable business of selling typefaces for slightly less than the cost of licencing helvetica - writing a document like the one linked here makes people feel a bit better about cutting a big cheque for a typeface

Kon5ole 3y ago

I suspect you're on to something ;-) It might also be that people who obsess about typography are more inclined to create pretty documents whenever they can. API authors and DB designers are maybe less interested in making pretty documents, which is why their (at the very least equally important work) is often described in a readme.txt meant to be read from the terminal in the typeface of the reader's choice.

jacobr1 3y ago
I've met DBAs, when that role was more common, that obsessed over creating ERDs and other data digrams - posted them all over the walls. But that was because they wanted to do it and were sufficiently empowered. It clearly was related to their work, but most other engineers wouldn't really have cared if they existed or not.

imiric 3y ago

I think that's an overly cynical take for the work type designers do. Design in general is highly detail oriented. In interior design, there are philosophies about the proper arrangement of furniture (feng shui). In visual design the balance of colors is crucial, and there are complex theories about the best ways to match and offset colors. This is highly technical work that might seem overly pedantic to outsiders, but really has an established theory about how it impacts the viewer. So is the case with type design. There are infinite combinations of shapes and sizes of symbols, and an entire science behind how humans interpret characters to form words and communicate ideas. Think about how much design went into just this paragraph you're reading. A bad type can be tiring to read, while a good one can make the words flow off the page/screen. As readers, we take this for granted, but a type designer needs to take all this into consideration. Consider the work it takes to design a logotype, and how it sometime seems deceptively simple, when in reality it takes a keen eye to design a brand logo. Now extrapolate that to all letters of all alphabets that a modern type should support, and it's no wonder that great type designers deserve all the praise and recognition. So, yes, all these documents are necessary, and explain the intent of the designer, or how the user feels the type helps with transmitting their message.

MAGZine 3y ago

It is actually amazing how much effort is seemingly expended on things like this. I think it's pretty simple: - there are a lot of people out there who love obsessing over software - they want to obsess over software - so they invent a purpose for obsessing over software I love it, I'm here for it, and I think we should give people money for obsessing over software. Just because it's simple on the surface does not mean that there's a lot that goes into it, or that the details don't matter. I feel like what you've written is a little reductionist to the hard work people put into designing frameworks for communications like this, and how much it can help to give voice and unify messaging in intra- and inter-institution communication. How do you keep two government agencies on the same page wrt to design language? or is it ok that one agency likes to produce communications in comic sans while the other uses sans and the third uses helvetica? It's one of those 99% invisible things.