3 ms·

Geist, a typeface specifically designed for developers and designers

36 points by cratermoon 3y ago

OskarS 3y ago
If it's meant to be a monospace-for-coding font, they really should show off... you know... what code looks likes in it.
- cratermoon 3y ago
  I noticed that O and 0 don't look different. Although there's a big table on the page showing all the letterforms and numbers where the 0 has a slash, the demo has it with no slash. I'd fail it for programming if O and 0 are identical.
mikl 3y ago
Nice, but I wonder why Vercel is doing this. Is there some clause in the standard VC contract, that once you’ve raised enough capital, you have to commission your own typeface? We’re kinda getting spoiled with options, now every medium to large tech company seems to be releasing their own typeface.
- slater 3y ago
  It's a money-saving measure. Pay a typographer once and own your own font, vs. having to pay Monotype or whoever a yearly sub with endless licensing issues.
  - CharlesW 3y ago
    If it were just a money-saving measure, I'd imagine they'd have continued using Inter with whatever complementary monospaced font they had been using. Vercel's motivation appears to be that, unlike other fonts, Geist was designed with "precision, clarity, and functionality at its core", which "enhances the visual experience of developers and designers", which in turn finally "empowers them to effectively communicate their ideas".
    - csande17 3y ago
      Even if Inter wasn't a fit, and they really specifically needed an open-source font that looked like Helvetica (er, sorry, that drew "inspiration from the renowned Swiss design movement") with a more distinguishable I/l/1 and a monospace version, IBM Plex is free.
      - Jiocus 3y ago
        To iterate on mikl's question: also nice, but I wonder why IBM did this.
        cratermoon 3y ago
        Plex at least riffs on IBMs earlier typography efforts with the classic Selectric typewriter balls, notably the double story g.
    - hexasquid 3y ago
      At last!
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
- cjbprime 3y ago
  Yes, agree with you that it's a conspicuous consumption kind of thing.
- cratermoon 3y ago
  I dunno about VCs/ tech companies, but there are many companies with custom typefaces they use for their marketing materials, not just logos. Many of them are close to existing fonts so you don't notice. Alaska Airlines has AS Circular[1], e.g., but only type nerds would see the difference from Circular. Domino's has one, BBC[2], CNN , Coca-Cola (not just the swirly logo)[3], National Park Service has some[4], and of course Disney has Waltograph. 1 https://auro.alaskaair.com/typography/overview https://auro.alaskaair.com/typography/overview 2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/branding/reith-font/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/branding/reith-font/ 3 https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/visual-identity-pdf/the-coca-cola-foundation-visual-identity-2021.pdf https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/v... 4 https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/nps-graphic-identity-and-style-guides.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/nps-graphic-identity-and-st...
riidom 3y ago
Sans and mono as variable font are each around 45kb for the .woff2 - not bad!
spicybright 3y ago
Are fonts for programmers/designers just really easy to make or something? there has to be dozens if not hundreds I've seen actively promoted so far. I'm not saying people can't make what they want, I just don't see the point in making flashy websites trying to "sell" their free font?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
joezydeco 3y ago
My eye keeps getting drawn to the lowercase s. It looks wrong, like it's upside down.
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
Seen multiple comments about the O and 0 similarity making this unsuitable for programming, which seems like a big misstep.
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
The url for this is simply: https://vercel.com/font https://vercel.com/font (Submitted earlier this week)

36 points by cratermoon 3y ago

If it's meant to be a monospace-for-coding font, they really should show off... you know... what code looks likes in it.

cratermoon 3y ago
I noticed that O and 0 don't look different. Although there's a big table on the page showing all the letterforms and numbers where the 0 has a slash, the demo has it with no slash. I'd fail it for programming if O and 0 are identical.

mikl 3y ago

Nice, but I wonder why Vercel is doing this. Is there some clause in the standard VC contract, that once you’ve raised enough capital, you have to commission your own typeface? We’re kinda getting spoiled with options, now every medium to large tech company seems to be releasing their own typeface.

slater 3y ago
It's a money-saving measure. Pay a typographer once and own your own font, vs. having to pay Monotype or whoever a yearly sub with endless licensing issues.
- CharlesW 3y ago
  If it were just a money-saving measure, I'd imagine they'd have continued using Inter with whatever complementary monospaced font they had been using. Vercel's motivation appears to be that, unlike other fonts, Geist was designed with "precision, clarity, and functionality at its core", which "enhances the visual experience of developers and designers", which in turn finally "empowers them to effectively communicate their ideas".
  - csande17 3y ago
    Even if Inter wasn't a fit, and they really specifically needed an open-source font that looked like Helvetica (er, sorry, that drew "inspiration from the renowned Swiss design movement") with a more distinguishable I/l/1 and a monospace version, IBM Plex is free.
    - Jiocus 3y ago
      To iterate on mikl's question: also nice, but I wonder why IBM did this.
      - cratermoon 3y ago
        Plex at least riffs on IBMs earlier typography efforts with the classic Selectric typewriter balls, notably the double story g.
  - hexasquid 3y ago
    At last!
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
cjbprime 3y ago
Yes, agree with you that it's a conspicuous consumption kind of thing.
cratermoon 3y ago
I dunno about VCs/ tech companies, but there are many companies with custom typefaces they use for their marketing materials, not just logos. Many of them are close to existing fonts so you don't notice. Alaska Airlines has AS Circular[1], e.g., but only type nerds would see the difference from Circular. Domino's has one, BBC[2], CNN , Coca-Cola (not just the swirly logo)[3], National Park Service has some[4], and of course Disney has Waltograph. 1 https://auro.alaskaair.com/typography/overview https://auro.alaskaair.com/typography/overview 2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/branding/reith-font/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/branding/reith-font/ 3 https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/visual-identity-pdf/the-coca-cola-foundation-visual-identity-2021.pdf https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/v... 4 https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/nps-graphic-identity-and-style-guides.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/nps-graphic-identity-and-st...

riidom 3y ago

Sans and mono as variable font are each around 45kb for the .woff2 - not bad!

spicybright 3y ago

Are fonts for programmers/designers just really easy to make or something? there has to be dozens if not hundreds I've seen actively promoted so far. I'm not saying people can't make what they want, I just don't see the point in making flashy websites trying to "sell" their free font?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

joezydeco 3y ago

My eye keeps getting drawn to the lowercase s. It looks wrong, like it's upside down.

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

Seen multiple comments about the O and 0 similarity making this unsuitable for programming, which seems like a big misstep.

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

The url for this is simply: https://vercel.com/font https://vercel.com/font (Submitted earlier this week)