4 ms·

A bit of a tangent to the subject of the blog, but something that has been bugging for a while. What's up with all these blogs that choose fonts that are just n

A bit of a tangent to the subject of the blog, but something that has been bugging for a while. What's up with all these blogs that choose fonts that are just not that good for readability? In this case, monospace. It's not code, it is not formatted as code, making it a bad choice for comfortable reading. Are these people not writing blogs to be read? And just to be ahead of it, just because you are able to read it doesn't mean it wouldn't be easier and more comfortable to read in a more suitable font.

0898 2y ago
It’s a retro nod to newsletters like NTK and Popbitch, I believe.
- creesch 2y ago
  I get that it is an aesthetic choice. One I can't really understand given the main purpose of a blog, I think anyway, is to be read.
williamdclt 2y ago
I always think that if I prefer to enable Firefox's reader view on a blog, they _really_ messed up: a bland, basic, generic syling is preferrable to their custom one. It's what happens with most blogs, sadly
- creesch 2y ago
  It is indeed what prompted me to go on this tangent. I see so many blog posts being posted here that are just unnecessarily uncomfortable to read. It's just baffling how a person can spend time and effort to publish something on the internet, clearly wanting people to read it, and then not consider the bare basics.
inetknght 2y ago
> What's up with all these blogs that choose fonts that are just not that good for readability? In this case, monospace. It's not code, it is not formatted as code, making it a bad choice for comfortable reading. That's a subjective opinion. I vastly prefer monospaced fonts. They're easier to read!
- creesch 2y ago
  Not really, there have been various studies that have shown that for the majority of people and cases sans serif fonts are the better choice for reading. There are some exceptions. Obviously, code is one of these, as code is explicitly differently structured. Dyslexia is another one where monospaced fonts might actually increase readability. But overall they decrease readability compared to other font types.
  - msla 2y ago
    > Not really, there have been various studies that have shown that for the majority of people and cases sans serif fonts are the better choice for reading. ... so therefore thinline grey-on-gray text is ideal! Good meeting, let's do lunch. You can nitpick the linked site, but it is amazingly readable compared to sites that feel compelled to adhere to modern fashions, like having blinking, throbbing nonsense in the field of vision making it impossible to concentrate on the actual text, or making the text too small unless you have exactly the same ultra-retina 8K HD phone the author does, or thinking "contrast" is a city in Turkey.
    - creesch 2y ago
      Well that is one way to go over the top with a counterargument. I am not advocating for any of that, just that maybe a sans serif would have been a more suitable choice.
      - msla 2y ago
        It's odd how you insist that sans serif is more readable when body text in every book (OK, every grown-up book) I've read has been serif, as far as I can remember.
        creesch 2y ago
        This very much feels like an arguing for the sake of arguing type response to me. Given that, what I am typing isn't obscure knowledge in the slightest. Anyway, assuming you are honestly just curious. Sans serif has shown to be the better readable font type on displays. Granted, on modern displays with higher density pixels that is less important. Either way, both are a better choice compared to a monospaced font.

0898 2y ago

It’s a retro nod to newsletters like NTK and Popbitch, I believe.

creesch 2y ago
I get that it is an aesthetic choice. One I can't really understand given the main purpose of a blog, I think anyway, is to be read.

williamdclt 2y ago

I always think that if I prefer to enable Firefox's reader view on a blog, they _really_ messed up: a bland, basic, generic syling is preferrable to their custom one. It's what happens with most blogs, sadly

creesch 2y ago
It is indeed what prompted me to go on this tangent. I see so many blog posts being posted here that are just unnecessarily uncomfortable to read. It's just baffling how a person can spend time and effort to publish something on the internet, clearly wanting people to read it, and then not consider the bare basics.

inetknght 2y ago

> What's up with all these blogs that choose fonts that are just not that good for readability? In this case, monospace. It's not code, it is not formatted as code, making it a bad choice for comfortable reading. That's a subjective opinion. I vastly prefer monospaced fonts. They're easier to read!

creesch 2y ago
Not really, there have been various studies that have shown that for the majority of people and cases sans serif fonts are the better choice for reading. There are some exceptions. Obviously, code is one of these, as code is explicitly differently structured. Dyslexia is another one where monospaced fonts might actually increase readability. But overall they decrease readability compared to other font types.
- msla 2y ago
  > Not really, there have been various studies that have shown that for the majority of people and cases sans serif fonts are the better choice for reading. ... so therefore thinline grey-on-gray text is ideal! Good meeting, let's do lunch. You can nitpick the linked site, but it is amazingly readable compared to sites that feel compelled to adhere to modern fashions, like having blinking, throbbing nonsense in the field of vision making it impossible to concentrate on the actual text, or making the text too small unless you have exactly the same ultra-retina 8K HD phone the author does, or thinking "contrast" is a city in Turkey.
  - creesch 2y ago
    Well that is one way to go over the top with a counterargument. I am not advocating for any of that, just that maybe a sans serif would have been a more suitable choice.
    - msla 2y ago
      It's odd how you insist that sans serif is more readable when body text in every book (OK, every grown-up book) I've read has been serif, as far as I can remember.
      - creesch 2y ago
        This very much feels like an arguing for the sake of arguing type response to me. Given that, what I am typing isn't obscure knowledge in the slightest. Anyway, assuming you are honestly just curious. Sans serif has shown to be the better readable font type on displays. Granted, on modern displays with higher density pixels that is less important. Either way, both are a better choice compared to a monospaced font.