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Nebula Sans
- lelandfe 1y agoSo this is a free Whitney with some tweaks? > Source Sans was the perfect foundation for Nebula Sans because it shares many primary characteristics with Whitney SSm, our previous brand typeface One differing characteristic presumably being requiring payment to Hoefler & Co.
- jofzar 1y agoIt looks more like a derivative then a copy/clone. Their video explains it way further and is worth a watch.suprisingly captivating. (You can select no and view it without paying) https://nebula.tv/videos/nebula-sans?ref=nebulasans https://nebula.tv/videos/nebula-sans?ref=nebulasans It's also worth watching this video if you are interested in how this works. https://youtu.be/J06tluN7rtE https://youtu.be/J06tluN7rtE It's a super interesting video on the history of fonts and how digitizing it works.
- risogiraffe 1y ago> One differing characteristic presumably being requiring payment to Hoefler & Co. * Monotype
- nucleogenesis 1y agoI’m not a huge font nerd but this looks really swanky. Gonna use it as my DE default font for sure. I appreciate the site’s overview and comparisons and such too
- tasuki 1y agoIn what way are you finding it better than Source Sans?
- Tepix 1y agoLooks great! My first impression is the spacing is a bit wide, but that can be adjusted.
- exceptione 1y agoSame, the spacing is a bit odd. I am curious about the rationale, as I think this is not great for longer forms of text. Of course you can adjust char spacing, but normally font designers will make a condensed variant to make that work for corner cases.
- jofzar 1y agoI can't recommend this video enough about how digitizing fonts work and how copyright works for fonts. It's short (5 mins) but is so wonderful. https://youtu.be/J06tluN7rtE https://youtu.be/J06tluN7rtE
- nikodunk 1y agoWonderful video, thank you! The one on the linked Nebula page is also great. It’s funny - I subscribe to Nebula (a “boutique” video platform) and subconsciously have felt these things that are talked about in both videos, but I needed someone to point them out to me for me to consciously notice.
- svantana 1y agoThey forgot to add "...in the US". Some jurisdictions have more protection [1]. In practice though, it works as it always does: do what you want, you probably won't get sued, but if you do, it totally sucks - even if you do have the law on your side. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protection_of_typefaces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protecti...
- globular-toast 1y agoWhy do the increasing weights also look larger? Also, since they've shown it white on black a few times, aren't fonts supposed to have different weights for black on white vs white on black to compensate for different perceived weight?
- robin_reala 1y agoThis is one of the big benefits of variable fonts with a bold axis: you can tweak the optical weight for dark mode without needing a whole new face.
- delta_p_delta_x 1y agoAll glyphs are indistinguishable from Source Sans. The 'thin'/'light' weights are kerned further apart (and in my opinion, worse) than in Source Sans. Given these, why does this typeface deserve a new name? It is Source Sans, full stop. At least Arial (Helvetica copy) and Segoe UI and Myriad (Frutiger copies) have a handful of distinguishing glyphs. I have a very hot take—with typefaces, you absolutely get what you pay for. I don't like the vast majority of SIL Open Font Licence type faces, with a handful of exceptions. Most of them have glyphs that are an absolute eyesore, are weighted, sized, hinted, and kerned terribly, don't have any character whatsoever (they're all copies of copies of copies of Helvetica) and don't encode nearly enough glyphs/combining marks in Unicode. Hint: if I can't type IAST/ISO 15919 without tofu showing up, then the font doesn't have enough Latin glyphs. The majority of digital fonts are either not hinted at all (which makes them look like crap on low – medium resolution monitors), or appear to be hinted on and for macOS, which doesn't have sub-pixel anti-aliasing, but rather greyscale (i.e. full-pixel) AA. The result looks quite bad on Windows and Linux. It looks bad on macOS in monitors with lower pixel density, too. I will gladly pay for a well-designed typeface (or by proxy, pay a font database subscription). The effort that designers have to put in to design something new from complete scratch is immense. Designers have to come up with unique glyphs, and then when actually setting up the curves, then have to think about how the typeface will vary along several dimensions: weight, size, display pixel density, print versus display, and so on. It's no wonder that the best fonts cost thousands. Good fonts that have both character and are immediately legible without being unnecessarily fancy is an extremely fine line to tread and in my opinion only a handful of typefaces have managed to balance all of these through the centuries. Some of my favourites follow. Sans-serifs include Helvetica, Frutiger, Futura, Myriad, Johnston, Optima, Transport, DIN (and its many variants; my favourite is FF DIN), Ocean Sans, and Segoe UI. Serifs include Roman-cut (including Trajan), Garamond, Minion, a handful of Didone types, Berkeley Old Style, and Palatino.
- nisa 1y agoI agree and I'd like to know what's your take on the Fira font family? I've configured my desktop and browser to use this font and now I can't go back. Subjectively I kind of developed a little crush on that font and I'm interested if it also has technical merit or if I'm just making things up in my mind.
- jofzar 1y agoI can't believe I am learning of tabular options for fonts from this post... I have always just used a different monospace font for the numbers, didn't realize it was an option that some fonts supported. {font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums}
- robin_reala 1y agoYou’re not the only one to be fair. I had to point this out to GitHub just last November: https://github.com/primer/css/pull/2680 https://github.com/primer/css/pull/2680
- jofzar 1y agoYeah it makes so much sense it's a feature I just feel like I have never seen it before.
- robin_reala 1y agoThe CSS hooks in to OpenType font functionality, and there’s a load of other features that can be built in. Wikipedia has a good overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typographic_features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typographic_features
- Gare 1y agoNot only that, some fonts have a vast number of tweaks available: https://rsms.me/inter/#features https://rsms.me/inter/#features
- bbx 1y agoInter is a great suggestion to try out modern font features. The lab is really useful: https://rsms.me/inter/lab/ https://rsms.me/inter/lab/
- mbrezu 1y agoLook for opentype features in https://practicaltypography.com/ https://practicaltypography.com/. There is more fun stuff, right next to tabular numbers. And if you want more, there is also https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://fonts.google.com/knowledge/stop_stealing_sheep.pdf https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=8997844....
- davedx 1y ago“neutral aesthetic” Subdued, muted and neutral seems to be very much “in” at the moment. On one hand it definitely gives us highly readable, usable interfaces and text. But I do miss the chaos and vibrance of the early web. Modern web is starting to look really washed out.
- kruxigt 1y ago[dead]
- code_biologist 1y agoThe moment you let the low contrast gremlins out of the cage they start their mischief! Flat design is the more sucky partner to neutral palettes in current design trends, IMO. I want color too but it's not a clear step towards usability. I think the return of gentle skeumorphism would be a good step for general usability.
- msla 1y agoSans serif fonts can't distinguish between Weird AI and Weird Al, so I don't know what makes them readable.
- JimRyan 1y ago> We believe in facts, science, and human rights The font looks ok. This is an off putting sample sentence though. It sounds like a secular, pseudo-liturgical version of the Nicene creed.
- jay_kyburz 1y agoWhats wrong with facts, science, and human rights?
- graemep 1y agoScience is not something to be believed in, it is a methodology that involves making and testing theories etc. People argue about it is and how it works and should work (philosophy of science is a significant field in itself) and it is not well defined, but what it is NOT is a body of facts. Particular scientific theories may be believed in (or not believed in). That said their samples sentences also include things such as "We’re assembling a crew for a heist" so maybe not take these things too seriously?
- teamonkey 1y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism
- graemep 1y agoTheir samples sentences also include things such as "We’re assembling a crew for a heist" so maybe not take these things too seriously?
- ChiefNotAClue 1y agoSome of the examples are references from the shows on Nebula. That one is likely from HAI Crime Spree. "Enter the Snack Zone" is from Jet Lag: The Game.
- jonathantf2 1y agoEnter the Snack Zone!
- Leptonmaniac 1y agoOk, it is a font alright. To me, it looks exactly as all the other fonts I have on my OS already, but I guess that's just how it is if you are not in the font bubble.
- nine_k 1y agoOn the screen, in small print, you may not notice the difference between this and, say, Franklin Gothic. But in print the difference is more noticeable, even if not immediately visible without taking a closer look. If you encounter a booklet purported to be form Bank of America set in this typeface instead of Franklin Gothic, it will look very similar but you'll feel that something is slightly off.
- kissgyorgy 1y agoI'm not into fonts at all either, but this looks like more crispier and more readable that I anything saw before. I don't know exactly why.
- latexr 1y agoErik Spiekermann is a German typographer who gave a talk called (something to the effect of) “why do we need so many typefaces”. At one point, Erik simply shows a slide with “this is why”, in what is clearly the Marlboro font. Fonts have different metrics which affect recognisability, legibility, and understanding. There are fonts which evoke a feeling (think heavy metal band), others which are practical (exaggerated letter forms to help dyslexia), and many many many bad fonts too, such as ones with bad kerning which make words like “therapists” read “the rapists” or “morn” read “mom”. The fonts you have on your computer are all different and have their own strengths and weaknesses which affect you and your perception of what you read, even if you’re unaware of it.
- yencabulator 1y agoYou've given examples of fonts for branding. Those are not everyday use fonts. We don't program with heavy metal band logos. The fonts we actually use are interchangeable, and people outside the font bubble won't even notice the differences.
- eps 1y agoLittle PSA: a) This is a clone of Whitney, an incredibly beautiful and unique typeface from 2004 b) Whitney was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones c) He was an equal co-founder of the H&fJ foundry d) He designed the vast majority of their most famous fonts, including Gotham, Archer and Armada e) Somehow, for years, Hoefler never did the paperwork to confirm FJ's co-ownership f) When pressed, he instead kicked FJ out, kept all the fonts and renamed the shop "Hoefler" Hoefler is an asshole. A free clone of Whitney is the least of what he deserves.
- EmilStenstrom 1y agoThis is not a clone. They just matched the *outer dimensions* of Whitney, so that they could swap out their old font and not have to remake all their typography.
- eps 1y agoNot 1:1, but it has an extremely similar look and feel. In how glyphs are cut and the rhytm of the typeface. Scroll down to "Comparison of Nebula Sans versus Whitney SSm" part of the linked page. I was literally going to complain here that it was a Whitney clone before seeing them mention it on the page.
- delta_p_delta_x 1y ago> the rhytm of the typeface That's what the parent commenter means by 'They just matched the outer dimensions of Whitney'. In other words, metrically compatible. To the untrained eye, metrically compatible typefaces all look the same, because they're meant to be swapped between each other. In my view Whitney and Source Sans couldn't be more different. The stroke cuts in Whitney are angled, they're perpendicular in Source Sans. The lowercase 'b', 'e', and 'g' are very different in both fonts.
- nine_k 1y agoThey have a comparison at the bottom of the page. Some letters are dead ringers, some, like "g", differ significantly.
- Mond_ 1y agoNo smallcaps variant? Disappointing honestly.
- anotheryou 1y agowell if they don't need it
- velo_aprx 1y agoMost typefaces all look the same to me... I think I'm typeface blind if there is such a thing. It's all just text to me...
- hnarn 1y agoOne of the things that made me interested in fonts was many years ago when I looked up the difference between Arial and Helvetica, and ever since I did that I react every time I see Arial used in print or signage because some of the letters are really awful in comparison. The most obvious difference is probably the capital R which to me looks terrible in Arial. Here's an image showing some overlay examples: https://i.imgur.com/1sdXiNY.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/1sdXiNY.jpeg
- codedokode 1y agoIt's great to see more freely available fonts. But the site shows examples of a font in an elephant size; this seems to be the font for the main text so it would be nice to see a paragraph in a small size (like 16px, 14px, 12px, 10px). Out of curiosity I did it using Developer Tools in a browser - seems legible.
- sen 1y agoThat seems like a lot of marketing effort for “we took an existing font and stretched some bits”?
- dejongh 1y agoThanks for posting and commenting. The choice of font is a great way to add aesthetics to text - designers so use this opportunity a lot more IMHO.
- anotheryou 1y agoActually good comparison in the video: https://i.imgur.com/jSTJixC.png https://i.imgur.com/jSTJixC.png Sadly to me Wittney feels clean yet coherent, Nebula Sans feels characterless like a UI thrown together without any real font choice made yet.
- 1oooqooq 1y agoyet nother font you cannot discern I l |. into the trash it goes.
- foray1010 1y ago100% agree, I don't understand why it is acceptable, it is very confusing on abbreviation.
- thm 1y agoNo variable format in 2025?
- eqvinox 1y ago> No variable format in 2025? You're presumably referring to variable fonts, aka multiple master fonts/MMF. Making a multiple master font is massively more work than discrete variations. The complete total number of MM fonts in existence is a 2- or 3-digit number, out of at least tens of thousands of fonts, if not millions. Demanding or implying that fonts should be MM in 2025 is just plain out of touch with reality.
- tempodox 1y agoI don't get how they call a font “readable” where the lowercase ell looks way too similar to the uppercase aye. I for one would not use such a font.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- msla 1y agoI'd like sans serif fonts more if they were readable, including being able to distinguish Weird Al from Weird AI.
- todotask2 1y agoMy only wish to to have a font with: - Alt a - single story g - plain upper case I and L - geometric 3 - and a $ Inter is a just slightly bolder by default.