3 ms·

They overthought the whole thing. It's the usual design by committee mess you get when you take something that is undeniably simple (like a blog) and you elevat

They overthought the whole thing. It's the usual design by committee mess you get when you take something that is undeniably simple (like a blog) and you elevate it to something that is not. First of all, it looks like something straight out of the 90s that didn't age well. Secondly the choice of a sans-serif font for a text is questionable and the choice of Open Sans in particular is inexcusable. The other day I was reading an article on my Nexus 5 and I couldn't help but notice that the text is just too small/thin and the whole thing is just spaced wrong. If you ask me it' s a 4 out of 10 design wise.

jxf 13y ago
As a non-designer, can I ask what about Open Sans makes it "inexcusable" as a type choice?
- cliveowen 13y ago
  It's just too thin. There's a reason thin fonts on mobile OSes are used only for big text like date and time. Thin fonts are difficult to read, Open Sans particularly so.
  - ryanSrich 13y ago
    Hmmm.. That's strange considering Steve Matteson (the type designer)[1] optimized the typeface for both mobile and web use. Perhaps the mobile browser you're using is rending it quite differently. 1: http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans
  - ed209 13y ago
    Open Sans has plenty of weights to choose from, I don't think you should write off the whole font! http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans
  - stevewillows 13y ago
    I'd love to know what browser / os you're using. I'm running a galaxy s3 in 'tablet mode' (lcd density set to 160 from 320) and the text renders nicely.
- pcurve 13y ago
  The legibility could be better. I personally find it easier to read this Bloomberg article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/asia-stocks-halt-three-day-rally-fall-from-two-week-high.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/asia-stocks-halt-th... than this TC article. http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/18/mostly-believe-the-bitcoin-hype/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/18/mostly-believe-the-bitcoin-... Spacing between words seem a tad insufficient, font color a shade too light, and line-height a step too tight. With that said, it does look better on retina iPad than on my 23" ips display. (matte finish).

jxf 13y ago

As a non-designer, can I ask what about Open Sans makes it "inexcusable" as a type choice?

cliveowen 13y ago
It's just too thin. There's a reason thin fonts on mobile OSes are used only for big text like date and time. Thin fonts are difficult to read, Open Sans particularly so.
- ryanSrich 13y ago
  Hmmm.. That's strange considering Steve Matteson (the type designer)[1] optimized the typeface for both mobile and web use. Perhaps the mobile browser you're using is rending it quite differently. 1: http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans
- ed209 13y ago
  Open Sans has plenty of weights to choose from, I don't think you should write off the whole font! http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans
- stevewillows 13y ago
  I'd love to know what browser / os you're using. I'm running a galaxy s3 in 'tablet mode' (lcd density set to 160 from 320) and the text renders nicely.
pcurve 13y ago
The legibility could be better. I personally find it easier to read this Bloomberg article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/asia-stocks-halt-three-day-rally-fall-from-two-week-high.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/asia-stocks-halt-th... than this TC article. http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/18/mostly-believe-the-bitcoin-hype/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/18/mostly-believe-the-bitcoin-... Spacing between words seem a tad insufficient, font color a shade too light, and line-height a step too tight. With that said, it does look better on retina iPad than on my 23" ips display. (matte finish).