Comments | eriktheplaid: The Plea (And Confession) of a Type Torturer

eriktheplaid

The Plea (And Confession) of a Type Torturer

Jan 13, 2008 17:33

[Cross-posted from my
MovableType Blog]

Please believe me. I’ve tried. I will grant that some of those attempts may have been half-hearted, but I was weary, down-hearted. I didn’t think that I could do it (and I’m still skeptical), but I can’t live this lie, maintain this charade any longer, and so this voice cries in the wilderness, hoping ( Read more... )

type geek, design, help, cross-posted, frustration, plea, fonts, typography

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orb_box January 14 2008, 16:40:50 UTC

I'm guessing that similarly Optima isn't going to be the right fit either. I will keep pondering...

orb_box January 14 2008, 17:02:00 UTC

You know, I do think I've found a good candidate:

Xheighter Condensed Bold & Condensed Bold Italic

If not, then you may want to examine the Freeset and Gothic families...

orb_box January 15 2008, 01:52:29 UTC

Oh, and if you disagree, (or agree) I would love to hear your thoughts on why.

eriktheplaid January 15 2008, 03:03:26 UTC

Sorry, I planned to, I just got swamped (well, meeting hell) at work and hadn't even had a chance to look yet. I sat down now to do so and just got called to dinner. Back in a bit.

eriktheplaid January 15 2008, 05:06:54 UTC

Xheighter Condensed Bold & Condensed Bold Italic

My first reaction was "YES! Exactly!" But now I'm not so sure. The x-height is extreme, to say the least (not that it's surprising, given the name), and the fact that it differs so much from the, er, height of the cross bars in the capitals (I forget what that's called) bothers me. (Though it may not be as noticeable in normal text as it is in MiXeD cAsE sAmPlEs). Actually, yeah, it's not so bad in real text.

Less of a big deal is the fact that I'd like to keep the binocular "g" glyph if I can. It's silly, I know, but I love them.

Ooh, speaking of the "g" the bowl floats above the baseline, and the joint of the "y" actually falls below. Those might be a deal breaker given the business formal nature of the document in question. (too "whimsical")

Still, it's much better than Agenda by a long shot, and something I can see using in other projects, if I ultimately reject it for this one. Thanks!

If not, then you may want to examine the Freeset and Gothic families...Hmm, yes, Free Set is ( ... )

orb_box January 15 2008, 05:37:49 UTC

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.htm?pid=408817&

Actually.... orb_box January 15 2008, 05:39:12 UTC

This one:

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.htm?pid=431263&

Re: Actually.... orb_box January 15 2008, 05:40:37 UTC

This variant doesn't have the binocular g, though.

When this all started, I immediately thought of Impact, but there is no proper italic for it. (and it has a "wonky" question mark)

eriktheplaid January 15 2008, 03:42:46 UTC

I'm guessing that similarly Optima isn't going to be the right fit either. I will keep pondering...

I used to LOVE Optima, since it was the only sans serif I knew with stress. I kinda OD'd on it. And the stress means you need to be very careful when pairing it with a serifed font, since it tends to clash badly.

On the other hand, (while I was really thinking of something quite a bit more condensed) Optima Extra Black might actually work, and I can try it for real, since I already have it. I'd need to purchase the italic, but I was planning on purchasing both, so that would be a benefit, actually. :)

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