Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with typefaces

Can a font really describe someone?

malusmoriendumest — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:34:57 -0800

Having a partial tattoo-sleeve inked this month; could use some feedback on the personality of fonts/typefaces This month my partial sleeve goes on- it's planned for both arms but firstly for the right. It's a design of two 19th century pin-bolt shackles at upper arm and wrist with an old-design metal chain that winds around the arm between the two.

Each link of the chain is large enough to hold a person's name; I hadn't planned anything about the fonts previously. But a friend asked me which ones I'd use for which name, which got me thinking- is it possible to argue that a person's personality can be represented by a font? It seems unlikely, since there are thousands; on anything more than the most simplistic level, at least.

If it could be argued to be possible, then which font would you use for these people?

1) Older, conservative British male, working-class, reactionary.
2) Erratic young Scottish woman from Glasgow, drug-addicted, chaotic and unconventional.

Any ideas would be appreciated- I know it's an utterly bizarre question.

How Can I Make Windows Fonts Look Better?

justcorbly — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:12:57 -0800

How can I make font display in Windows look better? I recently had to set up a Windows 7 (64-bit) machine. I haven't used Windows for several years. The quality of the font display doesn't seem to have improved. Fonts look ragged to me. Big headline fonts at news sites are pretty awful, like they were slapped on by a sloppy painter. How can I make this better? Any tricks or products that address this? I've used Cleartype but, frankly, I not sure I noticed anything change.

Where or how can I find classic sports team / varsity typefaces?

FuckingAwesome — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:32:52 -0800

Where or how can I find classic sports team / varsity typefaces? I am particularly interested in the "Varsity" and "Script" styles depicted here...

http://www.uniformsexpress.com/letter.htm

Please don't say DaFont...

Thanks!

invitation font?

peep — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:39:38 -0800

Yet another font recommendation request. My boss has decided I'm a graphic designer! I'm making invitations for a corporate event (think conservative-ish, somewhat formal & staid but not fancy.

There is unfortunately a vast wall of text on these things, despite my protests. So something professional, readable, looks good in print, and looks good while rendered in quite a small font size.

I have NO idea what type or style or what looks good. I'm no expert & I know it. So any help would be much appreciated.

Suggest a serif to accompany Imago?

liketitanic — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:40:05 -0800

Designers, can you suggest a serif font to pair with Berthold Imago for a promotional postcard? I'm thinking an Old Style font, but I'm not sure which would be best--nor whether I will be able to find one that's already on my Mac--not sure I can shell out big money for a second font. Any ideas?

FontFilter: What font would work well with various family members of Briem Akademi?

deinemutti — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:25:57 -0800

FontFilter: What font would work well with various family members of Briem Akademi? I'm a graphic design student and I'm beginning to design a personal identity set: business card, letterhead, envelope. I have my basic design finished, which uses Briem Akademi for the name (family members are semibold, regular and condensed).

While these look fine for the name, I don't think it's going to work for contact info as far as readability goes. I don't know whether I should use a sans-serif font or a serif font. Any ideas/suggestions?

Words, words, words.

bookwo3107 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:53:16 -0800

Tattoo Typeface Troubles: My sister and I are looking to get a line from Hamlet tattooed on our wrists, and want it to look like it was printed out of a book. Help me (us) choose a good typeface! The exact line is "Words, words, words." I'm kind of thinking something that looks timeless, but at least slightly unique. Thanks in advance!

"We don't serve your type here"

le morte de bea arthur — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:28:44 -0800

Somewhat convoluted font licensing question - see inside. Scenario: I'm writing a small publicly accessible web app. Part of what this web app does is to allow someone to enter some text, pick a font from a list, and download an image containing some text in that font.

Question: How should I proceed in terms of picking and licensing fonts for my web app?

Additional Details:

Ideally I'd like to make available the kinds of typefaces a designer might pick: Helvetica, Myriad, Gill Sans, Fruitger, Rockwell and so on. Even better would be to enable registered (i.e paying) users to upload and use their own fonts (i.e. they wouldn't be available to other users).

Now font licensing, from what I've read, can be rather complicated, and it's starting to look like what I want to do may require a budget I just don't have - my budget really just covers hosting and my own time. So can you think of clever ways I can navigate this potential minefield? And does anyone have the remotest idea what licensing issues there might be with allowing someone to upload a commercial font to my site, assuming they would be the sole user of that font.

Ideas I've had so far:
i) Use cheap (or free) 'clone' typefaces - how legal is this? - given that these would be used at relatively small sizes (up to, say, 20 pixels high), would these pass muster among 'real' designers?
ii) Attach restrictions to the font upload option - ask users to self-certify that they are not uploading anything for which they do not have copyright or appropriate permission.
iii) Just risk using my own bought copies of these fonts on my site - the reasoning being that it would be extremely difficult (maybe impossible) for anyone to determine the provenance of the fonts I'm using on the server. Yes, I know, very dubious, and this is specifically what I'm trying to avoid, so please keep the preaching to a minimum.

Procrastination by complaints of nerdy eyeball pain

dreamyshade — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 02:50:41 -0800

Which typefaces survive savage photocopying? Are there any designed with this in mind? As a literature student, I read a lot of badly-xeroxed and multiply-xeroxed pages. Some of those pages are still ok to read and some aren't. Have type designers or other people thought about how to prevent photocopiers from eating chunks of their letterforms? (Maybe Knuth did? Also, I don't find that serifs remain very well.) Maybe I should hole up with a photocopier and find out for myself?

אַ סך שריפֿטן איך בעט אײַך

Gnatcho — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 13:38:45 -0800

(Free) Unicode-compatible Hebrew modern handwriting fonts That is, a font with characters like this (those in the script column). I'd be using it for Yiddish actually, but that's irrelevant. I'm on OS X 10.4.

Are yellow serif subtitles more legible?

NoMich — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 07:16:44 -0800

I went to see a foreign film yesterday and was dismayed that the subtitles were in white. Isn't it a proven fact that subtitles show up better when in yellow? Also, why are subtitles in a sans serif font? I read something sometime ago that printed text should be in a serif font because it's easier on the eyes. Something about the serif thingies allowing your eyes to flow from letter to letter easier than a sans serif font.

Common Typefaces in 1790-1850 England and 1870-1915 France?

Grod — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:18:45 -0800

Mefi typographers and historians, lend me your knowledge!
What typefaces were most common for the following applications during the following time spans and in the following locations? (follow inside) Time: 1790 through 1850
Place: Britain
Application: leaflets and handbills

Same as above, application: journals and books

Time: 1870 through 1915
Place: France
Applications: see above

I am interested especially in typefaces historically associated with left-wing labor and socialist movements in Europe. What face(s) would the People's Charter have been printed in? The Communist Manifesto? Did the SPD (which, of course, is still around) favor any one typeface for its 90 odd newspapers? You get the idea.

Are these faces (or reasonable facsimiles) available in digital form?