Comments on: Optimamistic

By: Arachne Jericho

Arachne Jericho — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:45:01 +0000

When it comes to code, I would like to kill all folks who use non-monospace fonts.

When it comes to writing, Courier New grew on me. I actually prefer to compose in it (and I hate serif or sans serif). Not quite sure why. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been coding long enough to get used to the idea that Monospace Is Good.

(That said, I hate Courier New for coding. I usually use Monaco or Andale Mono. And yet I can’t use either of the latter fonts for writing comfortably; it just feels wrong, somehow.)

When it comes to reading… on screen it’s sans serif. On paper it’s serif. Why, I don’t know… probably because anti-aliasing works better on paper (or even electronic paper) than it does on the screen. Even on a Mac (although it’s pretty close to perfect on a Mac).

By: Jon Baker

Jon Baker — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:34:19 +0000

Optima was the font used for the original hardcover Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I once set up a sample page of Optima in a college class on the history of printing.

By: Giacomo

Giacomo — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:57:52 +0000

Athersgeo @#46: Where can we download the fonts? I have them because I copied the files from a friend’s Vista laptop, but I could use a direct download (I have not regular access to machines with Vista).

By: DG Lewis

DG Lewis — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:53:11 +0000

There’s a good article from Kevin Larson of Microsoft in IEEE Spectrum magazine on the development of the typefaces for Vista. http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/print/5049

By: John Scalzi

John Scalzi — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:20:51 +0000

Yup.

By: Pablo Defendini

Pablo Defendini — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:19:50 +0000

You know, those new M$ typefaces are rather nice, especially since they’re specially designed for on-screen viewing.

By: Athersgeo

Athersgeo — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:13:55 +0000

1) Cambria is very nice
2) Microsoft actually offer a free download that lets those of us who don’t want to touch Vista with a 20 mile barge pole get those nice new fonts
3) Thank you!

By: Dance

Dance — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:43:01 +0000

Ditto to Scalzi re Optima, Cambria, and anti-Courier. I’ve been known to tell students not to write in Courier, as my unconscious bad vibes will probably lower their grade.

Incidentally, re #15—Cambria also comes with Office 2007 and MacOffice 2008, so resisting Vista will not save you from it. But MS did 24 new fontsXXXX typefaces, of which Cambria is only one, and they are really quite nice.

By: Pablo Defendini

Pablo Defendini — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:17:27 +0000

Actually, John, apologies in advance if I this is too pedantic, but the usage of ‘typeface’ vs. ‘font’ is one of my pet peeves, so let me help set the record straight. . .

Mark Simonson explains it best, in a comment to a post on typophile.com: “The physical embodiment of a collection of letters (whether it’s a case of metal pieces or a computer file [regardless of how many actual weights are in a case—could be one, could be sixty]) is a font. When referring to the design of the collection (the way it looks [Helvetica v. Palatino]) you call it a typeface.”

And yeah, it probably is a losing battle, but man, this is one they’ll have to pry out of my cold dead composing stick. . .

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:08:45 +0000

I’ve set recent work in the Mrs. Eaves family, which I think looks quite elegant when printed. For anyone interested in a font of fonts, check out http://www.myfonts.com (no affiliation – just find it an interesting, easily searchable site). I particulary like the feature where you can upload a bitmap of text in a font you are not familiar with and they do their best to identify it for you (usually with success).