Ask HN: Got font? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Got font?

3 pointsvram226 comments

Hi HN, I saw a new (to me) font that I liked recently, on someone's blog. (I would mention it, but do not want that to influence any of the answers.) That made me think of asking this question: What fonts do you like, and use, on your site or blog? I should mention that I don't know much about typography.

Thanks in advance for all the replies.

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This is a pretty deep rabbit hole to go down, and you will find some strongly opinionated people on this topic. You may want to consider the download cost of a font to your visitor in some cases.

That being said here are some good resources:

https://fonts.google.com/ https://www.fontsquirrel.com/

If you're interested here is a catalog of the TeX fonts: http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/

Some advice on internet typography from a TeX perspective (probably not for everyone, favors more information dense layouts): http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/

As for what fonts I personally like Roboto Slab from google for websites, and Gentium for print. I am a fan of serif fonts for text -- I think the sans-serif default for computer screens made more sense with older, lower DPI monitors.

Gentium: http://software.sil.org/gentium/

Thanks, will check the links out.

I'll keep in mind the download cost of a font.

I don't know why, but I seem to be the only person who actually likes the Verdana font face.

Seen its name in web pages (in View Source), but don't remember what it looks like. Also, IIRC, had first come across it in the HTML of a Java / J2EE web app I worked on much earlier. Will check it out, thanks.

In my opinion, recently launched Vllg.com got some of the best new fonts. I especially love Galaxie Copernicus and Sharp Sans Display set.

Cool. Will check.

BTW this is the font I had seen and liked - the one in the body text at this site:

http://eleganthack.com/

Squarish in shape, and for some reason, to me, it makes the text appear good. Like I said, don't know typography, so don't know if there is any specific reason why it looks good to me, or is it all purely subjective.

Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech comes to mind, BTW. He talks about typography in it.

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

https://youtu.be/VHWUCX6osgM

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