23 Typefaces Join MoMA Permanent Collection | Hacker News Reader

23 Typefaces Join MoMA Permanent Collection

nytimes.com

31 pointstysone9 comments

Information from MOMA itself, including a list of the typefaces and pictures of them all: http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/01/24/digital-fo...

And here's the brief list of typefaces: OCR-A, New Alphabet, Bell Centennial, ITC Galliard, FF Meta, Oakland, Keedy Sans, FF Beowolf, Template Gothic, Dead History, HTF Didot, FF Blur, Mason, Mantinia, Interstate, Big Caslon, FF DIN, Walker, Verdana, Mercury, Miller, Retina, Gotham.

(Trivia: Oakland [EDIT: duh, no, FF Beowolf; thanks, prs!] was designed by Just van Rossum, brother of Guido van Rossum, creator of the Python programming language.)

Minor correction: FF Beowolf rather than Oakland was designed by Just van Rossum.

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=...

Minor correction: Beowolf was designed by Just van Rossum and Erik van Blokland.

It was written in Postscript and was the first typeface to dynamically change every time it printed.

Including Verdana is a mistake. It's only in there because it looks OK on current low resolution screens. When retina-style displays are ubiquitous it's just going to be puzzling to people that it's keeping such good company.

EDIT: OK, I've RTFA now and I see their point (it's a historical curiosity). It still think it's too boring to be in the list, but it does make some sense.

For anybody who was doing extensive reading off the screen around that time, Verdana was a blessing. Pages set in Verdana were often markedly more legible than their counterparts. "Boring" wasn't a factor. Eyestrain was.

A lot of people still get this wrong. I have several bookmarklets in the browser toolbar to whack bad font choices (as well, color choices and leading) on pages I'm interested in actually, you know, reading.

In this sense, Verdana deserves the kudos. As well, MS, for making it freely available. (I didn't even read about any chairs being thrown.)

P.S. I like its contemporary sibling, Georgia, as well. Similar design goals, in a serif format.

Here's one article I seem to recall from several years ago, though I haven't reread the whole thing just now:

http://www.will-harris.com/verdana-georgia.htm

MoMA website has the list of typefaces (scroll down) as well as pictures: http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/01/24/digital-fo...

Interesting that more than half of these 23 fonts are from just three designers: Carter, Hoefler and Frere-Jones. Carter alone accounts for 30%. Carter's Georgia, not included here, is an unsung masterpiece of a display font, tarnished a bit by ubiquity, sure, but still so easy on the eyes.

Georgia will forever be ensconced by the schoolchildren of the nineties as the best font to subtly enlarge Times New Roman, lengthening a school-paper, without actually changing the point size.

Incase anyone is wondering about the shirt in the article photograph: http://www.experimentaljetset.nl/archive/john-paul-ringo-geo...

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