Minimal
stressed for motivation and achievement2003-05-27
Aliased fonts = ancient relics?
I'm currently tinkering with the visual design of various user interfaces at work and have come to realise something. Whenever I'm pushing pixels, I tend to do all font-related work without anti-aliasing.
This makes complete sense for most UI work, as the majority of standard UI fonts are between 8 and 12-point and remain aliased regardless of system settings. However, I also use aliased fonts when designing above 12pt. After all, not everyone uses the operating system's font-smoothing option, do they? I'm not just holding myself back unnecessarily, am I? Or am I?
Trouble is, the combination of aliased fonts and the limited set of typefaces on which you can rely to be present leaves you with very few choices for good-looking headings and the like. Come to think of it, I've made exactly the same compromises when designing websites too. But am I right to do so? Should I be designing for systems that use ClearType, Quartz, etc. and screw the rest, or should I still be making designs that look good without anti-aliasing?
You know, the sooner I get comments on this damned blog, the better. :)
Archives
April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007
