Punctuation dilemma

Nick Cooke

Further to this previous discussion; https://typedrawers.com/discussion/2418/which-g/p1I have developed the family further, but I'm undecided about the style of punctuation. I had started with the round tittles and punctuation, but I'm now veering towards the diamond shapes. I think it fits the overall design better. Any thoughts?

Andreas Stötzner

Since there is a sort of ‘pen-tone’ in the ductus of your type design, I would probably go for the diamonds.

Jasper de Waard

Definitely diamonds, but maybe they could be a tiny bit more round. 

Nick Shinn

Yes, diamonds, in particular because your question mark has so much pizzazz!

Christian Thalmann

Diamonds fit better in my opinion as well. The outward curvature of its sides greatly help in alleviating the usual problems of using diamonds.

John Hudson

I'm going to be the sole contrary voice, I guess. I think diamond-shaped punctuation dots always make a typeface look deliberately old-fashioned, like something that is trying to seem archaic. Yes, your design has some elements of broad-nib stroke modulation, but more than that it has generous, round proportions and lots of nice heavy curves. The diamond dots don't combine well with these features of the design, and the round dots look much better.

Cory Maylett

I like the diamonds, but because they're different, they do tend to draw attention to themselves and define the character of the typeface, which might be good or bad.

What I'm really curious about are your question marks; they're squiggly in a not-so-squiggly looking face. It's apparently intentionally, so I guess I'm wondering about your reasoning.

Nick Cooke

Cory Maylett said:

What I'm really curious about are your question marks; they're squiggly in a not-so-squiggly looking face. It's apparently intentionally, so I guess I'm wondering about your reasoning.

As this is an original design, and I'm not consciously following any historical precedent I figured I could do what I wanted so I did!

John: I get what you're saying, and I definitely don't want the design to feel archaic, but maybe if the dots were a bit rounder as per Jasper's suggestion? I don't really see them as having an old-fashioned appearance, just a different style. I'll see what they look like in the lighter weights, and the Display and Italic styles. Maybe I'll have to do two versions for the tittles and punctuation, until I stop dithering.

Nick: glad you like the question mark. I makes me think of Arabic type, maybe it's just the stress of it.

K Pease

With advantages to each, you may want to consider making it an OT stylistic set.

Thomas Phinney

Although OpenType stylistic sets are a lovely option for the cognoscenti, keep in mind that >90% of users won’t even realize they exist. So putting one or the other in a stylistic set does not at all reduce the importance of picking one or the other as the default.

(I suspect the logo of Pacific University is evidence: it uses a logo-designer–crafted single-story “a” instead of the Hypatia Sans typeface’s two-story default. But Hypatia Sans *has* a perfectly good alternate single-story “a”—the designer presumably just didn't realize it so they made one instead. I like the one from the typeface better.)

Christian Thalmann

Thomas Phinney said:

Although OpenType stylistic sets are a lovely option for the cognoscenti, keep in mind that >90% of users won’t even realize they exist.

That's why I always offer spin-off fonts of my typefaces with the most important stylistic sets promoted to default along with the official cut (at no extra cost to the buyer).

Nick Cooke

Thomas Phinney said:

Although OpenType stylistic sets are a lovely option for the cognoscenti, keep in mind that >90% of users won’t even realize they exist. So putting one or the other in a stylistic set does not at all reduce the importance of picking one or the other as the default.

(I suspect the logo of Pacific University is evidence: it uses a logo-designer–crafted single-story “a” instead of the Hypatia Sans typeface’s two-story default. But Hypatia Sans *has* a perfectly good alternate single-story “a”—the designer presumably just didn't realize it so they made one instead. I like the one from the typeface better.)

I know, frustrating isn't it? The number of times I've seen designer-created alternates of letters that already exist in one of my fonts is too many to count, and they're usually appalling. 

I was already thinking of a stylistic set, half knowing I'm just making work for myself and it would be a futile task anyway but powerless to stop myself. 

Thomas Phinney

Oh hey, don’t get me wrong. I will still make all the stylistic sets and such, too. At least I can use them. 
:

Russell McGorman

I like the diamonds... Because they're different, but also because the round punctuation looks too big to me. The diamonds have a more pleasing proportional relation to the the letters.

Adam Jagosz

The round variants are too big for text, but maybe even a tad too light for display. I find their roundness combined with their big size appetizing. The round curly quotes I find too light, though, and similarly the spine of the question mark.

Nick Cooke

I had originally done the punctuation too small so I bigged it up. I've been messing about with it for ages. I feel it should be fairly big. 

Nick Cooke

See https://typedrawers.com/discussion/2418/which-g#latest