Work hygene

Vasil Stanev
Vasil Stanev Posts: 775
edited March 2020 in Type Business
What kind of tips and tricks can you share about keeping the eyes healthy and perception accurate? I am working on an italic and the monitor appears skewed, so I thought there may be good reason to keep a dummy oblique version so I normalize my sight. I sometimes feel the last letters in the set should be more slanted, even if I know there's no reason to.

My father told me to do some gymnastics every 2-3 hours or so and once every hour stare off into the distance and back to the keyboard several times, but I get so carried away designing that I forget to do this.

Comments

  • David Vereschagin
    David Vereschagin Posts: 18
    I use a timing app, Pester for the Mac (there are probably others), to remind me to take an eye break every half hour. Oh, which, I've just been reminded, I should do right now.
  • Joe Elwell
    Joe Elwell Posts: 34
    edited March 2020
    @Jasper de Waard did a presentation on perception and the tricks our eyes play on us, at Letterspace.Amsterdam, which touched on the phenomena of uprights looking backslanted after working on italics. I can’t really speak for him, but he may pass on the PPT he created that has notes included, if you are interested?

    Also, I saw an eye doctor a little while back because I was having a weird episode that cleared itself but, he recommend looking away from the screen every once in a while and to take a 10 minute break every hour or two.

  • Vasil Stanev
    Vasil Stanev Posts: 775
    edited March 2020
    Joe Elwell said:
    the phenomena of uprights looking backslanted after working italics
    Not only that, but the same object may appear distorted. In this image of the leaning tower of Pisa, the right tower may appear as if it leans more than the left; but they are absolutely identical.

    This is important in our work when designing W, which could be a surprisingly difficult letter with many factors in the equation. :)
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,229
    I have a pair of glasses with 0.5 reading lenses, which I use only when working at the computer. They're perfect for the distance from the screen at which I sit, so not only help my eyes but also my back and shoulders, as I lean in less often when I wear them.
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    Italic eyes are not uncommon in people spending hours working on italic type design.  This will go away on its own.

  • Joe Elwell
    Joe Elwell Posts: 34
    edited March 2020
    Does anyone have an opinion or experience with using the blue light blocking glasses? It seems like a gimmick but, I have never tried them.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,899
    It is indeed a gimmick.
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,216
    To create an objective perception of italic eyes etc., I flip the glyph up and down, left and right, and rotate 90 and 45 degrees, and compare.

    Only surrender, and such distortions will give one’s work character—but can be problematic for types that are supposed to be “geometrically consistent”. 
  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 1,998
    My brain got used to working with slanted glyphs after a while and now I don’t get the weird effect when I go back to roman glyphs.
  • Jasper de Waard
    Jasper de Waard Posts: 641
    Blue light blocking glasses exist, meaning it is possible to filter (part of) the blue light from a screen. A simpler solution is to just set the screen so that it emits less blue light.

    More importantly, there's no real reason to want to block blue light. It is true that the part of our brain that determines the sleep/wake rhythm is particularly sensitive to blue light, but the amount of this kind (it's not really blue but more blueish white) of light from a screen does not compare to the amount in sunlight. So basically, it doesn't matter.
  • Jasper de Waard
    Jasper de Waard Posts: 641
    Joe Elwell said:
    @Jasper de Waard did a presentation on perception and the tricks our eyes play on us, at Letterspace.Amsterdam, which touched on the phenomena of uprights looking backslanted after working on italics. I can’t really speak for him, but he may pass on the PPT he created that has notes included, if you are interested?

    Also, I saw an eye doctor a little while back because I was having a weird episode that cleared itself but, he recommend looking away from the screen every once in a while and to take a 10 minute break every hour or two.

    Yes, well, my presentation was about the science behind why illusory backslanted romans occur. I'm not sure what would be the best remedy, other than the obvious. Send me a pm if you're interested in the details.
  • Adam Jagosz
    Adam Jagosz Posts: 689
    edited March 2020
    When working in the evening, I very much prefer my whites orangeish rather than bluish. (Not yellowish, as these are fugly). I'm nearsighted (-2.5), so that may be a factor. And in general I always work with the screen brightness as low as comfortable — I can't fathom how some people can work all day with full brightness.
  • Simon Cozens
    Simon Cozens Posts: 752
    I think Macs have a Night Shift mode these days but I still swear by https://justgetflux.com
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,899
    My preferred screen brightness is very much dependent on the level of light in the room.
  • Michael Jarboe
    Michael Jarboe Posts: 265
    Oh, so this is why my eyes are all messed up.

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