Politically correct weight names

900 is Black and 1000 is Fat.
Just saying.
(Let’s forget about Harry.)
Knockout/Champion was a nice idea, but confusing to non-aficionados of boxing.
Some good ideas here:

Comments

  • To me 1000 would be practically impossible. Unless you come up with the most ridiculous Didot-style font that nobody would use, then 1000 would map to 900.
    My classification:
    (note: the overlaps are intentional. you probably would use the leftmost ones for most practical purposes)
    100 - Thin, Hairline, Extra Light
    200 - Extra Light, Semi Hairline, Light
    300 - Light, Semi Light, Book
    (300 or 350 - this font, Alright Sans in this weight)
    400 - Regular, Semi Light
    500 - Medium, Regular
    600 - Semi Bold, Medium
    700 - Bold, Semi Bold
    800 - Extra Bold, Semi Heavy, Bold
    900 - Black, Heavy, Extra Bold
    1000 - Fat, Ultra Heavy, Ultra Bold
    (1100 - Seriously Magical)

  • Ray LarabieRay Larabie Posts: 1,376
    There's really no need for Heavy. It's heavier than Extrabold but sounds like it might not be as heavy as Bold or Extrabold.

    Get rid of Book because it's just Semilight trying to sound smart.

    Black is a color, not a weight. It makes even less sense when you're buying sheets of white Letraset.

    Bold, Semibold, Extrabold, Ultrabold, Megabold, Gigabold, Terabold, Petabold

    Petabold appear to be the same as Ultralight because the extreme density or something.

    Or maybe Ultra should be on top. Skip Kilobold?

    Beyond Ultralight, instead of Thin or Hairline, extend it with Microlight and Nanolight. Nanolight could be useful for planet-sized Nixie bulbs.  Millilight?

    In frequency nomenclature

    LF low frequency
    MF medium
    HF high
    VHF very high
    UHF ultra high
    SHF super high
    EHF extremely high
    THF terahertz high?

    Maybe Ultrabold, Superbold, Extremely Bold
  • Make mine Svelt and Tight.
  • Ray, Petabold sounds plausable for an electronics guy but nada for anyone else. I cannot actually agree, but still like. And I agree with Book, as I think it should be like an optical inktrapped thing, not a lighter font that'll not look too good in any press other than the ultimate-ultra-quality machines.
    I have went with Ultra Light because it's common knowledge, especially for Mac-using people with a Helvetica Neue obsession. (Or they like apple and like their blinding typography.)
    Also, I'm not including Medium because of it's ambiguity, as Semi Bold is better. Obviously I'm not using Demi Bold or Hemi Bold because they all mean half.
    Suggested improvements: (Not numbered, it's subjective.)
    Ultra Light, Light, Semi Light, Regular, Semi Bold, Bold, Ultra Bold, Ultra
  • Craig EliasonCraig Eliason Posts: 1,397
    edited March 2015
    "Ultra Light"

    I've said this before, but if the light spectrum goes from ultraviolet to infrared, I think type weights should go from ultrabold to infralight;)
  • Chris LozosChris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    How about infinitesimal to ultimate mass?
  • That would technically be Radio Light to Gamma Bold.  :p
  • I love Tide Sans' surf-inspired if somewhat cryptic, weight system:
    100 Lil Bunny
    200 Lil Mondo
    300 Lil Kahuna
    400 Lil Dude
    500 Dudette
    600 Bunny
    700 Mondo
    800 Kahuna
    900 Dude

  • Perhaps we could do it like sports clothing?

    We could supposedly offer a face in all sizes: XXL, XL, L, M, B, XB, XXB, XXXB. But when you get to the store, the only sizes remaining will be XXB and up.
  • Dave CrosslandDave Crossland Posts: 1,389
    edited July 2015
    I recommend to use

    100 Thin
    200 ExtraLight
    300 Light
    400 Regular
    500 Medium
    600 SemiBold
    700 Bold
    800 ExtraBold
    900 Black

    When families have more than 9 weights, they spill into 2nd families, like Work Sans Hairline and Palanquin Dark

    I thought having non SomethingBold/SomethingLight at 100 and 900 is good as it implies these are extreme weights. 
  • Craig EliasonCraig Eliason Posts: 1,397
    I haven't yet seen a typeface design where more than nine weights seem necessary.
  • Chris LozosChris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    How many were in Lucas's Thesis originally?  about a zillion?
  • I've previously suggested the clothing terms (XXS, XS, S, L, XL, XXL) for optical sizes instead of the Captions and Displays that are seriously confusing to some users.

    In weight and width, we do have the prefixes Semi, Extra and Ultra. Extra and Ultra seem interchangable but we could standardize that Extra < Ultra.

    We could add Mega as > Ultra.

    1 Ultrathin
    50 Extrathin
    100 Thin
    150 Megalight
    200 Ultralight
    250 Extralight
    300 Light
    350 Semilight
    400 Normal
    450 Semimedium
    500 Medium
    550 Extramedium
    600 Semibold
    700 Bold
    750 Extrabold
    800 Ultrabold
    850 Megabold
    900 Black
    950 Extrablack
    975 Ultrablack
    999 Megablack

    A.
  • Another system would be indeed to standardize on a max 9 weights per family, which makes it compatible with CSS webfonts, but use weight series if you need more.

    I often found it useful to have more intermediate weights. If I have Lato with 9 weights, I could imagine a Lato Bright series where each weight is a bit lighter that Lato's, and Lato Dark where each weight is a bit bolder than Lato's. Each series would be workable on its own but I could easily have 18 (Lato + Lato Dark) or even 27 (Lato Bright + Lato + Lato Dark) total weights.

    It often doesn't matter so much in the bold weights but in the lighter weights, more refinement would be useful for optical gradation. In sanserif designs, a "caption" size needs to be just a bit darker than the Regular but Medium is often too dark.
  • Deleted AccountDeleted Account Posts: 739
    edited July 2015
    This 10 or 20 unit weight system is, like the size range masters to be introduced someday, from the past, before web responsive typography. But just to make sure, how do you propose assigning weight class to color fonts? ;)
  • Chris LozosChris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    Hmmm, Sunburst Yellow Slab; Williamsburg Blue Colonial?
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