A few questions about EB Garamond...

Figaro
Figaro Posts: 6
edited August 11 in Type Design Critiques
I've just bought a Windows computer with Microsoft Word and I would like the install EB Garamond in ttf format. The problem is that this font can be downloaded from multiple sources:
I suppose each source features a different "flavour" of the typeface. Hence my questions:
1. What is the most recent/complete/tested version of EB Garamond?
2. Can you tell me something about future developments of this beautiful free typeface? Who is the curent lead-designer?
3. What are, in your opinion, its strengths and weaknesses?
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Comments

  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 3,053
    Georg created it.
    Octavio did further work on it, commissioned by Google Fonts.
    Google Fonts hosts Octavio’s version.

    This Wikipedia article has more details on the development of the typeface: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB_Garamond
  • michele casanova
    michele casanova Posts: 64
    edited August 12
    1. What is the most recent/complete/tested version of EB Garamond?
    I think the most complete is that of Octavio Pardo
    2. Can you tell me something about future developments of this beautiful free typeface? Who is the curent lead-designer?
    As you can see on GitHub, Octavio Pardo's repository hasn't been updated since 2021.
    Between April and May 2023, Georg Mayr-Duffner created a "Todo list for v2", but there have been no further developments since then.
    Just for fun, I'll also mention my fork on github. This is a layman's experiment to fix some minor issues, and is open to suggestions for improvements.
    3. What are, in your opinion, its strengths and weaknesses?
    I think the strengths are quite clear :)
    As for the weaknesses, I used the issues in the two repositories as a starting point for developing my fork.
  • Figaro
    Figaro Posts: 6
    @ michele casanova:

    Your fork is a gem! Do you plan to submit Garamontio to Google fonts in the future?

    You say that the ultimate version of EB Garamond is the Pardo's version. I know the history of EB Garamond, but I suspect that the version currently abailable from Google Fonts is not identical to the version available from Pardo's repository.
  • michele casanova
    michele casanova Posts: 64
    edited August 12
    @Figaro I don't think GF is interested in a duplicate of an existing font, and one made by a simple enthusiast :)
    It's possible that the version on GF is slightly different from the one in Octavio Pardo's repository. It seems to me that the most complete version available in source files on GitHub is Octavio Pardo's.
  • Simon Cozens
    Simon Cozens Posts: 798
    Figaro said:
    I suspect that the version currently abailable from Google Fonts is not identical to the version available from Pardo's repository.
    I wouldn't be too sure; the metadata file suggests that it is up to date.
  • Figaro
    Figaro Posts: 6
    Simon Cozens said:
    Figaro said:
    I suspect that the version currently abailable from Google Fonts is not identical to the version available from Pardo's repository.
    I wouldn't be too sure; the metadata file suggests that it is up to date.

    Thanks for the link. Anyway, if I understand correctly, it's possible that Google will make changes to EB Garamond using a different designer than Pardo. In theory Google could also incorporate in EB Garamond the new features of Garamontio...
  • Christian Thalmann
    Christian Thalmann Posts: 2,039
    I like the many small additions in Garamontio, but I'm not fond of the de-slanted Italics. They look odd to me (probably just a matter of expectations, but still) and less consistent in the (perceived) degree of slant.
  • michele casanova
    michele casanova Posts: 64
    edited August 12
    @Christian Thalmann I agree that Garamontio isn't perfect, and @Figaro 's suggestion is probably just to continue the development of EB Garamond.
    I came up with the idea of changing the slant of the italics to make it more compatible with Ysabeau :)


  • Figaro
    Figaro Posts: 6
    Christian Thalmann said:
    I like the many small additions in Garamontio, but I'm not fond of the de-slanted Italics. They look odd to me (probably just a matter of expectations, but still) and less consistent in the (perceived) degree of slant.
    I think it's just a matter of expectations. In fact the italic of Garamontio could be more legible/readable, especially when you use the italic style to cite long passages of books, court opinions etc.
  • michele casanova
    michele casanova Posts: 64
    @Figaro I'm glad Garamontio can be useful to someone. It's possible to open issues on GitHub for any desired features, bug fixes, or the addition of specific characters.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 3,053
    Did you by any chance start by literally taking the existing italic, and skew it (mathematically unslant it) back towards upright a few degrees?
  • michele casanova
    michele casanova Posts: 64
    @Thomas Phinney Yes, that was the first step (I know italics are different from a simple slant) and then I modified several curves to improve the result.
    As I mentioned above, I know it's not perfect :)
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 3,053
    I am sorry to say they feel… quite “off” to me. I mean, I shouldn’t have been able to tell that was how you went at it — I could tell in that they seemed manipulated in that particular way. It is not that I am opposed to less-slanted italics in general, or even in theory for your case. I just think they would need to be redrawn.  :#

    (And I have no objection to the usual slant of Garamond/Granjon italics, they work well.)

    Part of it might be that more-slanted Garamond italics end up with much more compressed counters and are just more condensed. Un-slanting without un-condensing looks odd, perhaps? And that a shape is just bothering me.

    Here are italics of some Garamonds, as well as some other typefaces. I deliberately picked three of Slimbach’s designs because I think he spent a ton of time studying Garamond (having done two runs at it, plus Minion), and the different slants are interesting — as is what he did for Minion, where the upright is very Garamond-adjacent but the italic goes further afield while being less slanted and less compressed.



  • michele casanova
    michele casanova Posts: 64
    @Thomas Phinney Thanks, with the release of the next versions I will try to improve the appearance according to these indications
  • Christian Thalmann
    Christian Thalmann Posts: 2,039
    Thanks for putting that into better words, @Thomas Phinney. I think that's exactly the point. Typical Garamond italics include some pretty extreme shapes in an effort to cope with the extreme slant, and when you de-slant them, they look unnecessarily lumpy. (Honestly, Monotype Garamond already looks freaky to me in its natural form, what with those extreme variations of slant angle...)

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