Comments on: Picking fonts sucks, but there is an answer http://boagworld.com/design/picking-fonts-sucks-but-there-is-an-answer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=picking-fonts-sucks-but-there-is-an-answer Advice on web design and digital strategy from Paul Boag Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: David Sivocha http://boagworld.com/design/picking-fonts-sucks-but-there-is-an-answer/#comment-9586 David Sivocha Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:17:00 +0000 http://boagworld.com/?p=7571#comment-9586 This is why I use the free Nexus font, as a font manager.
For starters:
Its free.
It allows me to preview fonts that I have but are not installed.
It allows me to install and uninstall fonts on the fly
It has a number of preview options for size weight and colour.
It allows me to organise my fonts my groups and sets.

]]> By: Rayson Randle http://boagworld.com/design/picking-fonts-sucks-but-there-is-an-answer/#comment-9585 Rayson Randle Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:44:00 +0000 http://boagworld.com/?p=7571#comment-9585 In my experience, along with things like anti-virus, font
management applications, fall into a category of software plagued by what I
term “Feel Good Factor” syndrome. You absolutely need the program to facilitate
a simple task that neither you or your operating system can accomplish, apart
from that it remains in the bottom of your toolbox. Therefore, the need to feel
good about the price you have just paid for it is accomplished by ramming the
application full of arguably related options and features that you will
probably never use to increase the perception of it’s calibre prior to
purchase, and ensure pole position in a feature sensitive Google review.

£2.99 for any product of somebody’s time and effort is
extremely reasonable today. And there has long been a market for a simple no-nonsense
application. But does it do the job?

…“Font Picker provides large previews of all the fonts you
have installed and allows you to quickly narrow down your selection until you
find the perfect font.”…

Displaying a list of all of my installed fonts for me to
choose from is exactly what I do not wish it to do. For me, the primary
function of font management software is the ability to compare and choose fonts
prior to installation. It has been well documented that excessive font
installation is a sure way to slow down operating system performance and retard
the computing experience. Font management software enables me to avoid this by
only installing the fonts I need as I use them.

The front preview in Photoshop is indeed quite small. But a handy
way around this is to leave the font selection box selected, and use the arrow
keys to scroll through the font list. Photoshop changes the font accordingly in
situe. I couldn’t imagine a better way of evaluating a font for purpose other
than in the document for which it is intended. Lorem ipsum dollar sit amet is
fine for evaluating body text styling but dangerously risky for headings and
headlines.

A
useful tool perhaps to show a client a proposed typography modification, but
isnt that what CSS is for?

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