Web Excursions 2021-09-12
Language Log » Decolonizing Chinese fonts by probing the past
Julius Hui, the font designer, wants to revolutionize Chinese typography by hearkening back to a time before modern (say, the last four or five hundred years) fonts for typesetting.
I find this article to be curiously counterintuitive
That would be like telling designers of modern fonts for northern European languages
to go back to the 4th-century pre-Gothic script of Ulfilas (or Wulfila)
to develop a "revolutionary" new script for English or
for designers of modern fonts for southern European languages
to go back to the uncial majuscule script of roughly the same time period
that was used for Greek and Latin.
He is so fixated on traditional calligraphic excellence
that he seems conceptually unable to advance to a new level
of reenvisioning the shapes and forms of Chinese characters to suit the new [digital] media
the difficulty of deciphering the strokes of characters used in [] digital media, especially those characters that have more than 12 strokes
the calligraphic flourishes (hooks, turns, elongated dots, etc.) that tend to fill up what white space they may have between strokes
The mother of one of my graduate students spends hours each day writing out Buddhist sutras with a ball point pen
which I would consider a purer form of writing characters than doing so with a brush,
where so much of one's attention is devoted to ornamentation and embellishment,
whereas she is content to concentrate on the abstract essence of writing itself
Revolutionary type: Meet the designer decolonizing Chinese fonts - Rest of World
Hui said that the point of the project is not just an exercise in aesthetics,
but an attempt to “decolonize” Chinese type.
He intends to take it back to its roots before the influence of Japanese designers,
and to free it from the cultural gravity of the mainland,
where even typefaces come under the purview of the state.
His research and dedication to the history of Chinese typography is, improbably, a revolutionary act.
“I think all typefaces should have a ‘traditional Chinese feel,’” Hui said.
Type and the way characters have been portrayed has always been political in China.
It was practiced only by scholars and aesthetic tastes were at the whim of emperors.
calligraphers would paint in styles the emperors liked,
who would not only collect works, but also produce their own.
By the start of the Qing dynasty, the favored style was called guan’geti.
sterile; the “smother[ing of] the artistic spontaneity and irregularity of Chinese calligraphy.” (via Peiran Tan at The Type)
The shift to digital media in the 2000s drove another evolution, to what Hui calls “fat and blocky” characters.
“A kind of modernizing impetus briefly took a chokehold on digital Chinese type designers,” [Hui] said.
“[The designers] were, in a way, enamored with the software’s numerical possibilities,
and wanted to maximize a typeface’s legibility and uniformity.”
Microsoft YaHei and its traditional Chinese equivalent, JhengHei
[Ku MinCho] raised 20,450,840 Taiwanese dollars ($71,660), 511% of its original goal.
[Why no SimpChi ver.]
While both China and Taiwan have their own sets of how characters are to be officially written, only China’s is compulsory —
digital fonts have to be certified by the China Electronic Standardization Institute.
“I’d rather work in markets I understand first,” Hui said.
“I also think Taiwan and Hong Kong will be enough for my company’s survival;
I don’t want to deal with those problems [on the mainland].
Maybe later, if I need to, I’ll deal with it.”
嘖嘖 | 空明朝體|當文字開始呼吸,繁體中文的寧靜變革
空明朝體的誕生,是希望讓文字運用如同呼吸一樣自然。考究百多年前刻字職人直感的造字技法,以現今技術製作優雅又易讀的比例,兼具現代感及文化韻味。我們也預想不同後製樣式的特效變化,無論用於日常文書處理,或是商業包裝設計,甚至是大量文字排版,空明朝體都能為閱讀帶來新感受,形成一種別緻韻味。
geizhals.eu EU
Geizhals – Tech Product Price Comparison and Tracking | Hacker News
66fm472tjy7:
One of their most impressive features is how many product attributes they track and allow you to filter for. E.g. for mainboards you can filter for support for all generations of Ryzen CPU + at least M.2 slots + BIOS flashback (allows you to do BIOS updates without a CPU or RAM) + at least one USB-C + built in IO shield + at least 12 VRM phases + WiFi 6 + in stock
What Does It All Mean?: A Look at Judge Gonzalez Rogers' Decision in the Epic Versus Apple Trial - MacStories
I find Epic’s legal tactics distasteful.
However, I also think Apple’s restraints on communications between developers and app users
are an example of overreaching
that unduly stifles competition in the name of protecting users.
Still, on balance, I’m pleased with the Court’s decision.
You can argue about whether Judge Gonzalez Rogers overstepped the bounds of her authority by imposing a nationwide injunction based on state law.
That’s the sort of remedy that I think is more appropriately the purview of federal legislators.
However, I’m also glad to see additional pressure brought to bear
that I hope will result in meaningful changes to the App Store for all developers,
and that doesn’t reward Epic’s questionable legal tactics.