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Poll: San Francisco font vs. Helvetica Neue (pre-iOS 9)?
- Thread starter vertsix
- Start date
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SF was really weird in the beginning, but I've gotten used to it.
Helv is a better font in general but SF looks better on the UI.
Helv is a better font in general but SF looks better on the UI.
But most rich text content on Safari, text in some apps and in the App Store is mostly Helvetica. It's a little inconsistent if you ask me.
Nevertheless, San Francisco is still a pretty good font.
San Francisco is definitely better. Helvetica Neue was always just a bad interims solution for the iOS 7 redesign.
Although, as a typographer who worked close to industrial designers at university, i wasn’t really surprised Jony Ives Team chose Helvetica, because most Industrial Designers know only a handful of fonts and default to Helvetica because it looks reasonably timeless and neutral to them. It’s really reassuring about Apples design team that they took the multiyear-path of developing their own modern font-family fit for the purpose. I think Erik Spiekermann really did have a little influence on Jony Ive to get SF ready and into the system so soon. Besides the fact that it would have been really hard to get Helvetica Neue working on the Apple watch at small, glanceable font sizes.
Although, as a typographer who worked close to industrial designers at university, i wasn’t really surprised Jony Ives Team chose Helvetica, because most Industrial Designers know only a handful of fonts and default to Helvetica because it looks reasonably timeless and neutral to them. It’s really reassuring about Apples design team that they took the multiyear-path of developing their own modern font-family fit for the purpose. I think Erik Spiekermann really did have a little influence on Jony Ive to get SF ready and into the system so soon. Besides the fact that it would have been really hard to get Helvetica Neue working on the Apple watch at small, glanceable font sizes.
Even SF Compact (Watch) and SF (OS X/iOS) are noticeably different. When you change Helvetica that much so that it works well on smaller screens, you are changing the character of the typeface itself. Helvetica was never meant to be a multipurpose UI typeface. It’s been misused, just like Verdana is (which really shines at small sizes).
Exactly. Good fonts have lots of different cuts (not sure if this is the correct english translation) for different purposes. Apple did a very good job with the different sizes of SF, instead of just scaling the glyphs.
I voted for San Francisco, but I really think both are just fine.
San Francisco looks just different enough to freshen up the interface and make it a bit more readable. It's really a gorgeous experience, the numbers look sharp too.
San Francisco looks just different enough to freshen up the interface and make it a bit more readable. It's really a gorgeous experience, the numbers look sharp too.
Helvetica, however I understand why SF is getting more votes. It's the novelty atm so people aren't tired of it.
Indifferent on my mobile devices. I care more about it on OS X machines, where I'd vote for Helvetica.
Helvetica Neue has more class, style, refinement. However, for reading definitely San Francisco because is more spaced between each letter. But lacks of some design, class. The € symbol in San Francisco looks weird.
I have the same opinion about the previous font. This one may be easier to read as there is more space in between letters, but the previous is way more stylish. I think it's a matter of time anyway. It's not a Comis Sans :-D
When it comes down to it: ease of reading > stylishness. Especially on such small devices.
And frankly, I believe that Apple has created a font that encompasses both.
And frankly, I believe that Apple has created a font that encompasses both.
I don't like how "blocky" SF looks compared to Helvetica. It doesn't look horrible but they could have made some subtle changes to make it look more distinct from Roboto
