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Marco Rubio bans Calibri font at State Department for being too DEI

⁨578⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/10/marco-rubio-bans-calibri-font-at-state-department-for-being-too-dei/

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Comments

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  • floofloof@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The font was chosen in an effort to make documents easier to read for the vision impaired.

    So It’s Republican policy that the government must not, even in the smallest way, make life any easier for disabled people? Of course.

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    • lectricleopard@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Its the culling of the herd. They feel they know best what the make up of the country should be. Its the same thing as eugenics. It makes sense if you think helping the disabled is a waste of resources.

      How do you develop this point of view? How did people become convinced the h man was right? People are susceptible to propaganda. I heard the comments on popular sites about Taylor Swift being pro right after her last album was 25% astroturf. Heard from Phil Defranco on yt, there was a study.

      Go look at the shit on truth social. I’ve met people that only look at the conservative part of the web, like fox news junkies of the last 25 years. They’re radicalized by astroturf, then hide in these echo chambers. Most of the discourse is directed by people with vested interest in political outcomes.

      People I was friendly with were trying to say Charlie Kirk would have been a good president when he died. He was such a kind and selfless Christian, they say. I cant find anything defendable in his media output, but once you’re radicalized, its just about hitting the talking points. “Woke ideology.” “Trans mind virus.” “Communists and Socialists.” “Empathy is bad for our coutry.” Once you believe you’re surrounded by enemies, its easy to be manipulated by fear.

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    • athatet@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Fascists always go after disabled people first because it’s harder for them to fight back and fascists are cowards.

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    • obinice@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Surely if you want to kill disabled people, it’s a good idea to start by making them feel shunned and their lives extremely difficult first, no?

      That way, a lot of them die off, lose their power and voice in society, and are way easier to purge when the time comes!

      You can’t build a Christiofascist Oligarchy without obliterating a few societal eggs, after all!

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    • a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Gotta hurt. Thats the policy.

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  • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Were the Epstein files too legible?

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    • Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Most of them are published as they were written, so they aren’t affected by the government’s preferred font.

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      • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        just watch them start publishing in wingdings

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  • spongebue@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Ok Boomer

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  • teft@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    “Small government” but also lets waste money on dumb shit like this that doesn’t matter.

    Also wouldn’t a serif font cost more in ink over the course of millions of documents printed? Those serifs might not take a lot of ink to add but they do add up.

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    • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      They’ve never been for small government. This lie needs to be called out every single time.

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      • acosmichippo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        “small government” is just a dog whistle for “lower rich people taxes”.

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      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        The government AND the national debt ALWAYS grow under Republicans.

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  • Rhoeri@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Reminder that Donald J. Trump fucks children and there is proof of this that they are trying to distract us from.

    STAY ON POINT.

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  • switcheroo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Oh they found that the font was helping someone. Can’t have that.

    These people are such fucking trash…

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  • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Imagine being so much snowflake that a simple font upsets you. Words fail.

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  • taiyang@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Ugh.

    At least Arial exists. And Helvetica. But Times New Roman? What is this, English class in the early aughts? 12pt font, double spaced with one inch margins?

    Hell, if you want wanna make America great again make it Courier; tech bros’ll think you’re coding but we know you really just want to take us back to late 1800s when typewriters and bad economic policy were in. Or maybe something appropriate for this administration, like Wingdings.

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    • Damage@feddit.it ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Times New Roman is disgusting

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      • stretch2m@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        It pisses me off when creative writing contests require this font in their submissions. It’s probably the ugliest of the common fonts. Why anyone would want to read it is beyond me.

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    its a nice distraction of whats going in with the epstein files, and immigration.

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  • billwashere@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    This has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.

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    • Tryenjer@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      He should ban toilet paper, it’s too woke.

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      • Kakertratte@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        TP is gay as fuck. Rubbing your own ass is sin. Didnt you know? On reddit there were a couple of posts about redneck guys not wiping their own shitty ass, as it is gay to touch anus or anus be touched. The brainrot is frightening, yet fascinating with this sample group of institutionalised uneducation, xenophobia, egoism and patriachal focused propaganda.

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  • umbraroze@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Times New Roman is wayyyy too classy for Trump Administration. They should switch to Comic Sans MS.

    …Oh no, I’m re-heating font jokes that people older than me found funny decades ago. What has this present political climate reduced us to?

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    • AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Nah, should be Papyrus, it pretends it’s a return to tradition but it’s really just ugly and racist.

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      • bampop@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        OK I love that fonts stir up such strong feelings in people… but racist? How tf is a font racist?

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      • kill_dash_nine@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        It’s tribal yet futuristic

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      • aesthelete@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Papyrus, are you kidding me? There’s no place in a professional office setting!

        m.youtube.com/watch?v=FTfxtyDpqWI&pp=0gcJCR4Bo7Vq…

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      • Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        WEBDINGS!

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    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Times New Roman is precisely what Trump admin wants. You know, since the far right has a hard on on the Roman empire.

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      i wouldn’t argue with comic sans personally. i hear it’s a good font for some types of dyslexia. i’d rather have more people be able to read it than look dignified.

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      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        There are other even more dyslexic-legible fonts that IMO look better

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    • Rhoeri@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Don’t forget there also fucks kids and they are protecting him.

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  • MehBlah@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I have never in my life tied a font to politics or morality.

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    • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Garamond does look somewhat Apple-ishly pretentious, and Lucida does evoke associations with Sun and some corporate spirit, and Arial\TNR\CN trio does feel like “Windows font classic” combination.

      But banning a more readable font to show you have “decorum” … there’s a word “чмошник” in Russian, I’ve recently realized I’m that, and also a whole crowd of adults and peers around me 13 years ago. Actually there’s just one girl who wasn’t that, and one adult. Who got the shortest straws in that story.

      That word means someone miserable and envious enough to look for confirmations and signs of coolness in all things they use and do.

      I’ve also recently realized that I don’t like computer people, and of other professions dealing with calculation and materiel. They are glorified bookkeepers and managers. The reason tech workers dislike management so much is because the whole industry is much like machine-assisted management. Paradox of small differences.

      Yeah, I know you lot like being perceived as magicians and the industry as having something to do with intelligence. Read de Saint-Exupery’s Citadel, there’s a passage on “a special book for generals”, and you will recognize that whole industry, from its lowly brick layers to its prophets.

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      • MehBlah@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        чмошник (rude, derogatory) schmuck, stooge, sleazeball, jerk (contemptible person)

        So yeah I agree.

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    • pyre@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      spoken like a Gill Sans user

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    • oftenawake@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      𝕬𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙?

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      • MehBlah@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Tis not the font but the fonter.

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  • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    i mean you can’t spell calibri without lib. where’s your god now, atheists?

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    • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      At the same time it’s reminiscent of “caliber”, which one would expect to appeal to good Christians.

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  • Bosht@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    So this is 100 percent true, verifiable, by me. Just keep in mind this is the same admin that wanted to cut ‘frivolous spending’. Think for a minute the wasted development hours changing the font on every webpage on every portal that DoS uses. Seriously, it’s fucking stupid.

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  • Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    More distractions

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  • My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Must be a slow day in the state department…

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  • oftenawake@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Straight out of Hitler’s playbook!

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    • Passerby6497@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      “Adolf Hitler bans Gothic font from Nazi publications for being too Jewish”

      Man, I fucking hate how much history rhymes

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      • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Time is a flat circle that only consists of about 100 years.

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  • cenzorrll@piefed.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Calibri kind of sucks, it’s better on screen then TNR, but it’s ugly as shit still. A better font could probably be found that reads well on screen and in print. But:

    Rubio did admit in the memo that Calibri wasn’t the “most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful” example of DEI to his mind’s eye, but he still berated the font for contributing to “the degradation” of the State Department’s official correspondence.

    Fuck this guy, regardless.

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    • mirshafie@europe.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Nah man I can actually get on board with this. I used to hate Times New Roman but it’s streets ahead of the scourge that is Calibri, and with modern monitors serif fonts look fine.

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      • buttnugget@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        The problem isn’t the font itself, it’s the fact that they’re being reactionary.

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  • Bwaz@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    What. An. Idiot.

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  • ceenote@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Marco Rubio apparently doesn’t have enough shit to do at work.

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    • 0ndead@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      This is a distraction for the Pam Bondi memo

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  • dharmacurious@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    You know how if you’re reading a headline from the onion and you mistake it for real you’ve “eaten the onion?”

    Is there a name for the reverse phenomenon? Where a real headline reflecting actual reality is so ridiculous that you reject it out of hand as satire only to realize it was genuine? Regurgitating the onion? What’s the name for this?

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    • demonsword@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Is there a name for the reverse phenomenon?

      the onion has eaten you, maybe

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    • SlurpingPus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      !nottheonion@lemmy.world

      Inspired by the analogous subreddit.

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  • ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    fuck me what a sad bastard.

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  • phoenixz@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    That’s it, were only going to use comic Sans serif from now on!

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  • NutWrench@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    So just how gay CAN the Calibri font make you? Merely fabulous? Or are we talking about midriff-baring T-shirt and nut-hugger shorts gay?

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  • edgemaster72@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    He wanted to make it Times Neo Nazi but was informed that didn’t exist

    (please no one check or inform me if that’s actually a thing or even close to real)

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  • Saeveo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    All future documents must be in Fraktur.

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    • BurnoutDV@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      its not even funny because the nazis actually abolished Fraktur for being jewish or something…without googling it…yeah, probably something about “being jewish” that used to be their go-to, cant be wrong

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      • SlurpingPus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Hitler personally disliked Fraktur and gave a speech against it in 1934. It continued to be used as ‘the true German script’ until 1941, when the party made a 180 and banned it under the pretext that it wasn’t Fraktur, but Schwabacher, a similar blackletter script, which they called ‘Jewish letters’.

        Moreover, it was banned so hard that cursive scripts Kurrent and Sütterlin were forbidden as well. As a result, people educated after 1941 often couldn’t read handwritten letters and notes of their ancestors.

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    • dharmacurious@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I did Nazi that joke coming…

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      • SlurpingPus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Image

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  • devedeset@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The font was chosen in an effort to make documents easier to read for the vision impaired.

    This is like removing the requirement of having curb ramps on new sidewalks because it makes it possible for people in wheelchairs to navigate

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    • rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Trust that these people would 100% be doing that if they thought they could get away with it.

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  • oftenawake@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Rubio’s memo has designated Times New Roman as his tenure’s official font, stating it will “restore decorum and professionalism” to documents.

    Bro it’s going to take more than a font change!

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  • myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    We are a Wingdings nation!

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  • TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Fuck serif fonts. The point of writing is to communicate clearly. Not look pretty and fancy-pants IMO.

    I hate cursive for the same reason. It's elitist trash script.

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    • Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The point of cursive is to be able to write without picking up your pen as often. Some people make theirs fancy because not everyone’s a miserable bastard.

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      • TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        If you're doing it for yourself, fine. If you're writing for me, don't waste my time by making me have to decipher your custom scribble that's never consistent with anyone else's, unlike normal print.

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    • Chozo@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Which is why we have serifs, so you can tell the difference between I and l.

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      • 14th_cylon@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        It also helps eye to follow the line and therefore makes reading easier. It is almost as if typographers came up with it for a reason.

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      • MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        But that’s a workaround, not a fix.

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    • snek_boi@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I agree with you and think it’s worthwhile to critically evaluate fonts.

      So what happens if we evaluate cursive font? Well, for most people, loopy cursive is hard to read.

      To understand why loopy cursive is problematic, here’s an excerpt from two experts on handwriting:

      Conventional looped cursive has not held up to modern life and is being abandoned by most adults, because

      • Its decorative loops and excessive joins obscure visual cues,
      • It loses legibility when written quickly,
      • It doesn’t reflect the writing we see in type or on screen, and
      • 100% joined writing is typically slower and no more legible than writing that joins most, but not all letters.

      So loopy cursive sucks, but does that mean that we should straight up ditch cursive altogether? Are there fonts that are quick to write and legible? Turns out, those same experts built a handwriting system, the Getty-Dubay system. Their writing system does not seek to “look pretty and fancy-pants” (to quote you). Instead, their writing system tries to “communicate clearly” (to quote you again). They built something logical and pragmatic.

      How can you be sure of what I’m saying? Well, you be the judge!

      Here’s a picture of the Getty-Dubay fonts, both print and cursive: Image

      Here’s a comparison of different cursive fonts: Image

      If you want more information, here’s a resource you can check out: handwritingsuccess.com/why-cursive/

      So yeah, the way I see it, loopy cursive is hell, and italic-based cursive is the best of both worlds: fast to write and easy to read.

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      • HeerlijkeDrop@thebrainbin.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        This is cool! However, this comparison is unfair, as Getty-Dubay is the only one not using a variable thickness

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    • demonsword@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      go monospace or go bust

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