Font attributes not correct in D4

Robert Bringhurst used it for “The Elements of Typographic Style”.

I’d rather see something in Minion done poorly than a poor font choice done well.

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Vollkorn looks quite nice! One thing to keep in mind if think you ever would find yourself using chord symbols, is that you really have to have a font that defaults to lining figures. Old style figures don’t really work for chord symbols. There are some fonts that I like a lot that contain both, but unfortunately default to old style. In InDesign it’s easy to switch so perhaps maybe in Dorico 5 there will be a way to specify to use lining figures if they are contained in the font.

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I think this is the issue with the verse numbers at play here. I like old style for traditional typography, but I find they mess things up in scores writ large.

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Yes! I think that’s where I first saw it in the mid-90s. I have my beat up copy on the shelf next to my desk. It was my main typeface for 10 years or so.

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Mine too – I designed my business card around it, and for the same reason: that book!

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One more reply about this: I would venture that it’s because Minion is too regular in its strokes and gestures. It comes off stiff, especially in digital display. Compare with totally hand-cut type such as anything by Fred Goudy. The irregularities are much easier on the eye.

TL;DR: Minion is totally fine.

I’m a huge fan of Matthew Butterick. I have several of his fonts and use them semi-regularly, and I dip into his typography manual periodically for reference. And I don’t mind him being extremely opinionated. He’s earned it.

But that statement about Minion is just not true, and it seems to imply that uniqueness is an inherent virtue. When I started producing hymnals, I researched fonts for months. I even got halfway through my first hymnal with another font (which shall not be named)… and finally decided Minion was the best choice. It required a ton of extra work to change over, but I’m glad I did. There’s a reason why Minion is so popular!

I have thousands of hymns engraved using Minion, and clients seem to be very happy with it, even the ones who are dialed in to typography. It’s clean, modern but serious, extremely legible at small sizes because of its x-height, and economizes on horizontal space without appearing condensed. When I’m engraving a hymn on a nice monitor and I zoom in close, I still think to myself, “Man… that font really looks good.” And when I see it in print, I think the same thing.

I’ve used other fonts for projects when clients want a distinct look, but those projects are outliers for me.

Maybe Minion’s “proper” regularity is an advantage for the sort of aesthetic most hymnals require, I don’t know.

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A comparison of Maestro and Bravura (large noteheads). All engraving options preserved.

Yes, well illustrated. I see what I mean there. You may not agree …

When I set them side by side, I dismissed it at first. But when I zoomed out a bit, it became clearer. I have to admit Maestro perhaps feels like a better fit for Minion. Just not sure I can bring myself to change 3600 hymn files… :unamused: I’m going to tell myself the difference is so slight that it’s something almost no one would notice.

I do have to say I like how it renders on the printed page. It’s bold and so readable…

It is slight, I’ll grant that! At 2574 × 1847 pixels, it’s quite visible, but at the size of the printed hymnal, probably negligible.

You see what I mean about Bravura.