On 5/21/24 2:16 AM, J Leslie Turriff via tde-users wrote:
And why are default fonts always Sans-Serif? (Not sure who started this, but I suspect MacroShaft.) I suppose it's more of the "dumb down the user interface" nonsense that Gnome et al promulgated.* There are too many easily confused glyphs in Sans-Serif fonts. Thank goodness that in the control center I can set all of the non-monospace fonts at once!
I worked as a tech writer for many years. Back in the day before computers, a general rule of thumb was Sans Serif Bold for headings and serif for content text. There were always artistic exceptions but often that was a starting point. This general perspective still prevails with computer text as seen in KDE/TDE Handbooks.
The roots of typography go far back, before computer companies existed. Newspaper and magazine editors had notable influence on typography. The common Times and Times New Roman font was created for newspapers, where the content was in narrow columns. Serif fonts helped people read and browse the columns faster. Studies have shown that most people do not actually read word-for-word, but skim through words and serif fonts help with that.
Regional and cultural differences played a role. All those little jots and tittles and diacritics.
Before computers there were typewriters. About the only way to change emphasis was underlining. The IBM Selectric more or less revolutionized office typing with the removable typeface balls and eraser ribbons.
Typography has been continually evolving since the first days of movable type.
Through this evolution there have been popular style guides such as the Chicago Manual of Style, AP style guide, etc., all still around.
When computers became popular, some early usability studies found Sans Serif usually more readable on screen than Serif. A notable difference with computer screens, and with human eyes, is print is based on reflected light and screens on emitted light. Human eyes are not well adapted to viewing emitted light and too many people these days succumb to eyeglasses.
Another change with computers was jargon. For decades the common user and technical guide had a one-page preface explaining what the different typefaces represented.
Microsoft was one of the first computer companies to contribute to some consistency with computer typography and style with their Manual of Style for Technical Publications. I still have my copy ((c) 1995) on my desk and the original copy is online. Regardless of opinions about Windows through the years, the Windows Help interface was consistent and helped many people. Cottage industries appeared developing software devoted to creating Windows Help dialogs.
This is something the original Unix and KDE folks got right with man pages and Docbook standard handbooks. Regardless of content, there is at least a high degree of consistency with how these software documents look.
As a former tech writer, software Help remains something that annoys the Hell out of me. Most developers nowadays do not embed help into their software. Instead they presume everybody is connected 24/7 and link all Help to online web sites. Not connected? Too bad for you -- no help is available.
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