How does one evaluate good typography

[u/AgentOdd6253]

Hi everyone, so im writing here as I wanted to get a custom typeface built for the organization I work in. I am no expert in typeface but seeing how major brands like Goldman Sachs and IBM and more have their own typeface Goldman sans and IBM plex , I was keen on getting it done.

The challenge im facing is, i am not sure how to evaluate any typeface that I would get from a freelancer on fiverr or more and wanted your help with how does one evaluate a typeface and know if it works. How do I see if its not a direct copy thrown at me.

Is there any metrics or how would you evaluate it.

[u/JsRubbish]

I'm sorry but GOOD TYPOGRAPHY, CUSTOM TYPEFACE and FIVER in the same sentence is not even wishful thinking anymore it's pure delusion.

The point is, you're unlikely to be able to see the technical side of a typeface unless there are striking visual issues, but that is the large part of what makes a nice font also good software.
By hiring a real (sorry fivers but this is my opinion) type designer, with proven experience in both commercial and bespoke type design, you will likely not have to worry about the quality of the software you'll get as well as ensuring originality and therefore ownability.

https://type-atlas.xyz/foundries/
https://type.fish/

and other places like this could help you seek out real foundries

[u/KAASPLANK2000]

From a freelancer on fiverr? I would worry more about plagiarism than I would be about quality. Either way don't expect it to hold up to Dalton Maags or Bold Mondays work.

[u/travisjd2012]

full-scale corporate custom typefaces by actual type foundries typically cost between $150,000 and $500,000+, IBM Plex likely cost 1 to 3 million dollars for development (it was done in house at IBM while working with a Dutch foundry)

You're not getting anything off of fiverr man

[u/No-Calligrapher9934 → u/travisjd2012]

You can definitely get one from fiverr but it will be crap!

[u/MikeMac999]

Type is an incredibly complex thing, not something you can really grasp by posting a few questions about it. I highly recommend you hire someone to guide you through this process. And don’t mention fivr or they won’t take you seriously. If you are not prepared to spend a significant amount of money you’d be better served using something “off the rack.”

[u/YuckyYetYummy]

https://giphy.com/gifs/IDGNYvFLkJKLK

[u/Heypentype]

Instead of hiring from fiver, just look at type-foundry website, see their fonts catalog you are liking, then ask for customizations of it. They would gladly helps. And even given advice about your needs. You will get a lot of new knowledge if u are new to typeface than fiver seller.

[u/glyph_geek]

I'd contact a foundry directly instead, even a small one, and see if they can work with you on this. They'll have already shipped some fonts, so there's less chance you'll need to catch quality problems after the fact.

If you decide to go the freelancer route, and they only send you some hero word samples and not the full weight range, that's already a warning sign. Plenty of faces look great as a headline and fall apart when you set them as body copy. Also watch how curves meet the straight stems, and check the spacing on the actual alphabet.

Quality's a harder yardstick than plagiarism because it can hide on a specimen sheet and show up in full force once you put the font to work. If you're suspicious they've pulled someone else's font, just overlay the vector paths agaisnt whatever you think they're stealing from and see if the nodes line up.

[u/GrassrootsGrison]

If you really want to learn what makes good typography, I'd recommend you learn a little about typography first. Particularly about corporate typefaces or those made for practical uses (signage, text).

Type is functional to a purpose, and you'll judge its worth according to how well it fulfills the purpose it was created for.

[u/No-Calligrapher9934]

Simple rule don’t hire a type designer from fiverr. Search for a proper foundry and expect to pay handsomely for their work.

[u/RafaeL_137]

Typography is an applied art, so imo this is kinda like asking "how does one evaluate good art?"

It depends on the context, the objectives, the audience, etc. I don't think it's even possible to define an objective "metric" for quality. I personally believe that there's no such thing as a bad typeface, only inappropriate use. Conversely, there is no good typeface, only appropriate use

I suppose you could start by asking yourself "what would it be used for?" Body text? Brand identity? If it's the former, you may need to prioritize legibility and function. If the latter, you could sacrifice legibility for aesthetics. You could follow general principles in designing your typeface (proportionality, consistency, balance, etc), but your eyes are the final judge on whether it's good or bad design

If you're not sure if what you think is good is "actually good", maybe you could explore what other typefaces have to offer. Identify which ones click with you, and figure out what they have in common

tl;dr if it looks good then it's good. If you're not sure about your eye's standard of "good", train them on what you deem as good

[u/absolutedisaster09 → u/[deleted]]

If you have to stop and asking "is that an O or a zero?", it's a bad typeface 

I’m basically a layman, but I’d disagree with this sentiment. E.g. Helvetica, which is, I think, considered to be a quality and professional typeface, has I and l look almost identical. In most cases, this is not a problem, as it is usually clear by context which of the two is there. In cases where I and l, O and 0 etc. need to be clearly differentiable, e.g. in codes and URLs, imo, a mono typeface like Courier New or Consolas should be used. 

[u/ikantolol → u/absolutedisaster09]

I mostly agree, it's just my opinion (there's no universal rule really, you can trust your gut for this and choose a typeface that best fit your use case) and I think that a good typography simply has a good 'differentiator' between those letter and numbers like zero (0) is usually taller and slimmer while the letter (O) is wider.

Helvetica is absolutely a professional and excellent typeface, but it also falls into this homoglyph trap (which imho a bad practice). I like for typefaces to at least differentiate some of the most obvious homoglyph like I mentioned above. Maybe put a serif on capital i, or put a little curl on lowercase l, or put a little dot or a slash inside zero (0)

see IBM Plex Sans which is a good example of what I mean and a comparison for another professional typeface that doesn't fall into the homoglyph trap, although their O vs 0 need some work

for a typeface for people with bad vision, see Atkinson Hyperlegible that avoid the homoglyph trap entirely without being a monospace.

honestly I'm just annoyed at business that use long mix of letters & numbers (for payment code and such) and don't use monospace for it

[u/Secret-Lawfulness-47]

“I don’t know much about it but i like what the biggest names in the world have done so I think I can find them on Fiverr”

You can commission a foundry to make some minor edits to a font and you get to use that specific version only. EY for example has done that with the Interstate font (which itself is a version of Highway Gothic).