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HelvetiNote for iPad long on looks, functionality
An app with a domain like DeathtoMarkerFelt.com has a clear objective. The app itself, HelvetiNote (US$2.99) is a note-taking application for the iPad meant for folks who dislike the aesthetics of Apple's own offering. Minimalist, attractive and useful, it's earned a spot on myiPad. Here's what I like (and don't) about the Notes alternative. I appreciate good design, but admit that I don't share the vehement opposition to Marker Felt that burns in the bellies of so many. It's cutsey, yes, and reminds me of a late-summer garage sale, but I can live with it. That said, Helvetinote looks beautiful. By default, it features black text (I'll let you suss out which font it uses) on a field of muted gray. There are two view options in both landscape and portrait orientations: with the toolbar or without. The toolbar includes a search field, an option to add a new note and a button to hide the toolbar. As you create more notes, they're also listed here chronologically. %Gallery-97340%
The Console Font sits at the crossroads of your typographic and gaming passions
Sometimes a story is best told with images -- and that's certainly the case with the Console Font. Put simply, designer Varun Vachhar has created a font based on the shapes of classic and current gaming gear, including but not limited to the PlayStation Move, the classic Atari 2600 controller, and yes, there's even a Nokia N-gage device in there. It's striking, for certain, but don't take our word for it -- hit the source link and see how it came to life.
Tips for creating an iPad-compatible Keynote presentation
While the iPad version of Keynote represents a slight twist on Apple's flagship presentation app and serves as a gateway into multitouch computing on a large display, it has a few shortcomings when compared to its Mac OS X counterpart (as we noted back in April). As a result, those who start their Keynote workflow on Mac OS X may be surprised when some of their transitions, builds and fonts don't show up the same way on the iPad. No need to work in Keynote blind, however, for TUAW is here. Here are some tips that'll provide you a framework on preparing a Keynote presentation on Mac OS X with iPad compatibility in mind. A tip of the hat to The Apple Blog for their Keynote/iPad post.
GDC: The UI of The Beatles Rock Band
Most UI panels at the Game Developers' Conference tend to be full of dry technical information, all about how the team developed their own font kerning tool and organized menu elements in a data-driven fashion. The Harmonix UI panel this morning hosted by Senior Artist Kevin McGinnis did have that stuff (McGinnis is a self-diagnosed font geek, and did sound overly excited about formatting bitmaps), but it was also full of art -- beautiful The Beatles: Rock Band inspired art. McGinnis talked about the different concepts the team had tried -- they first attempted to do a very clean, serene respectful version of the menus, but then decided to go much more colorful. They hired a few artists to build the menus up into actual 3D spaces (after accidentally telling Apple Corps that yes, the menus would all be animated), and McGinnis even showed off the 3D model that the camera zooms around in to guide the player into the game. You can see all of the art in the gallery below, from the various pieces of flair to the menu designs and concept work. %Gallery-88131%
Macworld 2010: TypeDNA
On the last day of Macworld, I caught up with the guys from TypeDNA to take a look at what I soon realized was going to be a revolutionary bit of software magic for designers of any ilk. TypeDNA is a series of plugins for Adobe CS4 applications (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) which makes finding the right font a simple matter. It has several methods for navigating font collections, starting with a search by name, which is handy on its own. The functionality expands from there, doing such things as automatically offering suggestions for similar fonts and font harmonies. The harmonies feature is especially interesting, and the suggestions it offered while they were demoing it were very good. You can pick a font from the suggestions and search for similar fonts to find exactly the right typeface for your project. TypeDNA always offers a variety of suggestions, and recognizes that font choice is entirely subjective ... you make all the decisions, it just helps you navigate a large font collection quickly and intuitively. I'll be doing a more in-depth review as soon as the demo version comes out (soon). The full version will be available in March, and will run $59US per plugin, or $89US for a full set (3 plugins) and two licenses so you can use them on two separate machines.
Samsung's YP-R1 gets firmware update, some of it will cost ya (video)
Firmware updates that improve performance while also boosting battery life? Love 'em. Firmware updates that nickle and dime you for things like new fonts? Hate 'em. So, mixed feelings then on news that Samsung's YP-R1 media player is getting an update that will make the thing more snappy and more longevous, as shown in the video demonstration after the break. That the company will start charging for things like themes and new text styles, however, seems a bit unfortunate. Also on the for-pay list will be downloadable games, the first of which, Touch & Number, will sell for 2,000 won (about $1.75). It's no Crash Bandicoot, but sounds just as fun -- right?
The Font Game for iPhone is fontastic fun
Be sure to check out our iPhone game review roundup via Joystiq. Ask any designer what their favorite font is and you'll get one of several thousand possible answers. Fonts aren't merely pretty characters on a display; they are an art form. Each font family conveys a particular aesthetic meaning that can make or break any design, if used properly or improperly. In fact, I've long suspected the ancient Egyptian civilization was brought down by the creation of Papyrus. The recent appearance of the faux-ancient typeface in the film Avatar as subtitles will surely doom us all -- especially if viewed in 3D. The folks at ILT share our font fixation, and they've developed a highly addictive text teaser iPhone game that puts your font knowledge to the test. The Font Game [$0.99, iTunes link] challenges you to identify a series of fonts presented onscreen; you then select one of four possible answers.
Font Bureau takes credit for Palm's custom 'Prelude' fonts; our hearts melt
Normally we're just happy to be able to read a bit of legible text on a mobile device -- maybe with a bit of anti-aliasing tossed in -- but we really have to hand it to Palm for the truly stunning and readable set of fonts in webOS. Apparently we have Boston-based Font Bureau to thank, who developed the all-new "Prelude" sans serif font family for the device, along with a related "Apres" set for print and marketing. The project was lead by Font Bureau co-founder David Berlow, who has also developed fonts for Microsoft and Apple in the past.
First Look: FontShuffle puts FontShop in your pocket
If, like me, you do a lot of your font shopping at FontShop, you're sure to love FontShuffle. FontShuffle is like having a copy of the indispensable FontShop catalog right on your iPhone or iPod touch. I know my dog-eared copy from 2002 needs to be updated and/or retired: FontShuffle is a nifty, free replacement. It's ideal for situations where you know what look you want, but don't know what font to use. FontShuffle lets you choose from six major classifications of type: sans serif, serif, slab serif, script, blackletter, and display. Tap one, and FontShuffle shows you six more sub-categories to choose from. Tap one of those, and you're presented with six selections from the FontShop catalog based on the look you selected. If none of the fonts fit the bill, press "Shuffle" or simply shake the device to get six more fonts. Tapping a font lets you view a customizable string of text in that font, and even save a picture of the text to your device's camera roll. Rotating the screen displays a specimen. Unfortunately, FontShuffle can be frustrating if you know what font you're looking for, as there's no search tool. You have to shuffle through page after page of fonts until it comes up in a random selection. Also, FontShuffle doesn't contain FontShop's entire catalog. They promise to add more fonts in upcoming versions. FontShuffle is free, and available from the App Store. It's a must-have for any type geek or designer that needs a font reference handy. %Gallery-39918%
Beta Beat: Fontcase
A few months ago, a teaser appeared for a new Mac OS X font management app, Fontcase, developed by Pieter Omvlee and with an UI design by Laurent Baumann. Fontcase is designed to replace Apple's Font Book utility, which is not only a mediocre font management app, but has a less than nuanced interface.For the last several months, Fontcase has been in private beta. Today, subscribers to the Fontcase newsletter were invited to download the latest beta. The app is very close to completetion, with a release date scheduled for sometime mid-January 2009, after Macworld. I used a few version of Fontcase while it was in private beta, and as a typography nut, have really been looking forward to this release.First off, the interface is just beautiful. This won't be surprising to anyone who has seen Laurent's work in the past, but it is worth mentioning because of just how elegant and Mac-like the application feels. I think I've used almost every font manager available for OS X and Fontcase is certainly the most attractive.When you open Fontcase, you are given the option to import your System and user fonts (basically everything that is already in Font Book). If you use Linotype's FontExplorer X , you can also import sets and meta-data directly from that application. You can share font collection via Bonjour to other computers on your network.
Extensis Universal Type Server: Font management for workgroups
Another product announced at Macworld Expo, Extensis Universal Type Server, is now shipping. Universal Type Server is designed for corporate font management, requiring Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server 10.4 or 10.5 on a G5 or better machine. My personal opinion is that this would be a perfect application to run on a headless Mac mini.There are two flavors of Universal Type Server - Professional, which is scalable to any size workgroup, and Lite, for workgroups of up to 10 users. The server and client applications are cross-platform, running on Windows as well as Mac.Migration paths are available for users of Font Reserve Server or Suitcase Server. The Lite package is available for $1395 directly from Extensis, but you'll want to contact a reseller for the Professional version. If you want to kick the tires before you buy, you can download 30-day free trials for both Pro and Lite.
PopChar X 4.0
PopChar X, the little utility that gets all of those funky symbols, accents, and other special characters into your documents without having to remember arcane key codes, has been updated to version 4 for Mac.PopChar has been around for over 20 years and is a favorite of editors and designers. To type a special character, you click on a P in the menu bar and a list of characters appears. Selecting the character you want drops it into your current document. Sure, you could always use Apple's Character Palette tool, but it's slow, and difficult to search for a special character in a particular font.PopChar X 4.0 adds a new feature for searching Unicode characters by name across font boundaries. Ergonis, developer of PopChar, provides an example of searching for a "cubic meters" symbol in Helvetica. Typing in "cub" produces no results, but you can click a new "All" button to search across all Unicode fonts. You can download a trial version of PopChar X 4.0, or purchase it online from Ergonis for €29.99. Multiple license packs are available at a discount.
Show floor video: Extensis Universal Type Server
We had a quick visit with Kelly from Extensis and a demo of Extensis Universal Type Server, an upcoming workgroup management package for fonts. Administrators can control font sets and lock down user preferences, including for mobile users, and both server and client are cross-platform, Leopard and Vista friendly. Pricing not yet established, but the product should be shipping later this year. Video after the jump.
Chinese electronics company sues Blizzard over fonts
An electronics company in Beijing has sued Blizzard, claiming that they allegedly used five copyrighted fonts in World of Warcraft. Founder Electronics wants 100 million yuan for the alleged infringement, which is apparently the largest amount ever asked for by a Chinese company in a copyright case (Founder claims the loss cost them 1 billion yuan). The case is sitting in front of the Beijing High People's Court, and the9, which is the Chinese company that runs WoW there, is considering their options.I'm assuming that means the9's Chinese version of WoW, which would mean the fonts themselves are for Chinese characters, so there's probably no fonts that English-speaking users would recognize ingame. However, Founder is apparently known for creating some of the most popular fonts in China, so the odds that someone at the9 used one of them (or at the very least one that looked like one of them) are probably pretty good (the picture on this post is from a Founder event, not a Blizzard event, so the obvious use of the Founder font there doesn't count). Of course it's up to the High Court to decide whether the infringement actually took place or not-- no word on how long the judgment will take.
Apple flag for sale on eBay
After we posted that neon Apple sign a little while back, reader Franco thought we'd get a kick out of this Apple flag for sale on eBay, and he was right. The best news is that right now, it's sitting pretty at only $10 (reserve not yet met, though) flying upwards-- what are you TUAW readers, rich?-- so you could own a little piece of Apple history for cheap.As for dating it, the page says the 80s. No mention of Macintosh might put it before 1984, but that's just a guess-- Apple IIs were known as the first "personal computers" and those were made all the way up until the early 1990s. I really love those fonts, though, and of course the rainbow logo is a classic.
Safari for Windows: Mac vs. PC Font smoothing
One of the first things users noticed about the new Safari for Windows beta is that Apple is using their own font smoothing technology (found in OS X) instead of the Windows standard ClearType. Joel Spolsky has an interesting discussion of the different approaches Apple and Microsoft use with respect to sub-pixel font smoothing. Basically his conclusion is that Apple, coming from a desktop publishing background, "believes that the goal of the algorithm should be to preserve the design of the typeface as much as possible" even if that means some onscreen blurriness, whereas Microsoft sacrifices letter shape "to prevent blur and improve readability." Joel notes that it's not entirely obvious which is the superior way of doing things, though predictably Mac users prefer the Apple way and Windows users the prefer the Microsoft way. In the end, however, this is likely as much a result of familiarity as anything else. For my part, I've always thought the Mac way of doing text just looked right. Thanks to Joel I now understand why; definitely worth a read.[via Red Sweater Blog]
AddOn Spotlight: ClearFont
Being a big fan of typography, ClearFont is one of the first addons I reach for on a fresh install of WoW. All it does is replace the in-game fonts with your choice of several beautiful, readable ones. Some people don't have a problem with Blizzard's choice of fonts, or simply don't care about fonts at all, but for those of us who do, ClearFont is a godsend. Thank you, Kirkburn!
The Little Things: anti-aliased fonts help Mac OS X shine
Continuing our new The Little Things series that highlights the often-overlooked polish and underrated features that make Mac OS X such a joy to use, I thought I'd highlight one of those 'guy behind the guy' features that makes Apple's OS so gorgeous: font anti-aliasing. Nerdy, I know, but check out the screenshot: Windows, even XP, doesn't support this feature system-wide like Mac OS X does, and it shows. Type looks like garbage in everything from desktop icons to most applications and their menus on Windows. Mac OS X, on the other hand, supports anti-aliased fonts from the ground up (to my knowledge), so everything from System Preferences to desktop icons, text editors to iLife and more are incredibly legible and lickable.Some call it a minor detail, but given the undeniably pleasant usability this brings to the OS, I would argue it's one of those trademark additions that Apple's engineers don't receive enough credit for.Update: As many people pointed out Windows does, in fact, have a similar feature called 'ClearType,' which some consider superior to OS X's (though it is a matter of taste). The key difference is that ClearType is disabled by default, which in effect means that most Windows users have no idea that it is even an option. Another case of Apple paying attention to the little details, though Vista will have this feature enabled by default.
Widget Watch: CSS Tweak!
CSS Tweak!, as you might imagine, can optimize and clean up your CSS code with the drag and drop of a file. The widget will report how much smaller your file is going to get, and its description states that your new file is "saved in the same location as the original", so I'm pretty sure this means it doesn't overwrite the original, but proceed (and backup!) with caution.CSS Tweak! appears to be free and is available from Andy Peatling at his site, CssDev.
Widget Watch: Type Cast font preview and info
This is one of those widgets that makes me wonder why Apple hasn't already made one. Type Cast is pretty simple and straight-forward: it's a font preview widget from Code Line Communications, makers of Art Director's Toolkit (amongst other things). This widget isn't short on capabilities either; you can navigate font families, styles and sizes with merely your keyboard, and you can even be taken directly to the font file in the Finder.The Type Cast widget is free and available from Code Line Communications here.
