Comments on: Decline and fall of the ligature http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:21:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: The Fuss about Ligatures « Mix Creativehttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-12644 The Fuss about Ligatures « Mix Creative Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:59:34 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-12644 [...] that require unusual keystrokes) use of ligatures began to decline. An article about ligatures on ilovetypography.com states that: Richard Wendorf, in a 2005 lecture The Secret Life of Type, even suggests that the [...] […] that require unusual keystrokes) use of ligatures began to decline. An article about ligatures on ilovetypography.com states that: Richard Wendorf, in a 2005 lecture The Secret Life of Type, even suggests that the […]

]]> By: sinemahttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-6505 sinema Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:17:08 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-6505 i love this blog. :) thanks for sharing.. ;) i love this blog. :)
thanks for sharing.. ;)

]]> By: limeduck » The Type that Tieshttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-4777 limeduck » The Type that Ties Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:21:37 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-4777 [...] (too much) more information? Start with i love typography on Decline and Fall of the Ligature and Blogdorf on ligatures. Wikipedia’s entry is good for tripping the TMI wire. Fonts with [...] […] (too much) more information? Start with i love typography on Decline and Fall of the Ligature and Blogdorf on ligatures. Wikipedia’s entry is good for tripping the TMI wire. Fonts with […]

]]> By: Piohttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-2509 Pio Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:55:33 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-2509 Hi,I know it's been almost three months since the last comment, and I'm sorry if I'm "bumping" anything by posting this, but I just couldn't resist :)First of all, about the æ. Where I come from (Norway), the æ is considered a letter on the same plane as any other (we have 29 letters in our alphabet), and not a ligature, it even has it's own key on our keyboards. Just imagine how happy it must be! However, it's origin is as a ligature, and it should still be considered as such in e.g. latin words such as encyclopædia.Now, about ligatures in computer programs. For those of you lucky enough to own a Mac, there are ligatures all over the place! Apple is widely known for it's attention to aesthetics, and their typography clearly reflects this. For instance, I just noticed that even the address bar in Safari (3) auto-inserts ligatures(!), and Pages contains <em>tons</em> of options for using ligatures in OpenType fonts.Screenshot of address bar in Safari with f-i, f-l, f-f-i and f-f-l ligatures:Apple's system font is Lucida Grande which, coincidentally, is one of the few sans-serif fonts with ligatures.Typography options in Pages for Garamond Premier Pro (click for full view): <a href="http://fagga.net/pagestypography.png"></a>Hmm.. I see the images aren't showing, and in case they decide not to show up at all, here are the links: http://fagga.net/safariligature.pnghttp://fagga.net/pagestypography.png Hi,

I know it’s been almost three months since the last comment, and I’m sorry if I’m “bumping” anything by posting this, but I just couldn’t resist :)

First of all, about the æ. Where I come from (Norway), the æ is considered a letter on the same plane as any other (we have 29 letters in our alphabet), and not a ligature, it even has it’s own key on our keyboards. Just imagine how happy it must be! However, it’s origin is as a ligature, and it should still be considered as such in e.g. latin words such as encyclopædia.

Now, about ligatures in computer programs. For those of you lucky enough to own a Mac, there are ligatures all over the place! Apple is widely known for it’s attention to aesthetics, and their typography clearly reflects this. For instance, I just noticed that even the address bar in Safari (3) auto-inserts ligatures(!), and Pages contains tons of options for using ligatures in OpenType fonts.

Screenshot of address bar in Safari with f-i, f-l, f-f-i and f-f-l ligatures:

Apple’s system font is Lucida Grande which, coincidentally, is one of the few sans-serif fonts with ligatures.

Typography options in Pages for Garamond Premier Pro (click for full view):

Hmm.. I see the images aren’t showing, and in case they decide not to show up at all, here are the links:
http://fagga.net/safariligature.png

http://fagga.net/pagestypography.png

]]> By: johnohttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-448 johno Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:00:29 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-448 Alec What you say about your Google search ligatures experiment is interesting <blockquote><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=fifi finally ate her bagel&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t">This Google search (with fancy characters)</a> finds the target; but <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=zp0&q=fifi finally ate her bagel&btnG=Search">this Google search (with just “fifi...")</a> doesn't.</blockquote>I wonder why searching for the ligature-less “fifi" doesn't find your page via the Google search; yet, when you selected the text in Firefox and searched via Google, it hit the mark. Must be an encoding thing. I guess the search Google via a piece of selected text, uses the underlying Unicode characters?It would be interesting to find out what Google has to say on this matter. Thanks for the experiment, Alec. I've sent a message to Google about this, but won't hold my breath waiting for them to reply. Alec
What you say about your Google search ligatures experiment is interesting

This Google search (with fancy characters) finds the target; but this Google search (with just “fifi…”) doesn’t.

I wonder why searching for the ligature-less “fifi” doesn’t find your page via the Google search; yet, when you selected the text in Firefox and searched via Google, it hit the mark. Must be an encoding thing. I guess the search Google via a piece of selected text, uses the underlying Unicode characters?

It would be interesting to find out what Google has to say on this matter. Thanks for the experiment, Alec. I’ve sent a message to Google about this, but won’t hold my breath waiting for them to reply.

]]> By: johnohttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-364 johno Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:00:12 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-364 Rob Thank you very much. I'm simply <em>drawing on experience</em>, as you might say ;) Rob
Thank you very much. I’m simply drawing on experience, as you might say ;)

]]> By: Rob Ghttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-363 Rob G Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:51:49 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-363 Quite edu-taining. Another wonderful article in a wonderful blog.Keep up the great work. Quite edu-taining. Another wonderful article in a wonderful blog.

Keep up the great work.

]]> By: Alechttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-320 Alec Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:18:23 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-320 Any time! Any time!

]]> By: johnohttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-316 johno Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:30:34 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-316 Thanks everyone for your comments.Very interesting on Search Engines and ligatures -- I'll revisit this topic. Thanks for your input and help, Alec. Looks like I might be calling on you to guest write a piece on TeX.Mark, thanks for taking the time to post that info re æ. Greatly appreciated.Andre I guess that Alec has at least partially answered your question. I'll be looking at software in future, including FontLab Pro, some cheaper alternatives, and lots, lots more.Manuel Apologies for the difficulties you're experiencing. I though I'd fixed it -- looks as though I'll need to take a closer look at the whole commenting system, to make inserting links and images easy. Thanks for your patience -- and your comments. Thanks everyone for your comments.Very interesting on Search Engines and ligatures — I’ll revisit this topic. Thanks for your input and help, Alec. Looks like I might be calling on you to guest write a piece on TeX.

Mark, thanks for taking the time to post that info re æ. Greatly appreciated.

Andre
I guess that Alec has at least partially answered your question. I’ll be looking at software in future, including FontLab Pro, some cheaper alternatives, and lots, lots more.

Manuel
Apologies for the difficulties you’re experiencing. I though I’d fixed it — looks as though I’ll need to take a closer look at the whole commenting system, to make inserting links and images easy. Thanks for your patience — and your comments.

]]> By: stefpause.com - The Decline and Fall of the Ligaturehttp://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-294 stefpause.com - The Decline and Fall of the Ligature Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:38:01 +0000 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/09/decline-and-fall-of-the-ligature/#comment-294 [...] “I Love Typography” covers the Decline and Fall of the Ligature. [...] […] “I Love Typography” covers the Decline and Fall of the Ligature. […]

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