my pleasure.
I do not seem to manage to upload the image. Will send it to you by e-mail.

The Arnhem Titling will be available by the end of the year.

Thank you for your remarks,

Corina

If Smeijers is convinced that the touching ‘ry’ is the best solution (for body text) then let’s trust him – he is the expert. And as soon as the titling version is out (will it be available for everybody?) we might buy it:)

Spacing is rather subjective, and the fact that I find some spacing acceptable and someone else perhaps not, is a proof of exactly that.
Now back to ‘very’, I attach a sample of typical Smeijers spacing for ‘very’ in Arnhem, Fresco, Quadraat and Renard. Ther is no mistake, but a convinction that the touching ‘ry’ is the best solution for that combination [according to Smeijers].

As for Rudy’s answer regarding us changing some spacing in Arnhem - just to make things clear - it was about a custom Arnhem Titling version, designed especially for larger sizes, and according to specific wishes of the client. For the text, the client was absolutely fine with the retail version (and touching of the ‘ry’). So, perhaps that gives more insight into why Arhnem text at 16 points makes you space [not kern] the ‘ry’.

But, of course we are glad when users share with us their opinions and preferences, but at the end of the day we make a compromise between what we think a product should be like and what [a majority] of our customers do expect. Type design is about compromises. And we aim at a reasonable one.

One of the designers at Ourtype replied to our concerns and said that, in his opinion, it is not ok that letters like r+y (like in “very”) touch. But, he added, “by putting things too close Fred (Smeijers) is convinced he has to compensate for the counters”. They say that spacing and kerning are a compromise to obtain an optical balance. True.

I simply don’t know if it creates problems when reading a 9pt text and letters touch. Is there a study about that? Or is it solely a subjective matter, as stated by Corina?

Maybe in smaller sizes it doesn’t cause problems, though even Ourtype seem to think that some changes have to be made. At least they told us that certain pairs are too tight, and they changed some kerning for another project they did.

So, to put that straight, I am not sure myself if it makes reading harder when letters touch in small sizes. It would be interesting if other designers shared their opinion on that.

The pdfs of all OurType typefaces are online, just go to ourtype.com > Try > Arnhem > Download sample pdf.

Otherwise, nearly any Hyphen Press book is set in Arhnem, and those are very reliable specimens ;-}

To address Hussein’s remark on kerning, since having Arnhem on the market (2002) we haven’t had but one e-mail questioning the kerning. And that was from Hussein’s friend Daniel.
We believe that kerning is a rather subjective matter. And, while listening to and assessing various opinions, we do relay on our own judgement for final decisions.
In the future release (this year) of Arnhem Pro some minor modifications might be expected, however we fully stand by Fred’s kerning of Arnhem.

And here’s where I admit that my ability to buy and use boughten fonts is rather limited, and indeed non-existent. Put another way — I use Microsoft Word and that’s about it.

Thanks for attempting to make a dent on such a big question… I suppose my answer to your query would then be, I was hoping to use one I already have.

Is there a way to introduce new fonts to Microsoft Word?

Sincerely,
Clueless in Cape Breton

(hehe :) )