My least-favorite trend in Mac app design: using Helvetica instead of Lucida Grande, the system font, often because Helvetica is the default on iOS (cf. Reeder, a Mac port of an iOS app).
Why is this wrong?
1) Lucida Grande was optimized for legibility on low- and medium-resolution screens [1], and Helvetica is a 50-year-old print font.
2) Lucida Grande is the system font, and other fonts stick out like a sore-thumb, contrary to the consistency designer’s strive for [2].
The problem, of course, is that Apple keeps using Helvetica in their own Mac apps, most recently across vast swaths of iPhoto, seemingly for the sole benefit of making it more like an iOS app (especially when full screen), disregarding much of what makes a Mac app unique.
Comments
My least-favorite trend in Mac app design: using Helvetica instead of Lucida Grande, the system font, often because Helvetica is the default on iOS (cf. Reeder, a Mac port of an iOS app).
Why is this wrong? 1) Lucida Grande was optimized for legibility on low- and medium-resolution screens [1], and Helvetica is a 50-year-old print font. 2) Lucida Grande is the system font, and other fonts stick out like a sore-thumb, contrary to the consistency designer’s strive for [2].
The problem, of course, is that Apple keeps using Helvetica in their own Mac apps, most recently across vast swaths of iPhoto, seemingly for the sole benefit of making it more like an iOS app (especially when full screen), disregarding much of what makes a Mac app unique.
[1] http://www.tug.org/store/lucida/designnotes.html
[2] http://blog.cocoia.com/2008/swiss-interface-syndrome/