I’m crazy about fonts. My favorite part of any text editing software is the drop down menu for picking fonts. When I look at any text, I try to identify the font. Roboto is my favorite font.

我为字体疯狂。 在任何文本编辑软件中，我最喜欢的部分是用于选择字体的下拉菜单。 查看任何文本时，我都会尝试识别字体。 Roboto是我最喜欢的字体。

I wanted to write an article describing how fascinated I am by typography, and how much I care for good typefaces when I do my design work. This fascination is not recent, in fact, I’ve liked experimenting with different fonts and text styles ever since I could operate a computer. I wanted to start with a story, to show you how I got started. It’ll be a trip down memory lane for most of you as well.

我想写一篇文章，描述我对版式的着迷，以及在我进行设计工作时，我对好的字体有多大的关注。 这种迷恋并不是最近，实际上，自从我可以操作计算机以来，我就喜欢尝试不同的字体和文本样式。 我想从一个故事开始，向您展示如何开始。 对于大多数人来说，这也是一次记忆之旅。

I was eight years old and already hooked to computers at that age. I remember sitting in front of the Windows XP boot screen, waiting for the wallpaper with the green hill and blue sky to appear on the monitor. After hearing the sweet login sound and hitting Refresh a couple of times for good measure, I would open the DOS Games’ folder and play Doom.

我八岁，那时已经迷上了计算机。 我记得坐在Windows XP启动屏幕前，等待绿色的山丘和蓝天的墙纸出现在监视器上。 听见甜美的登录声音并按几次“刷新”后，我将打开DOS游戏的文件夹并播放Doom。

When I was not IDKFAing and killing Imps, I would be on Microsoft PowerPoint. PowerPoint was my playground. My canvas and my toy set. The best part about PowerPoint was the WordArt feature. All day I would just click the WordArt button and make all sorts of text. Crazy rainbow-colored ones, 3D ones and text that looked like fire, grass, and metal. I perceived them in 3D because WordArt gave me an option to draw text with all sorts of texture and perspective effects.

当我不使用IDKFAing并杀死Imps时，我将使用Microsoft PowerPoint。 PowerPoint是我的游乐场。 我的帆布和玩具套装。 有关PowerPoint的最佳部分是艺术字功能。 一整天，我只要单击艺术字按钮，然后输入各种文字即可。 疯狂的彩虹色，3D文本和看起来像火，草和金属的文字。 我用3D感知了它们，因为艺术字使我可以选择绘制具有各种纹理和透视效果的文本。

I wasn’t studying Physics at that time obviously, but there are some simple laws of physics that your brain applies quite intuitively. I still remember thinking while playing around in 3D WordArt, that certain fonts looked “stable”, while with others I felt like they would tumble down in the wind, or rock unsteadily because they had weird bottoms.

显然我当时没有在学习物理，但是有一些简单的物理定律可以让您的大脑直观地运用。 我仍然记得在3D艺术字中玩耍时会想到某些字体看起来“稳定”，而与其他字体相比，我感觉它们会在风中跌落，或者因为底部怪异而不稳定地摇摆。

I grew up, but my interest in PowerPoint did not diminish easily. I made quiz games in it. I made animations. Still, despite all the new improvements in the sleek Ribbon interface or the new 3D transitions, the font selection dropdown was the feature I interacted with the most. I noticed that I was picking fonts based on the text that I had written. If the text was serious, I had a set of fonts that made it feel serious. If I wanted to be crazy, there were fonts that suggested a more exciting nature. Typefaces started to become more fascinating to me.

我长大了，但是对PowerPoint的兴趣并没有轻易减少。 我在里面做了问答游戏。 我做了动画。 尽管如此，尽管在时尚的Ribbon功能区中进行了所有新改进或在新的3D过渡中进行了字体选择，但下拉菜单仍是我最常与之交互的功能。 我注意到我是根据我写的文字来选择字体的。 如果文字很严肃，我有一套字体会让我觉得很严肃。 如果我想发疯，那么有些字体暗示了更令人兴奋的性质。 字体开始变得更吸引我。

Try this. Look at these images, and pick out the font that you feel goes nicely with the message.

试试这个。 查看这些图像，然后挑选出您认为与该消息配合得很好的字体。

You most likely chose the images on the left. Did the creepy ‘Trust me’ on the right make you feel like it has sinister motive?

您最有可能选择了左侧的图像。 右边令人毛骨悚然的“信任我”是否会让您觉得它有阴险的动机？

How is it that the arrangement of shapes imparts an emotion or ‘feel’ to a message?

形状的排列如何给信息传递情感或“感觉”？

Well, I am not going to make a deep study into why exactly, but share some concepts that I strongly feel apply to how we see fonts, among other things.

好吧，我不会深入研究其确切原因，而是分享一些我强烈认为适用于我们如何看待字体的概念。

对称 (Symmetry)

One of them is symmetry. We humans are wired to perceive symmetry. We like things and faces that are symmetrical.

其中之一是对称性。 我们人类渴望感知对称。 我们喜欢对称的事物和面Kong。

Also, there is a lot of physics we apply as part of our visual perception of nature. We can predict how an object may interact with forces, for example due to wind, gravity and touch, based on its shape, texture, transculency and other visual aspects. We intuitively apply concepts of mass, and gravity pulling on a structure downwards. The structure will most likely tilt in the direction of the side with more mass. With a structure that has bottom symmetry, it will not happen. The structure stands strong.

另外，我们将许多物理学应用为对自然的视觉感知的一部分。 我们可以根据对象的形状，纹理，透明性和其他视觉方面，预测对象如何与例如由于风，重力和触摸而产生的力相互作用。 我们直观地应用质量和​​重力的概念将结构向下拉。 该结构很可能会以更大的质量沿侧面方向倾斜。 具有底部对称的结构将不会发生。 结构坚固。

You can split this vertically in half from the center, and get two very similar pieces.

您可以从中心垂直将其拆分为一半，并获得两个非常相似的片段。

But with this:

但是与此：

It has a bias. It does not have symmetry.

它有偏见。 它没有对称性。

清晰度 (Sharpness)

Look at the edges and corners of this serif font (serifs are the line like strokes at the ends of a letter) They look sharp. The lines are straight, and the tips feel like they can puncture. Imagine making one with real life materials. They look like they’d be made using accurate machining equipment, by an expert chiseler. Any tiny imperfection, like a serif broken off or bent, and it will lose its quality. You cannot replicate the print of such a typeface using handwriting tools. It imparts that kind of serious, perfect, professional feel to the text. The text will feel more genuine, like a lot of work has been put into it.

查看此衬线字体的边缘和角落(衬线是字母结尾处的线条，如笔画)。它们看起来很清晰。 线条是笔直的，笔尖感觉像是可以刺破。 想象一下用现实生活中的材料制作一个。 它们看起来像是由专业凿子使用精密加工设备制造的。 任何细微的瑕疵，例如衬线折断或弯曲，都会失去质量。 您无法使用手写工具复制此类字体的打印。 它赋予文本那种严肃，完美，专业的感觉。 文本会感觉更真实，就像已投入大量工作一样。

Look at a handwriting font. The ends are often rounded, soft and safe. The curves look hand drawn by humans. It is alright that the curves look irregular because it has a very organic, personal feel to it. The strokes may also resemble the strokes that a real writing instrument like a pencil, pen or marker makes. If you read something written in handwriting font, it will feel like a letter that someone has written by hand. The text will have a more personal meaning, and bring out the emotional nature of the opinions and thoughts expressed within it.

看一下手写字体。 末端通常是圆形的，柔软且安全的。 曲线看起来是人类手工绘制的。 没关系，曲线看起来不规则，因为它具有非常有机的个人感觉。 这些笔划也可能类似于铅笔，钢笔或记号笔之类的真正书写工具所产生的笔划。 如果您阅读用手写字体写的东西，那会感觉就像是别人亲手写的一封信。 文本将具有更多的个人含义，并带出其中表达的观点和思想的情感本质。

类似于现实世界的效果 (Resemblance to real world effects)

If you write something with wet paint, some of it will drip, and give it a melting effect. If you tear or shred something, it will have rough, inconsistent edges. Big and shiny objects bring excitement. Regular, geometric shapes do not occur frequently in nature, and most of the items that have a strong consistent geometry are produced with refined machinery, a luxury that science and progress has given us. Strong consistent geometry represents the future. It takes a great deal of work and skill to make elaborate, complex structures, and the calligrapher must be committed and experienced in his craft to maintain his consistent, elaborate strokes. Just like art styles, text styles are also influenced by their time period, and their history is as long, diverse and true like the evolution of languages and accents.

如果您用湿的油漆写东西，其中的一些会滴落并融化。 如果您撕裂或切碎某些东西，其边缘会变得粗糙，不一致。 大而有光泽的物体带来兴奋。 规则的几何形状在自然界中不经常出现，并且具有坚固一致的几何形状的大多数物品都是用精致的机械生产的，这是科学和进步赋予我们的一种奢侈。 坚固一致的几何形状代表着未来。 制作精致，复杂的结构需要大量的工作和技巧，而书法家必须在自己的Craft.io上执着和有经验，才能保持一致，精致的笔触。 就像艺术风格一样，文字样式也受其时间段的影响，其历史与语言和口音的演变一样悠久，多样且真实。

Fonts use shapes and fine detail that represent those qualities I listed above. Here, take a look:

字体使用的形状和精细的细节代表了我上面列出的那些品质。 在这里，看看：

Yes, typefaces are classified into many groups based on many factors, and all of this has been scientifically grouped and studied. This article isn’t about the technical anatomy of typefaces. It’s about how we connect to fonts, intuitively.

是的，字体是基于许多因素而分为许多组的，所有这些都已经过科学地分组和研究。 本文与字体的技术解剖无关。 关于我们如何直观地连接字体。

Designers know the importance of good typefaces. It’s a very useful study, as typefaces can influence people’s emotion, and therefore plays a very important role in Poster Design, Logo Design and branding. Typefaces are a reflection of culture and style, as real and distinct as fashion in clothing.

设计师知道好的字体的重要性。 这是一项非常有用的研究，因为字体会影响人们的情绪，因此在海报设计，徽标设计和品牌推广中起着非常重要的作用。 字体反映了文化和风格，与服装中的时装一样真实而独特。

I like how astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson describes our desire to make things beautiful. In a Hot Ones interview, he says that humans have a desire to bring pleasure to the senses. There’s beautiful art and architecture to see with our eyes. There’s beautiful music for our ears’ pleasure. We enjoy eating refined, tasty, flavorful foods.

我喜欢天体物理学家尼尔·德格拉斯·泰森(Neil deGrasse Tyson)博士描述我们使事物变得美丽的愿望。 他在接受Hot Hots采访时说，人类渴望为感官带来愉悦。 我们的眼睛可以看到美丽的艺术和建筑。 有美妙的音乐让我们耳目一新。 我们喜欢吃精致，美味，可口的食物。

As part of visual expression, we do the same to our words.

作为视觉表达的一部分，我们对文字进行相同的处理。

Typography is an art. It imparts emotion to text. They are a persistent method of retaining personal expression, as they carry emotional information while their ASCII or Unicode sequences encode textual information. There is a reason why there are thousands of fonts out there. If we did not value the emotional side of visual design, all our text would be in Courier.

排版是一门艺术。 它赋予文本情感。 它们是保留个人表达的一种持久方法，因为它们承载情感信息，而它们的ASCII或Unicode序列编码文本信息。 有一个原因为什么那里有成千上万种字体。 如果我们不重视视觉设计的情感方面，那么我们所有的文字都将在Courier中使用。

Also, in a very beautiful way, it’s a science too! Every time you browse through fonts in the drop down menu, your brain performs all these different processes, it applies those intuitive concepts and associations with real life experiences, to influence your selection of fonts!

而且，以一种非常美丽的方式，它也是一门科学！ 每次您在下拉菜单中浏览字体时，您的大脑都会执行所有这些不同的过程，它将这些直观的概念和与现实生活中的体验联系起来，从而影响您对字体的选择！

Fonts are fascinating, aren’t they?

字体很有趣，不是吗？

(Hope you enjoyed this short read. I’d love to hear from you. Let’s talk design!)

(希望您喜欢这篇简短的读物。我希望收到您的来信。让我们谈谈设计！)