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Nokia Pure: Nokia's New Official Font
- sabrytozin 15y agoSabry Tozin nigga Muslim wants to jihad
- glhaynes 15y agoWhen an artist seems to want to tell you more about themselves than their work, the work is usually not all that interesting.
- Tichy 15y agoI think one of Nokia's problems might be an ego that is too big.
- tptacek 15y agoMany companies have house typefaces, and, if you're going to do that, you might as well have the page that says you got Bruno Maag to do it. Really, when you get to the size of a company like Nokia, you're inevitably going to have an enormous marketing budget just for the boring stuff, like printing costs and designing the N+100th version of your N+100th product's N+5th slick. These are marketing dollars that are getting spent not out of ego, but simply to keep the train on the tracks. Compared to those expenses, no matter how much it costs to engage Dalton Maag, it's still probably a rounding error. Wouldn't you rather live in a world where big companies occasionally gave excellent typographers interesting problems to work on, rather than paying someone to round the corners on FF Meta or something?
- rbanffy 15y ago> you're inevitably going to have an enormous marketing budget If your products are actually good and/or desirable, you may discover that the marketing budget can be reduced and the surplus money be used to develop the next generation good and desirable products.
- mootothemax 15y agoIf your products are actually good and/or desirable... What, so, e.g. Apple don't have large marketing budgets... or that they're wrong to invest in marketing?
- rbanffy 15y agoJust look how much free publicity Apple gets by having a legion of dedicated fans. Imagine how much money they'd need to get that kind of media/social media coverage if nobody liked their products.
- chc 15y agoAnd yet Apple still has a huge marketing budget (which really should be even bigger, except they put their storefronts in a separate part of the budget). I mean, yes, you need to allocate money differently depending on your market position, but large companies spend a lot on marketing, whether they're Apple or Nokia. So I don't understand your point. Nokia spends a lot on marketing. Apple spends a lot on marketing. Nokia has a house typeface. Apple has a house typeface. Is it just "I don't like Nokia's products"?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- tptacek 15y agoYou missed my point, which is frustrating, because I lawyered up my (simple) point with a whole lot of extra words exactly to avoid this unproductive branch of the discussion.
- sachinag 15y agoYay HN circa 2011!
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- Tichy 15y agoI agree, actually, it is just that the timing seems rather bad. But of course they can not put their marketing staff on hold until they have a product worth marketing for...
- Jabbles 15y agoOh sweet, another font where the word "I'll" looks bizarre.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- kwantam 15y agoChrome 9.0.597.83 beta for Linux does not do a very good job with the kerning on that page. Not sure if it's bad hinting or just poor rendering, though.
- oconnore 15y agoI noticed it too with Firefox 4//Win7.
- gvb 15y agoThat is because you are looking at Arial or sans-serif, not at "Nokia Pure Text"... assuming you did not download and install the font on your computer. Check the .css: font-family: 'Nokia Pure Text', Arial, sans-serif; The only thing that is "Nokia Pure" on the web page is the .gif images of the sample text. This is an insurmountable problem with branded fonts; they only work if you load the branded font on every computer that will ever brush up against it. This means your Word documents will look like crap when you send them to an outside company. This means your web site that proudly uses the font will look like... umm... some generic sans-serif font when you use it on your web page. The problem is insurmountable because, to fix the problem, you will have to convince everybody in the world to install it on their machine, which will require you to release the font for unrestricted use. A custom company-branded font with unrestricted use is an oxymoron.
- scott_s 15y agoIf you're using a browser that supports @font-face, you're looking at Nokia Pure. From http://brandbook.nokia.com/generated_files/pub_module/css/c373.css http://brandbook.nokia.com/generated_files/pub_module/css/c3...: @font-face { font-family: 'Nokia Pure Text'; src: url('/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/puretext/nokiapuretext-webfont.eot'); src: url('/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/puretext/nokiapuretext-webfont.eot?iefix') format('eot'), url('/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/puretext/nokiapuretext-webfont.woff') format('woff'), url('/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/puretext/nokiapuretext-webfont.ttf') format('truetype'), url('/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/puretext/nokiapuretext-webfont.svg#webfont4UxFerZx') format('svg'); font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; } Chrome supports @font-face, so kwantam is looking at Nokia Pure. I think that CSS feature goes a long way in dealing with the problems you listed - at least for webpages.
- jkeel 15y agoI know there are others out there (Microsoft, Android, etc.) but I do not like corporate branded fonts. I'd much rather they choose a more creative name and open it up for much broader use.
- dchest 15y agoAndroid fonts are open http://www.google.com/webfonts/family?family=Droid+Sans&subset=latin http://www.google.com/webfonts/family?family=Droid+Sans&...
- tptacek 15y agoI like the dots on the i's and j's.
- gregschlom 15y agoLooks good, a little bit toyish, though. The endings of the letters look like they are rounded. I prefer the stylish seriousness of Helvetica Light on the iPhone, but that's a matter of taste.
- fluidcruft 15y agoHaha. Way to try and ride on Facebook's branding.
- vessenes 15y agoI like it. It's clean, reads nicely at small sizes on a screen, and shows its Modernist heritage while going for a little more motion. I wish I could use it on my web application (I think), but my quick scan doesn't show any licensing information.
- Flemlord 15y agoLooks like Microsoft Segoe UI, which would make sense.
- LoonyPandora 15y agoErik Spiekermann isn't very happy about the new typeface. He did the original, and says this one is bland [1]. Though it is, the old face was shockingly dated and needed replacing [2]. Nokia Pure is a nice readable typeface, very appropriate for use on mobile devices, elegant in it's own way - but too bland. They should've saved some money and just said "Frutiger". At least they aren't setting their logo in it. [1] https://twitter.com/espiekermann/status/51173410415452160 https://twitter.com/espiekermann/status/51173410415452160 [2] http://twitpic.com/4edrh7 http://twitpic.com/4edrh7
- jluxenberg 15y agothe old face was shockingly dated and needed replacing How was the older typeface dated, other than being from 2002?
- rbanffy 15y agoThis is awesome. With this new beautiful, strong font acting as a multiplier of the huge competitive advantage they got by opting for Windows Phone 7, both iPhone and Android are doomed.
- tptacek 15y agoNokia is a global company that does many tens of billions of dollars a year in revenue. Believe it or not, they did not commission a new typeface to impress Reddit and HN. This is not part of their plan to take on iOS and Android. So, I don't understand the point you're making with your comment. Are you suggesting that everything at Nokia come to a complete standstill until they can placate smartphone pundits? It's just frustrating that, just because we don't "like" Nokia, we can't talk about the actual story; everything has to be a referendum on WP7.
- rbanffy 15y agoWould you buy Nokia shares now and hold them for five years?
- chc 15y agoIs that relevant? Because it doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Nokia's new typeface.
- rbanffy 15y agoIt has with his faith in Nokia's sound strategy and competent management. I am implying Nokia has a focus problem, he says it's normal and perfectly sane. If it is, he would be willing to bet on the company's recovery.
- chc 15y agoHe didn't even mention the soundness of Nokia's strategy or the competence of their management. What he said is the same thing I'm saying: I don't see what any of the stuff you're talking about here (Windows Phone 7, the company's overall strategy, the company's management) has to do with the Nokia Pure typeface. What does a font have to do with the company's focus? Are you suggesting they should have put Bruno Maag to work on OS development and instead they wasted his talent on type design?
- baddox 15y agoIt looks decent: modern and playful. I'm not typeface expert, but it seems like there are more implied vertical lines than I would expect.
- dotcoma 15y agoNow I finally know what they've been doing for the last 4 years...
- marcamillion 15y agoI thought this was a joke at first, but am pleasantly surprised. I actually checked my calendar, but realized it is still 2 days away. T minus 2 days for the most ridiculous headlines of the year.
- marckremers 15y agoI can't believe what I'm reading here. That font is awful. The x-height is too short in terms of ratio, the counters are squashed, the stroke width is far too fat. It looks totally clunky on my screen. And that page design?! Show some love Nokia!
- raquo 15y agoThey probably spent a lot of resources to develop this font and didn't even bother to move the "Our new typeface" headline a pixel or two to the left so that it looks like it's actually left-aligned with all the other text.
- moondowner 15y agoWhy? I really liked (and still like) the one they used up until now [1]. It looked fancy, it was _really_ distinctive, and it had a great readable font for devices (e.g. screenshot [2]). What more do you need from a typeface? P.S. Doesn't this new typeface somehow remind you of Windows Phone 7's one? [1] http://spiekermann.com/en/nokia-sans-character/ http://spiekermann.com/en/nokia-sans-character/ [2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/21709201@N00/4263893860/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/21709201@N00/4263893860/
- tptacek 15y agoI'm no expert, but: * Spiekermann's face is distinctive, but also dated; Spiekermann himself draws a comparison to Rotis in the PDF spec for the face. * The face is complicated. Look towards the back of spec book for whole pages set in it. It draws a bit of attention to itself. * In the same vein: it's complicated enough to require a serif and "wide" variation to make it work in all the settings Nokia needs type. Don't underestimate how annoying that may have been for people working at Nokia. One company I worked with ditched an identity that used Mrs. Eaves and Futura (which looked awesome, I thought) because no normal person could make a document look good in it. The new face is all these things in reverse: * It's trendy (yeah, to the point of being boring) * It's simple * It's all-purpose And sure, at the end of the day, maybe they just wanted to refresh for the hell of it. Also: remember that the cost to re-do all their docs in a new visual style will probably dwarf the cost of getting a face commissioned. If they were going to refresh the identity anyways (that's just something companies do once or twice every decade), and the cost of a Dalton Maag typeface is a tiny part of that, why not?
- moondowner 15y agoAll arguments valid, but I still kinda like the old typeface more. It's true that it has too many variations, but probably the new one will have as well. I doubt that only 3-4 variations will exist, there'll be more - for devices, for logos, etc... A refresh of the identity is a must every once in a while, it's the only explanation I see why the old one should be changed ;), but I doubt that their old docs will be redone in the new corporate branding, only the currently used will be redone and the new docs will use it.
- cromulent 15y agoAnd the links for download: http://brandbook.nokia.com/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/puretext/nokiapuretext-webfont.ttf http://brandbook.nokia.com/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/... http://brandbook.nokia.com/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/Fonts/pureheadline/nokiapureheadlinerg-webfont.ttf http://brandbook.nokia.com/other_files/Brand_Book_v2.2_2011/... As posted here: http://craig.dubculture.co.nz/blog/2011/03/26/putting-nokias-new-nokia-pure-typeface-on-your-symbian-phone/ http://craig.dubculture.co.nz/blog/2011/03/26/putting-nokias...
- naner 15y agoWhat are the license terms?
- gnufs 15y ago"Copyright © 2011 Nokia. All rights reserved. Reproduction, transfer, distribution or storage of part or all of the contents in this document in any form without the prior written permission of Nokia is prohibited."
- antihero 15y agoLooks beautiful on my Desire. Any word on a bold font?
- Joeri 15y agoWell, that's a wrap. Nokia is done with being about technology.
- JCB_K 15y agoWhen I saw the font, I got the feeling it hadn't changed much. Then I compared it to the old one, and I realized it's completely different, but it just gave the same feeling. In other words: very good job.
- ignifero 15y agoOK , now I am starting to get worried about Nokia
- bitwize 15y agoBold looks like the typeface used in highway signage in the United States. The 'w' has arms that are of varying widths, all too narrow. Memo to tech companies: don't even bother trying to woo the crowd that masturbates to pictures of Hermann Zapf. That market segment belongs exclusively to Apple.
- mikesurowiec 15y agoAt first I thought the lowercase 'g' was weird, because it's facing to the right, but then I guess it makes sense with their 'seamless motion' tag.
- bborud 15y agofirst impression: too fidgety.