What’s wrong with the Daily Mail (typography)?
Is it just me, or does the typeface used for the bullet points in this boxout (from the Daily Mail) really suck? It’s used for body text in lots of the paper, and it makes my eyeballs bleed.
13 Responses to “What’s wrong with the Daily Mail (typography)?”
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andi on October 21st, 2008
yea x-height (height of lower case x and most lower case letters) is way too much, compared to the height of the upper case letters
Heather on October 21st, 2008
What jumped out at me was the lack of tracking in the headline, which to me at first glance said “ATTHEPUMPS”.
This is a sure sign of using free and/or cheapie fonts, which are not created with the mathematical precision of “professional” fonts.
Gary on October 21st, 2008
Yeah, the spacing’s away to hell in the bullet points too. It’s really hard to read – it’s like being mugged in the eyes.
Gary on October 21st, 2008
Andi, do you think the x-height would work okay if the lines were further apart? It’s not a bad typeface, I don’t think, but the way it’s being used is awful.
mupwangle on October 21st, 2008
Do you not think it’s kinda appropriate. When you read the mail you should hear it in your head AS IF BARRY SCOTT FROM THE CILLIT BANG ADVERTS IS READING IT. The typeface sorta suits that.
tm on October 21st, 2008
Are you sure this is a mail story? It doesn’t seem to mention what effect this will have on house prices at all…
Squander Two on October 22nd, 2008
It’s a perfectly good font for headers. It shouldn’t be used for sentences. You see a lot of that these days. There are good reasons to use sans-serif fonts for on-screen use ’cause of pixelation, but, in print, prose should be in serif.
Aside from that, the “r” curves down too far. Creates an odd break wherever it appears.
Gary on October 22nd, 2008
> It doesn’t seem to mention what effect this will have on house prices at all…
Heh. Well, yesterday’s lead was “House prices ‘to plummet by 35%’ – the biggest ever fall in Britain”.
andi on October 22nd, 2008
Maybe, but it is too tight all over. i’d only use that body font for tables or lists. Just had a quick look at mail website and its okay, heavy sans for head with medium sans for body. So in conclusion, yes, it does suck big time.
Gary on October 22nd, 2008
The website isn’t bad at all, works fine on a screen, but the printed paper is really horrible. Some really weird font choices imo. If you go to the website and click on the e-editions link you can view the print version online (needs sign-up for a free trial).
Gary on October 22nd, 2008
Here’s another example:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/10/22/article-1079290-023313D1000005DC-738_468x346_popup.jpg
Heather on October 23rd, 2008
OMG, Apple IIC fonts, LOL.
paul on October 29th, 2008
I quite like it. The leading is maybe a bit tight, though.