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We’ve all seen plenty of reviews of The Daily, but how about a review of its typography! As a “font fan” I found this fascinating. Here’s a snippet:

… While the content is on the lighter side, the design isn’t frivolous or cute. It’s not Gray Lady formal, but it does have the look of a fairly serious weekly news magazine. Much of this posture comes from steering clear of ultra-modern or casual typefaces and choosing the more conservative Founders Grotesk, Kris Sowersby’s ode to English Grots of the early 1900s. Sowersby toned down the idiosyncrasies of the old types, but not their heft and directness.

Founders Grotesk has tight spacing, which works well for most of the headlines. Unfortunately, The Daily doesn’t loosen the tracking for captions and other smaller settings, which strains readability. Sowersby’s philosophy is to space his fonts for display use because users “can obtain better results by opening tight spacing for text, rather than closing loose spacing for display.” I’m not sure I agree, but I’d love to hear other type designers’ thoughts on that strategy.

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