Avoid Ubuntu typeface for non-logo things until it's finished

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

The typeface used for the Ubuntu logo has beautiful "u", "b", "n", and "t" characters, but the rest of the character set badly needs work. It's better than anything I could do, but still not nearly as good as a typical professional typeface. (On the Ubuntu.com front page, this is especially noticable in the characters "r", "m", "6", "S", "k", and "w".)

Until the typeface is finished, a more elegant one should be used for things other than the logo.

[Matthew East (mdke)]

MPT: can you explain which characters you are referring to as being defective? How would you resolve this issue?

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

In brief: The "r" is too wide, causing far too much space between it and whichever letter follows it (the reverse problem happens with "j", but that's mainly a kerning issue). The middle stems of the "m" and "w" do not extend as far as the outer ones, which makes sense for cramped monospace typefaces, but not for proportional ones. The left edge of the "6" is straight, which would make sense only for a fixed-width numeral set, but this is belied by the width of the "0". "S" is no longer present on the front page, and I cannot remember what was wrong with it. And the "k" features perfectly straight diagonals, which is inconsistent with the curved ones used in "v" (cf. the same letters in ITC Souvenir).

I'm not trashing the general ideas of the typeface, I think it's cool, it's just not polished enough to use on a Web site yet. In the meantime, I'd resolve this by replacing other uses of that typeface with one of the other sans-serifs used on the site. (This would have the additional benefit of reducing the number of sans-serifs in use: currently "desktop", "server", "community" and "support" are in the Ubuntu typeface, the site's body text is set to prefer Lucida Grande or Verdana, the sidebar is set to prefer Arial or Helvetica, "linux for human beings" is a graphical rendering of either Helvetica or Helvetica Rounded (can't tell at this size), and "documentation team" on doc.ubuntu.com is yet another typeface. It's a mess.)

[Matthew East (mdke)]

Thanks for your explanation.

[Matthew Nuzum (newz)]

We have set in our style guide that we use the title font only for the logo. There are no other instances of this font being used in the new website.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Thank you! (Changing to Fix Committed, as the new Web site has not been released.)

[Matthew East (mdke)]

Now released.