Ben Dunkle

Blog

  • Icon fonts

    Icon fonts

    So I’m trying to see if it’s possible to use a font for icons on a site, as has been attempted by the likes of fontawesome and probably many others.

    Prognosis to date: it doesn’t look good.

    I drew a 16×16 pixel box in Illustrator CS6.

    Copy/pasted it into the lower-case “a” glyph in Fontlab 5 (with metrics set to 800 upm).

    Exported otf, css3’d it into a basic html file, typed a single “a” on the page, loaded the page in Chrome and Safari, and was disappointed.

    Here’s what I wanted to see: A perfect, 16×16 pixel black square, no anti-aliasing, in all major browsers.

    Here’s what I got:

    chrome
    Chrome rendering of a 16px by 16px square embedded into the “a” glyph

     

    safari
    Safari rendering of a 16px by 16px square embedded into the “a” glyph

    Those ain’t perfect squares. They’re close, and the main dark part of the square is 16x16px, but there’s some major anti-aliasing going on.

    It’s also funny to note how Chrome tints the edges with a more reddish hue than safari.

    I’ll keep playing around, but webfonts for iconography aren’t looking very promising, at least as long as low-dpi screens are around.

    [UPDATE 1-26-13] I’ll post on the effects of webkit font smoothing shortly, how that impacts this experiment, and what it means for other browsers…

  • Software and Experience

    The longer you’ve been using an application, the less value you hold to the app developer as a user. Take Facebook. Once upon a time, it was a linear, flowing post stream. If you missed something, you missed it. Now, I have no idea where my posts go or who sees them or in what context. Facebook doesn’t give a dang about me; it’s catering to new users, trying to hook them. It doesn’t want new users to be confused. So it abandons behaviors and functionality that experienced users have become accustomed to, and absorbs whatever stuff the latest shiny hot flavor of the day social media platform might have.

    It’s not just Facebook. I love Adobe products, but I feel like they’re trying harder and harder to compete with Sketch and the like. The reason Adobe software is so great is because it’s extremely powerful, and it takes a long, dedicated time to get good at. Lately though, Adobe products seem to be stripping away functionality that may seem daunting to new users, afraid that those users will head to more familiar territory.

    Software should reward experienced users, not ostracize them.

  • Burgers

    They were thin but tough. Next time I will cook them for less time.

  • WordCamp Scranton

    What an awesome experience, and great job done by the organizers. As an organizer myself, I learned a few tricks and got some ideas for the next WCBUF. One thing I want to consider is killing the whole lunch thing altogether. Too many variables that inevitably go wrong. Provide coffee and water all day long, and people can bring their lunches.

    I’ll write more when time permits.

  • Breakfast

    Eli wanted eggs. He asked “Is the yoke a duck?”

  • Had to be the most beautiful day

    Went up to Canada with Nancy and her friend. Stopped at the grocery, got the guac stuff and some burger meat.Chased a few house wrens away. Cleaned the cottage up while the girls made guac. Went surfing at Pleasant, watched Nan and her bud get sweet rides. Got a ticket there and almost towed but that’s fine. My fault. Back to the cottage, ate some Mabel’s pizza, made some burgers. Checked in with the neighbors. Came home to a wide open Peace Bridge, no wait, no hassle. Sky was epic with clouds and light all day. Home now and idling until Twin Peaks. Let’s hope Audrey Horne finally shows up.

  • The BBPress icons

    The BBPress icons

    Here’s some recent icons done for BBPress:

    bbpress_icons_32