Roboto
Roboto is a sans-serif typeface family introduced with Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system.[1] Google describes the font as "modern, yet approachable" and "emotional".[2][3] The font is licensed under the Apache license[4].
Development
The font was designed entirely in-house at Google by Christian Robertson, an interface designer for Google, who previously had designed the Ubuntu Titling Font through his personal type foundry betatype.[5][6]
Reception
Reception of the font has been mixed. Joshua Topolsky, at The Verge, describes the font as "clean and modern, but not overly futuristic – not a science fiction font"[7], while John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, called it "Google's Arial" due to perceived similarities with Helvetica.[8][9]
Stephen Coles, former Type Director at FontShop[10], criticized the font for being an unattractive imitation of Helvetica and other typefaces including Myriad and Univers, calling it "a Four-headed Frankenfont".[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Google's New Font". Wired. Wired. October 19,2011. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/android-ice-cream-sandwich-3/. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
- ^ "New Design Philosophy of Ice Cream Sandwich". Engadget. Engadget. http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/18/roboto-and-the-new-design-philosophy-of-android-4-0-ice-cream-s/. Retrieved November 4,2011.
- ^ "Design of Roboto". MSN. MSN. http://news.in.msn.com/technology/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5526341. Retrieved November 4,2011.
- ^ "Roboto license". http://www.fontsquirrel.com/license/roboto.
- ^ "Association with Google and betatype". Christian Robertson. Christian Robertson. http://christianrobertson.com/. Retrieved November 12,2011.
- ^ a b "Roboto is a Four-headed Frankenfont". TypoGraphica. TypoGraphica. http://typographica.org/2011/on-typography/roboto-typeface-is-a-four-headed-frankenstein/. Retrieved November 4,2011.
- ^ "Font Design In-house". The Verge. The Verge. http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/18/exclusive-matias-duarte-ice-cream-sandwich-galaxy-nexus/. Retrieved November 28,2011.
- ^ "Critique". Daring Fireball. Daring Fireball. http://daringfireball.net/2011/10/font_hipsters. Retrieved November 4,2011.
- ^ "Google's Arial". Daring Fireball. Daring Fireball. http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/10/19/roboto-v-helvetica. Retrieved November 4,2011.
- ^ "Stephen Coles's Bio". Stephen Coles. Stephen Coles. http://stephencoles.org. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
External links