Open any recent interface typeface at 12 pixels and put it next to one from ten years ago. The new one is wider. The letters are more open, the spacing is looser, and the x-height has crept up again.
Built for the size people read
For years, designers drew typefaces at display sizes and let the small sizes take care of themselves. That worked on paper. On screens, small text is where people spend most of their time: labels, captions, table cells, timestamps.
The new generation of interface fonts starts at the other end. Designers draw the caption size first, then work up. Wider letters keep counters open when pixels are scarce, and looser spacing stops letters from touching when the screen renders them a little heavy.
What it costs
Wider type takes more room. A label that fit in a button last year might wrap this year. Tables lose a column. Navigation bars run out of space sooner than expected.
The fix is not to squeeze the type back. It is to write shorter labels and to stop designing layouts that only work with the narrowest possible font.
What to do this week
- Set your smallest text size and read it on the cheapest phone you can find.
- Check where labels wrap, and rewrite them before you reach for a condensed width.
- If your typeface has optical sizes, use the small one for anything under 14 pixels.
Small text is most of what people read. It deserves the first draft, not the last.
