Designers ask Adobe for a better user interface for type
The introduction of OpenType fonts in 2000 offered designers a rich and sophisticated typographic repertoire. The number of fonts that support these typographic features has grown exponentially over the years. And yet, we – the designers, producers, and users of digital type – have observed with growing despair how software applications offering typesetting capabilities have failed to provide an adequate typographic interface.
As a founding partner of the OpenType specification and a leading developer of applications for design professionals, Adobe can be expected to lead in foregrounding the potential of the technology. However, the font menus in Adobe software are severely lacking, giving users incomplete and/or needlessly convoluted access to typographic features. Therefore, we urge Adobe to improve the OpenType user experience. This will unlock tremendous existing value for users who are mostly unaware of the amazing possibilities current OpenType fonts provide.
Gail Anderson — Designer, writer & educator
Aral Balkan — Designer & social entrepreneur
Marian Bantjes — Designer, artist, illustrator & writer
Frederik Berlaen — Typeface designer & developer; RoboFont
John D. Berry — Typographer & editor; U&lc
Peter Biľak — Graphic & typeface designer and publisher; Works That Work
Roger Black — Publication designer, art director & design consultant
Erik van Blokland — Graphic & typeface designer & application developer
Frank E. Blokland — Typeface designer, educator, font & software producer
John Boardley — Writer & publisher; I Love Typography
Veronika Burian — Typeface designer
Marina Chaccur — Letterer and type designer
Nadine Chahine — Typeface designer & legibility researcher
Frank Chimero — Designer, illustrator & writer
Stephen Coles — Editor, typographer & author; Typographica
Jo De Baerdemaeker — Typeface designer, educator, & postdoctoral researcher
Hannes von Döhren — Typeface designer
Catherine Dixon — Designer, writer & teacher
Cara Di Edwardo — Lettering artist, papermaker & printmaker
Mario Eskenazi — Graphic designer
Tobias Frere-Jones — Typeface designer & educator
Mario R. García — Magazine & newspaper designer & media consultant
Luc(as) de Groot — Typeface designer
Shelley Gruendler — Typographer, designer, educator; Type Camp
Sagi Haviv — Graphic designer; Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
Steven Heller — Art director, journalist, critic & author
Jessica Hische — Letterer, illustrator & type designer
Jonathan Hoefler — Typeface designer
Corey Holms — Graphic designer
Neil Kellerhouse — Graphic designer
Akira Kobayashi — Typeface designer
Kevin Larson — Legibility researcher
David Lemon — Manager of Type Development; Adobe
Jean-Baptiste Levée — Typeface designer & educator
Steve Matteson — Typeface designer
Jan Middendorp — Writer, translator & consultant
J. Abbott Miller — Graphic designer & writer; Pentagram
MuirMcNeil — Graphic & typeface designers
Yves Peters — Graphic designer & writer; The FontFeed
Thomas Phinney — Designer & consultant; FontLab
Michael C. Place — Designer; Build
Jean-François Porchez — Typeface designer
Mark Porter — Publication designer & creative director
Hugo Puttaert — Graphic designer, writer, & educator; Integrated conferences
Mamoun Sakkal — Graphic & typeface designer, artist & calligrapher
Jason Santa Maria — Designer, teacher & writer
José Scaglione — Type designer & teacher
Bertram Schmidt-Friderichs — Typographer & publisher; Verlag Hermann Schmidt
Christian Schwartz — Typeface designer
Georg Seifert — Typeface designer & developer; Glyphs
Adrian Shaughnessy — Designer, writer & publisher; Unit Editions
Erik Spiekermann — Graphic & typeface designer, & educator
Gerard Unger — Graphic & typeface designer, writer, & teacher
Jim Wasco — Lettering artist, photographer & typeface designer
Doug Wilson — Graphic designer & film maker
ATypI — Association Typographique Internationale
ISTD — International Society of Typographic Designers
Join the initial supporters of our campaign for a better OpenType user experience
Sign the petition
[signature]
| 49. | Nevan Scott — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 48. | Berton Hasebe — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 47. | Satya Rajpurohit — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 46. | Leo Philp — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 45. | Nora Gummert-Hauser — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 44. | Hannes Famira — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 43. | Dave Landry — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 42. | Stef Ivanov — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 41. | Kaushik Sampath — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 40. | Max Phillips — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 39. | Asen Petrov — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 38. | Macy Nguyen — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 37. | Craig Eliason — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 36. | Patch Hofweber — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 35. | Andrew Austin — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 34. | Hrant Papazian — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 33. | Chris Long — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 32. | Dominic Philcox — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 31. | Rob Clarke — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 30. | Jesse Ewing — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 29. | Alexander Nedelev — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 28. | Pablo Bosch — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 27. | Elena Veguillas — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 26. | William Montrose — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 25. | Anya Ow — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 24. | Adil Alsalman — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 23. | Phil Garnham — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 22. | Paul Stonier — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 21. | Asbjørn René Josdal — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 20. | Sebastian Losch — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 19. | Sebastian Tomita — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 18. | Malou Verlomme — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 17. | John Rice — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 16. | Stefan Hattenbach — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 15. | Greg Treadwell — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 14. | Haitham Almayman — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 13. | Meir Sadan — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 12. | Alaa Al Chehayeb — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 11. | Daniel Sabino — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 10. | Jérémy Landes — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 9. | Alessia Mazzarella — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 8. | Ermin Međedović — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 7. | Tim MacQueen — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 6. | Galen Lawson — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 5. | Karsten Luecke — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 4. | Ian Party — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 3. | Adam Katyi — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 2. | Cristina Susano — | Oct 22, 2014 |
| 1. | Étienne Pouvreau — | Oct 22, 2014 |
Sponsored by Hoefler & Co.
and
Better UI for Better Typography