Most People Don't Know What Lowercase "G" Looks Like

[spanglechick]

There are fonts that more closely mimic handwriting, yes. Comic sans gives basic "a" and "g" forms - but is eyebleedingly ugly.

 

[newbie]

There are fonts that more closely mimic handwriting, yes. Comic sans gives basic "a" and "g" forms - but is eyebleedingly ugly.

 

[existentialist]

So why doesn't normal print use the same form as handwriting for a and g? Is there a typeface that does?

Furthermore, why doesn't what my browser uses look like any of the examples? Part of the bottom loop is missing.
View attachment 132854

It's just another form. Not one I particularly like, but *shrug*. It's a kind of halfway house between '' and 'g'

 

[newbie]

It's just another form.

It's a wonder anyone learns to read.

 

[existentialist]

View attachment 132859

I don't think it's meant to be ugly. The original designer wanted a "casual" font - and he certainly achieved that - but I'm sure he didn't set out to design an ugly one.

I think its ugliness comes from context - certainly, what grates on me about it is the way it gets used inappropriately. Schools use it extensively, and quite often even in formal documents and writing, where (to me) it just looks out of place. For that matter, I think that Helvetica is a beautiful example of the grotesque font, but it, too, became ubiquitous for a while, and I found that it also began to grate. There is more diversity of typefaces now, so less of a tendency for any single one to dominate to the point that it's overwhelming, and (in my mind at least) that's rehabilitated Helvetica somewhat. Now it's back to being that kind of early-80s New York Subway kind of vibe about it, a bit like the Johnston font in London.

 

[existentialist]

It's a wonder anyone learns to read.

That was part of the point of the article referenced in the OP