Tiny Fonts and Usable Flash

[knighty]

first of all what do you think of this site?

[relevare.com...]

and where can i get the font they use? I have seen small fonts on several flash sites but never can never seem to find very small and clear fonts.

Any ideas?

[agerhart]

I don't know what the deal is for that site, but I just got a 404 error for it.

Your not talking about the font on the front page, are you?

[knighty]

no, im not talking about the Verdana font on the front page.. I mean the font used throughout the site

[agerhart]

what's with the 404?

[mivox]

I didn't get a 404, but I did have to update my copy of flash player...

<added>Not sure what the font is, but 'cyber-retro' bit-mapped-looking text is certainly becoming a popular look, even for non-Flash sites.

If you have PhotoShop, you can turn off anti-aliasing in the text controls, and experiment to see which fonts you have will look good in a small bit-mapped size... then switch the text image to indexed color, and enlarge the size to wherever you want. Indexed color mode will prevent photoshop from trying to "re-anti-alias" the non-anti-aliased text, preserving the bit-mapped feel.</added>

[knighty]

Just found a site that has really small fonts at [atomicmedia.net...] they have free downloads of fonts but no punctuations or numerics.

[mivox]

Nice resource! Their site also has some interesting info on why to use a pixel-font in Flash... I didn't realize there was a problem with using regular fonts in Flash.

[knighty]

yeah, its fine with large font settings bt if you want to use small concise text it usually blurs and fills the letters. Im still not sure what settings to apply or not to apply ;(

[ihelpyou]

wow, this is why I do not like flash. The fonts are way too small. I have very good vision and my eyes hurt from trying to read the text.

Not only do engines have a hard time with it, but most flash is tuff to read and J. Neilson does not have any good things to say about flash. :)

Many usability issues, resources could be better used to improve what the site is about, navigation issues, users have no time to view flash and are impatient, and many more issues with flash.

[NFFC]

Not much help in this case but a worthwhile resource:

"...the WhatTheFont font recognition system. Upload a scanned image of the font and we'll show you the closest matches in our database."

[myfonts.com...]

[knighty]

>wow, this is why I do not like flash. The fonts are way too small. I have very good vision and my eyes hurt from trying to read the text.

What?? how is it a problem with flash?? You can have exactly the same font on a normal HTML site!

>J. Neilson does not have any good things to say about flash. :)

OK first thing JN did have good things to say about flash he just think most flash sites are inappropiate

Secondly Who cares what JN says? at the end of the day he is only one man with his own opinion

[ihelpyou]

Hi knighty! I am not denying that flash can work on some sites. I guess I am referring to MOST sites whose flash is very bad.

Font sizes all seem to be font size 1. This is very small and on a black background is hard on the eyes.

I even use a 800x600 resolution. Many use higher yet. 1 is too small.

I viewed your site and while you ARE are very good designer and your flash looks real good, it did take me about 15 seconds to load on a dsl line. Many people would not wait for this. They want to find the info fast on a site.

People are in a hurry on the net and love to click on things.

Also, the front page of any site is the most important to search engines. It is extra hard to get a site ranked with a flash front page. You have to have a lead-in page or you have to have a couple of paragraphs of content below the flash display.

There are issues involved with flash. Most are of the usability type.

[knighty]

Er.. its not my site ;)

I just really liked the naviagation system which i thought was very easy to use.

the fonts are quite small but i didnt think they were unreadable

[mivox]

OT: Personally, regardless of the relative merits of Flash, I cringe every time I hear "because Jakob Nielson said so" given as a reason for whether or not to try *anything* on the web.

[ihelpyou]

Believe me mivox, I do not like many sites I have seen related to him. I do like some of his principles though.

My first reaction to flash, when I come across it, has always been to click out fast.(impatient) This is just me and my reactions to it. Others react differently and others react the same.

[knighty]

Mivox, I couldnt agree more about JN

Sure that guy has some good things to say but he does'nt have the last word on what we can and can't do.

Most of what he says is common sense anyway.

There was actually an article 'Computer Arts' a magazine in the UK which had a agroup of top designers critically evaluating JN's site ;)

[mivox]

Designers evaluating JN's site? LOL... What a hoot that must've been! It's certainly easy to navigate, but it's one of the least visually interesting sites I've seen in a LONG time.