What's your favorite hyphen?

eliason18 Oct 2006

I'll start: Braganza ITC.

hrant18 Oct 2006#

I'm sorry, but I have to say it's one I've made. :-)

Geometrically it's not tilted, but thanks to those "faux serifs" it actually looks like it's tilting (especially in smaller sizes), and that's a rare attribute I've always liked in a hyphen (like in some really old fonts).

hhp

Stephen Coles18 Oct 2006#

3D!

satya18 Oct 2006#

Never noticed the hyph-
ens in typefaces, will defi-
nitely let you If i lik-
es one from now.
---------------------------

Hinching Chan19 Oct 2006#

Nothing fancy but a well-used em-hyphen excites me.

Nick Cooke19 Oct 2006#

I'm sorry, but I can't work up much enthusiasm for hyphens.

Nick Cooke

dezcom19 Oct 2006#

The one betweem Muller and Brockmann :-)

ChrisL

pattyfab19 Oct 2006#

I agree with Nick, this is a silly thread.

Nick Cooke19 Oct 2006#

Perhaps Craig is having a laugh - 'Exactly how nerdy can these people be? I'll see if they can get worked up over a period, nah they won't bite, I know! a hyphen'.

Nick Cooke

hrant19 Oct 2006#

It's definitely nerdy. What else is new around here?

But maybe one actually useful thing that can (more like might, eventually) come out of this thread is the realization that we don't use the hyphen enough; we're obsessed with fusing words - we think we're being efficient and/or modern - but in reality we're often reducing readability. Favorite example: readjust.

And once we realize that, this thread might then become more relevant! :-)
But really, in any case, half our story is minding the details.

hhp

hrant19 Oct 2006#

Adjunct discussion:
Are there any issues with making a hyphen something besides -the expected- simple rectangle? Like maybe its potential (in fact common) usage as a minus?

hhp

WurdBendur19 Oct 2006#

Here's one of mine that I particularly like:

I just chopped the upper-left and lower-right corners a little so they look rounded at large sizes (though you can't tell at text sizes) and stuck actual semiserifs on the other two. When it's small it seems to slant. When it's big it just looks like it has a funny shape. And it seems a little too heavy now, but I think it has charm.

eliason19 Oct 2006#

Here's my Braganza example I mentioned but didn't depict. The letters obviously have rather limited application, but I am enchanted by the asymmetrical hyphen.

I'm not deadly serious with this thread, but my interest in your thoughts is genuine. Here's what led to the question: I am considering a wordmark design for a company that has a prefix as its entire name. I was thinking of using a crisp sans for the letters, but something more lively than a rectangle for the hyphen (which then might also serve by itself as a logo). This got me looking through the fonts on my computer, and I was surprised to find so few that were interesting.

@WurdBendur: I like it.

hrant19 Oct 2006#

> using a crisp sans for the letters, but something more lively than a rectangle for the hyphen

The risk however is for the hyphen to drop out of a "reading" of the logo because it's so different in style, since it's an "outsider" character anyway. I think it can be done, you just have to be careful.