After a bit of browsing more fonts it seems to just be the difference between normal and italic styles. The type preview at H&FJ was a bit confusing, since the italics are shown upright instead of in an italic fashion

It's not an upright italic. The single storey g is an alternate character from one of the stylistic sets. Go here:

http://typography.com/fonts/font_features.php?featureID=88&productLineID...

What is the idea/purpose behind that?

It is to offer different "flavours" of the same typeface.
The first occurrence of this dates back to the 1930s, when extra "sorts" containing single-bowl g's were provided with some North American sans faces, to give them a more modern, European look. Similarly, Gill Sans was equipped with a single-bowl g by Linotype in Germany in the 1950s.

Today, with OpenType, it is quite easy for foundries to put both single and double-bowl "g"s in a font, the alternate being accessible in a Stylistic Set. "a" is another candidate for this duplication: two glyphs for a single character.

The single bowl a and g were also provided to create "early reading" versions of some typefaces, Gill and Plantin, for instance.

Hypatia, and my Figgins Sans and Scotch Modern types have this feature for "g", National for "a".

There is probably a Typophile thread listing all the faces with this duplicity, but I can't find it.

@Nick & Jonathan: thanks so much for the answers and insight! Didn't even know about that. Very interesting.

At first thought I prefer the single-bowl characters. Looks more clean and modern and better fits in what I'm looking for. But maybe I have to get used to the double-bowls and look at more examples in use. At least I know the words to use in searches now.

I have no graphic design background so I'm learning this on the way, but it's so cool to discover how different typefaces have different "feelings" to them. Not sure how to describe it.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Our Trilon series of fonts offer alternates to the lowercase g, a and y.

Here’s a list of fonts that have alternate forms for ‘a’, ‘g’ or ‘y’.

@terminaldesign & Florian, thanks. Useful list Florian.

As a follow up question, how do I find out which package I should buy, if I decide to buy the Whitney font? Is the only difference between the packages the amount of styles, or are there also certain differences in characters included?

Normally at font shops you can download a pdf with the font specifics, all the characters included, etc. Even though it's an expensive font, I'd be happy to pay for it if I'm sure what to get

A binocular g is used to sell more fonts. Even though a monocular g might be easier to read and appear more balanced, a font designer can get more attention by including a cute binocular g. If an alternate g is not included, the font buyer may become leery of the font designer's ability to make both types of g. Font buyers can become nervous or run away if they don't see a binocular g. The smart font designer always includes a binocular g to ensure steady font sales.

Some fonts have no remarkable marketable features: adding a cute binocular g to a boring can add up to big bucks. A fancy R, curly lowercase l or ampersand can also be used to sell more fonts, but nothing beats the incredible marketing power of the binocular g.

Doesn’t surprise me the least bit, Ray :)

> a monocular g might be easier to read

Actually, there is considerable reason to believe the opposite is true. A topic of discussion here at TypeCon this weekend.

Cheers,

T

>> might be

>> appear more balanced

Neckties can make you look more attractive but usually look idiotic with a t-shirt. While a binocular g may be suited to retro themed fonts they often look out-of-place in fonts with more of a contemporary, minimalist theme.

If the intention of the binocular g is to make a font easier to read then why do font designers endeavor to make them so quirky and unique when the rest of the font is so staid?

It was a cliché of the last decade and a half: serious modular corporate fonts with little personality that feature a quirky binocular g to help differentiate them from other modular corporate fonts with little personality.

Go to MyFonts.com and search for contemporary sans. Change the sample text to goggles and you can find many examples.

What the hell are you talking about, Ray. Are you taking a piss?

Good point Ray.

But this is nothing new.
The signature "g" has been around for ever.
I cut my font-recognition teeth on Baskerville, Benguiat, and Souvenir, back in the 1970s.
(Yes, you made your own amusements then...)

The great thing now with OpenType is that a foundry can design a Neutral, Friendly-Yet-Authoritative, Readable Workhorse with monocular g as default, and throw in a fancy "g" that will never be used by art directors for their Boring-Yet-Profitable corporate clients, but which adds memorability to the product. Like 4WD for commuters.

"Like 4WD for commuters." ⇐ beautiful

The difference being that the binocular "g" is simply better for letter recognition, and unlike all-wheel drive, it is not a major expense in the overall product and doesn't hurt gas mileage.

For some cases it doesn't matter, of course. Funky display face? Legibility is unimportant. But I'd love to see an (alternate) binocular g in Myriad, for instance....

Of course, living in Seattle and then Portland, and driving across the Rockies and back every other Christmas, we have all-wheel drive, too. :)

Cheers,

T

I prefer the double-storey 'g' since the single-storey 'g' reminds me of a Devanagari 'ka' turned sideways, and that character always makes me feel suicidal ;-P

- Lex

To me, the problem with binocular g is that, if not well done, it reminds me of a pile of...