does something about this typeface set it apart in a useful way from the zillion other free or default monospaced options? If anything it seemed a little awkward with the flourishes they added toward making it look fauxCR-able. (an artistic flourish I like as "zany graphic fun" but is it helpful for extended use?)
for the people who love it, I've no problem with enjoying flourishes, but it's calling itself serious. I'm serious and it's not taking me seriously.
I don't agree with your take on flourishes (in better terms, artistry). Every typeface has it. The process of designing a typeface is full of subjectivity and artistry.
On the contrary.
This sort of comment is why I have a love/hate relationship with HN. Love, because yesterday I learned some amazing stuff that I told my partner about in bed.
Hate, because of the assumptions that so many people are so quick to jump to. You know nothing about this guy’s motivations. (His name’s Neil. I’ve spoken to him. He seems like a really solid dude. He probably has thicker skin than me.)
So you come in here and you imply that this thing is essentially a scam to rob you of $75. You imply that Neil is a scammer, trying to rob you of $75.
It’s really shitty and I wish people wouldn’t do it.
Edit: I’m not saying “don’t criticise the site”. If you don’t like the site, say so. But don’t criticise the motivations about which you know literally nothing.
But the very same people will happily work for an advertising company under the guise of being a programmer and take a wage and bonus. Right on.
I think most of the glyphs are straightforward, the ones that would take time are the greek symbols. Unable to commit at this time, we're already behind with Berkeley v2 release by 6 months! :-(
I can understand the skepticism against a paid font. There are some pretty grand ones available for free to anyone who'd like to use them. In this case, it was worth the premium to me to pay anyway. I don't think someone's automatically a cheapskate for thinking I'm nuts to buy a license.
Berkeley Mono is plain gorgeous. I bought it after five minutes of looking at the trial. Everything made so much sense when I saw the inspirations you listed - Eurostile, OCR-B and DIN 1451 all have a special place in my heart.
But what's more, your site in its entirety is a work of art, in form and function. So many details, from the one-click newsletter signup when logged in to the plain-English license intros. It makes me want to build a site for myself again, something I haven't done in over a decade.
To my own surprise I've even signed up for the newsletter, something I haven't done anywhere for even longer.
Needlessly to say, I am a fan.
The font needs work, especially Bold cut. I completely redesigned all glyphs from scratch and trying to get to release it. It's been a learning experience. Also condensed version is coming with it. All upgrades will be free to existing customers.
Btw, I agree with OP about good samples. It also bothers me a little bit when I see huge zoomed in shots of typefaces: Good for grabbing attention, but bad functionally unless it’s a display typeface specifically for billboard/headline use. So I will go to town with samples in 12 point size. We have a few but clearly not enough.
As for the samples - for what its worth, what did it for me were the sections _Box drawing characters_ and _Exceptional legibility_. Just the telephone directory told me enough to download the trial.
It pains me that I will never be able to get my employer to spring for a commercial license - it would be a treat to rewrite our internal API documentation "Machine MX-4000"-style.
Me too! But that's not what upset me. What upset me was the assumption of deceit in the parent post.
It's like drive-by shootings here sometimes; people see a thing, they don't like it, and they assume that the person creating it therefore has bad motives. I've been on the receiving end, directly, and it stinks. It makes this place worse.