On 9/9/2011 8:12 PM, Stephan Stiller wrote:
Dear Martin,
Thanks for alerting me to the issue of causal direction of aesthetic
preference - it's been on my mind, but your reply helps me sort out
some details.
When I first encountered text (outside of the German language locale)
with ample use of ligatures in modern printed text, I definitely found
the ligatures a bit distracting, but partly just because I wasn't used
to them. I also perceived them as a solution to what (in Germany)
appeared to me to be a real non-issue.
Put simply, there is a conflict between full flexibility for font
designs and the burden imposed by sophisticated ligatures and kerning
tables.
From my background I never perceived a need, but I guess I (and most
people??) wouldn't really mind the tradition coming back (in Germany)
if things are designed well (which is the job of the font designer)
and for the user everything is handled automatically in the background
by the available technology ...
Which cannot happen for German, as it is one of the languages where the
same letter pair may or may not have a ligature based on the *meaning*
of the word - something that you can't automate.
We had famous discussions on this list on this subject. Take an "st"
ligature. There are two meanings for the German word "Wachstube", only
one allows the st ligature. A human would have to decide when the
ligature is appropriate. (Incidentally, the same goes for hyphenation
for this word, one meaning allows a hyphen after the "s" the other does
not).
Certain layout processes, in certain cases, in certain languages, simply
can't be fully automated.
A./
Stephan
