The Ministry of Type refers to Mefi March 11, 2008 1:43 PM Subscribe
The Ministry of Type quotes Metafilter on quotes (and hopes its pages don't go away).
I thought about posting this here on the gray, but decided it belonged in the blue.
posted by zamboni at 1:55 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by zamboni at 1:55 PM on March 11, 2008
I made it a few paragraphs before my eyes decided they'd have enough of that design. No one who makes a web page like that should have any right to talk about anything remotely design-related.
posted by Godbert at 2:06 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by Godbert at 2:06 PM on March 11, 2008
It's almost funny that that was physically painful to read. An interesting design strategy, if unsuccessful.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:08 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by From Bklyn at 2:08 PM on March 11, 2008
What is an apostrophe?
Outside of student essays I've never seen an opening sentence that so strongly suggested "do not read any of the following."
posted by Wolfdog at 2:11 PM on March 11, 2008 [2 favorites]
Outside of student essays I've never seen an opening sentence that so strongly suggested "do not read any of the following."
posted by Wolfdog at 2:11 PM on March 11, 2008 [2 favorites]
body {Pro tip for bloggers: If you want to wank about design, learn about not specifying your font sizes in pixels.
background: black;
/* background-image: url(/images/structure/line.png); */
color: white;
font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
font-size: 11px;
line-height: 18px;
text-align: center;
min-width: 1000px;
}
posted by 0xFCAF at 2:29 PM on March 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
I know a lot of smart quote zealots but I never understood the point on just plain readable text, like in the linked example, I have no problem reading the dumb quote section.
If you're designing big bold type headlines or print materials, by all means keep your quote marks smart, but for dumb simple text on a web page, keep it copy/pasteable, legible, and easily accessible by making everything as plain as possible.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:37 PM on March 11, 2008
If you're designing big bold type headlines or print materials, by all means keep your quote marks smart, but for dumb simple text on a web page, keep it copy/pasteable, legible, and easily accessible by making everything as plain as possible.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:37 PM on March 11, 2008
I don't "think" that's what s/he mean's.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:41 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 2:41 PM on March 11, 2008
I’ve reproduced some comments here in case the page goes away
I reproduce all MetaFilter comments on a typewriter in my garage in case the Internet shuts down some day. I also do tasteful reproductions of Lolcats on black velvet.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:45 PM on March 11, 2008 [3 favorites]
I reproduce all MetaFilter comments on a typewriter in my garage in case the Internet shuts down some day. I also do tasteful reproductions of Lolcats on black velvet.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:45 PM on March 11, 2008 [3 favorites]
I CAN HAZ PNUT BUDER AN BANANA SAMMICH?
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:52 PM on March 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:52 PM on March 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
That MeFi thread was painful to read. Oh, so painful.
posted by middleclasstool at 3:07 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by middleclasstool at 3:07 PM on March 11, 2008
funny story: I view mefi in the white background style, and when I clicked that link and then hit back to come back to this thread my eyeballs started bleeding.
posted by shmegegge at 3:16 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by shmegegge at 3:16 PM on March 11, 2008
0xFCAF: Many web designers, particularly ones who focus on cross-browser compatibility, use pixels for font sizes (and ideally serve em font sizes to Internet Explorer users). They ensure consistent render across platforms and browsers, and reduce funky antialiasing which can reduce readability.
posted by potch at 3:22 PM on March 11, 2008 [5 favorites]
posted by potch at 3:22 PM on March 11, 2008 [5 favorites]
As in this case, to their doom.
posted by Dave Faris at 3:51 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by Dave Faris at 3:51 PM on March 11, 2008
Next instalment: The Ministry of Type doesn't quote Metafilter on The Ministry of Type quotes Metafilter on quotes.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:18 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:18 PM on March 11, 2008
Conclusion: The Ministry of Type isn't very meta. Let's get out our pitchforks and start poking until they decide to take things to appropriate Magritte levels of recursion.
posted by iamkimiam at 4:42 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by iamkimiam at 4:42 PM on March 11, 2008
Heh. When he "reproduces" kokuryu & subgear's comments, he changes the quote marks.
posted by juv3nal at 4:48 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by juv3nal at 4:48 PM on March 11, 2008
jebus, you're right, juv3nal.
he "reproduces" them saying:
I always turn off “smart quotes” in Word. I think it looks pretentious.
I agree! Up with the “dumb quotes” backlash!
...but now with added smart quotes!
there's either some kind of meta level of irony going on there, or else they guy has zero attention to detail; i'm not sure which.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:14 PM on March 11, 2008
he "reproduces" them saying:
I always turn off “smart quotes” in Word. I think it looks pretentious.
I agree! Up with the “dumb quotes” backlash!
...but now with added smart quotes!
there's either some kind of meta level of irony going on there, or else they guy has zero attention to detail; i'm not sure which.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:14 PM on March 11, 2008
Many web designers, particularly ones who focus on cross-browser compatibility, use pixels for font sizes (and ideally serve em font sizes to Internet Explorer users).
Here's a better way, and the one I use:
Step one -- use Yahoo!'s YUI developer library "fonts" to set a cross-browser base font size of 13px (which is a good minimum readable font size, as it happens);
Step two -- set font sizes using percents, based on the table they provide (100% being 13px, 93% being 12px, and so on in both directions -- a chart is provided.)
This gives you cross-browser-compatible, consistent font sizes that resize appropriately when you zoom in and out.
posted by davejay at 7:35 PM on March 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
Here's a better way, and the one I use:
Step one -- use Yahoo!'s YUI developer library "fonts" to set a cross-browser base font size of 13px (which is a good minimum readable font size, as it happens);
Step two -- set font sizes using percents, based on the table they provide (100% being 13px, 93% being 12px, and so on in both directions -- a chart is provided.)
This gives you cross-browser-compatible, consistent font sizes that resize appropriately when you zoom in and out.
posted by davejay at 7:35 PM on March 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
(make Step two "set font sizes on individual elements containing text using percents", for clarity, and note that this approach means you don't have to have set your font sizes with "IE renders like this and other browsers render like this" CSS -- think of the asterisks and underscores you'll save!)
posted by davejay at 7:37 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by davejay at 7:37 PM on March 11, 2008
That text/background combo is like ... the opposite of professional, or something.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:52 PM on March 11, 2008
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:52 PM on March 11, 2008
I read it as Ministry in Type and I was really hoping for some choice quotes like:
Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true;
Jerry lee lewis was the devil
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world
So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
But, alas no. It was something far less awesome.
posted by quin at 8:24 AM on March 12, 2008 [3 favorites]
Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true;
Jerry lee lewis was the devil
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world
So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
But, alas no. It was something far less awesome.
posted by quin at 8:24 AM on March 12, 2008 [3 favorites]
The Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript,
So now we need javascript to set a font size? fuckin hell
posted by bonaldi at 1:03 PM on March 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
So now we need javascript to set a font size? fuckin hell
posted by bonaldi at 1:03 PM on March 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
You know, I'm going to take exception to all the haters here; in fact, I myself was thinking just the other day thaNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSS
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:15 PM on March 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:15 PM on March 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
Not including attribution for comments on a non-Meta site is kind of dickish.
posted by hjo3 at 8:56 PM on March 12, 2008
posted by hjo3 at 8:56 PM on March 12, 2008
Your device is supposed to handle copying and pasting. Curled quotation marks are merely Unicode characters; Unicode should be as novel in 2008 as the Web is.
You aren’t supposed to have to rewrite your content, mathowie, to suit broken devices.
posted by joeclark at 8:33 PM on March 13, 2008
You aren’t supposed to have to rewrite your content, mathowie, to suit broken devices.
posted by joeclark at 8:33 PM on March 13, 2008
Curled quotation marks are merely Unicode characters
If only this was true. The unicode characters are just one of the many ways broken devices choose to display “quotes”
posted by bonaldi at 4:28 PM on March 14, 2008
If only this was true. The unicode characters are just one of the many ways broken devices choose to display “quotes”
posted by bonaldi at 4:28 PM on March 14, 2008
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posted by jack_mo at 1:51 PM on March 11, 2008 [4 favorites]