This font is slightly too messy for me, but I agree that "modern typography" is often too soulless. I'm also hoping for a renaissance of serif fonts - I'm not really buying the narrative that they're not suitable for the web.
Not a big typography expert, but one font I like and try to use often, is Baskerville.
On the other hand, while I love LaTeX, I absolutely abhor Computer Modern. Maybe it's not the font's fault, but rather the fact that by using it every paper ends up looking the same - but it just bores me to death.
> I'm not really buying the narrative that they're not suitable for the web.
Good, because from a technical perspective, you don't need to. The legibility argument has been less and less relevant as screen resolutions have gotten good enough to display serifs in a reasonably print-like manner. (Which was arguably around 2010–2014 when Apple normalized “Retina” displays above 200 dpi, but is especially true today, now that the majority of web browsing occurs on mobile devices).
What makes the difference is of course the cultural and branding associations with serif typefaces. But actually thinking about it now, I feel like I've been seeing a lot more serif typography on the web recently, even in modern, tech-related contexts. And looking at the big example of theverge.com with its quirky redesign, I think you might just get your renaissance soon :)
Likely because while Computer Modern was a great font for 1978, its last update was in 92 & it’s painfully outdated & low quality compared to modern digital typefaces.
Its continued usage is a crime given how good Latex’s typesetting is.
Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of its stale "Didone" style either. It’s a style that does better in advertising or magazine covers than for reading.
Computer Modern is okay on paper, but I find it very frustrating to read on screen. I wonder if the Fell types are similar ‐‐ the scan of the thesis, where the letters aren't fit to the pixel grid, looks a lot nicer.
I do like Baskerville, but I am a little sad that the only open source version I know of, Libre Baskerville, changes the design so much for the screen. Caslon is in the same boat.
I think the Fell types actually read pretty well on screen. (In contrast to Computer Modern, a typeface I really like, but agree does not read as well on screen.)
Not a big typography expert, but one font I like and try to use often, is Baskerville.
On the other hand, while I love LaTeX, I absolutely abhor Computer Modern. Maybe it's not the font's fault, but rather the fact that by using it every paper ends up looking the same - but it just bores me to death.