Top all-time · #1344
Ironic Sans
Personal blog · ironicsans.comdesignculture
Ironic Sans is a personal blog at ironicsans.com about design and culture. Since 2007, 55 different Hacker News readers have linked it 67 times, most often “So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Most-linked posts?
- So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2010-05-07
- Keming: A new typography term5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2008-02-20
- The Histogram as the Image5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2007-09-28
- /owmyeyes/3 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2015-07-24
- The Mystery of Why Uber Gave Me 77 Free Rides3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2017-08-31
- How to Join a Social Network in 19982 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2019-01-20
- Crowdfund a mission to put a monolith on the moon2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-01-03
- Ow My Eyes2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-07-14
What Hacker News says?
No idea which one it was but I found this one and got a perfect score. The difference is pretty obvious... https://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/index.php
Comment linking /helvarialquiz/index.php
on “You wouldn't steal a font”Submitted So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica? as a story · 289 points
HN discussionI don't read the Economist much but I was curious as I'm always down for punny headlines, found this collection: https://www.ironicsans.com/2007/06/the_best_and_worst_of_the...
Comment linking /2007/06/the_best_and_worst_of_the_econ.html
on “Linda Yaccarino is leaving X”Submitted New York City photographed with the Game Boy Camera in 2000 as a story · 238 points
HN discussionOne service that I like from this site is the shorter thesaurus [0]. You enter a long word and receive shorter synonyms. [0] http://www.ironicsans.com/thsrs/
Comment linking /thsrs/
on “So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?”Submitted How to Join a Social Network in 1998 as a story · 124 points
HN discussionOn a tangent re: immortality: reminds me of the names you'd see in splash screens of various products. After one too many years of seeing “Seetharaman Narayanan” in the Photoshop splash screen, I just had to look him up. https://www.ironicsans.com/2006/09/interview_seetharaman_nar...
Comment linking /2006/09/interview_seetharaman_narayanan.html
on “What are the odds that some idiot will name his mutex ether-rot-mutex (2017)”Submitted So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica? as a story · 91 points
HN discussionI've been following his blog for a few years now. He's done some other really neat stuff like histogram work ( http://www.ironicsans.com/2007/09/idea_the_histogram_as_the_... ) and sort of an inverse Tetris ( http://www.ironicsans.com/2009/01/i_wrote_it_you_made_it_mon... ). Then there are the inventor profiles ( http://www.ironicsans.com/interview/ ).
Comment linking /interview/
on “New York City photographed with the Game Boy Camera in 2000”Submitted A new kind of volume control as a story · 81 points
HN discussionThe linked colour pictures are also pretty neat. http://www.ironicsans.com/2007/09/idea_color_photos_with_the...
Comment linking /2007/09/idea_color_photos_with_the_gam.html
on “New York City photographed with the Game Boy Camera in 2000”Submitted The Histogram as the Image as a story · 74 points
HN discussionThat is the joke in the community ;) See also https://www.ironicsans.com/2008/02/idea_a_new_typography_ter... https://fuckyeahkeming.com https://www.reddit.com/r/keming/
Comment linking /2008/02/idea_a_new_typography_term.html
on “Kerning, the Hard Way”Submitted Crowdfund a mission to put a monolith on the moon as a story · 69 points
HN discussionI'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but here's a random sampler: http://www.ironicsans.com/2007/06/the_best_and_worst_of_the_...
Comment linking /2007/06/the_best_and_worst_of_the_econ.html
on “Uruguay is the Economist's Country of the Year”Submitted They Don't Make Computer Manuals Like They Used To as a story · 18 points
HN discussionEdit- Also a fun old quiz that helps beg the question, do you really need to add a fancy font over a system font? - http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/
Comment linking /helvarialquiz/
on “Github became the web's largest font piracy site (2017)”Submitted Helvetica vs. Arial Quiz as a story · 15 points
HN discussionSimilar: the creation of an image that is it's own histogram. http://www.ironicsans.com/2007/09/idea_the_histogram_as_the_...
Comment linking /2007/09/idea_the_histogram_as_the_imag.html
on “This png encrypts to the same image”Submitted Keming: A new typography term as a story · 14 points
HN discussionFor a kick: http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/
Comment linking /helvarialquiz/
on “'Godfather' of Helvetica font, Mike Parker, dies at 84”Submitted DOOMscroll as a story · 5 points
HN discussion> I know I'm older than most here (and have the tri-focals to prove it) but did anyone else read this as "modem outrage"? http://www.ironicsans.com/2008/02/idea_a_new_typography_term...
Comment linking /2008/02/idea_a_new_typography_term.html
on “Moral outrage in the digital age”Submitted How to Join a Social Network in 1998 as a story · 4 points
HN discussionLast link ( http://www.ironicsans.com/owmyeyes/ ) probably makes the greatest point here. After coming back to HN from that site, I've been seeing text superimposed everywhere.
Comment linking /owmyeyes/
on “GitHub Dark – Switch off the lights”Submitted The Mystery of Why Uber Gave Me 77 Free Rides as a story · 4 points
HN discussion> The human eye sees light. So reading illuminated text on a dark background is generally easier. The scientific literature on readability does not back this up. Results show large individual variability with a small overall preference for dark-on-light. Some old papers cited here: https://www.joedolson.com/2006/08/on-the-readability-of-inve... EDIT: Also here is a good example of how reading white on black is hard:…
Comment linking /owmyeyes/
on “GitHub Dark – Switch off the lights”Submitted Idea: The Outlet Wall as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSee also: http://www.ironicsans.com/owmyeyes/ Although with proper line spacing and font size and a lowered contrast the effect is diminished. People tend to lower the contrast too much or don't set a comfortable line spacing. The problem? Most people don't read their own site often enough.
Comment linking /owmyeyes/
on “The first dead Unicorn will be Evernote”Submitted Outlet Wall as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
