Typographic introductions
Once an open source typeface on GitHub is ready to use, it should have a type specimen image of some kind in the README file.
A surprising number don’t. To me, this reminds me of when a software library I’m trying to learn about has no code samples: sure, I can read the description and get a rough idea, but I have to do a little digging to get an impression. Even a single sample image in the README helps a lot.
Embedded type specimen images on GitHub
For about a year, some of the typefaces with source files on GitHub that actually do have a sample image, have a new issue: dark mode.
![Screenshot of a type specimen on GitHub that has black text on a very dark grey background Screenshot of a type specimen on GitHub that has black text on a very dark grey background](/static/52e02f0ae04652311df917c73232b8bb/d4c13/1.png)
The README for rosettatype/eczar, with “Dark Mode” enabled. Yes, there is a type specimen image there.
GitHub has supported a few different dark themes for months now, matching increased operating system support for dark- and light-mode interfaces. One side-effect is that if you previously had a nice, transparent background type specimen for your repository:
![2 2](/static/273f1be1865794e94369ffb7e990a1d3/d4c13/2.png)
…a lot of people might barely be able to see it today.
Of course, a specimen image using colours that work in both dark and light mode is one way easy way to solve this, but what if we want to make a single, monochrome specimen that works in both places?
I’m going to cover how to do both at once, within a GitHub README (or other site where you might need to use typographic SVGs), on Thursday.
![3 3](/static/7d1a4efda3f4cd0e0ccb6910a14cf30d/d4c13/3.png)
Until then,
Kenneth
P.S. Feel free to reply to this email if you’ve come across this issue too, have feedback, or if already know where I’m going with this!