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Ben339351229cfv
Participant
February 23, 2024
Question

Font variations splitting between the same Typeface

  • February 23, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1049 views

I have a few colleagues who have downloaded the full Gotham typeface set. But it's split under two different sets in the Adobe (and any other type using software).

 

For example, they can select 'Gotham' in the main set choice, and then in the font options, they can choose 'Thin, Extra Light, Bold, Extra Bold etc', but to choose Gotham Light, they need to go back to the main set options, and choose 'Gotham Light' in itself, and then under that set, you can choose 'Light' again, so it ends up as 'Gotham Light' - 'Light'

 

It's worth noting this exact set works fine on mine and another colleague's laptop. And I can choose Gotham as the main set, and then every single font variability is available in the sub menu.

 

We can't work out, why on earth this is happening on most of my colleagues' laptops, but not ours. Does anyone have any ideas to try please.

 

I've attached a couple of mocked up screenshots to demonstrate what I mean.

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    2 replies

    jmlevy
    Community Expert
    jmlevyCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 29, 2024

    I have a few colleagues who have downloaded the full Gotham typeface set.

    Downloaded from which site?

    B
    Ben339351229cfvAuthor
    Participant
    February 29, 2024

    I can't find out where from, I have only recently started at this company, and I'm unsure where they have come from, no-one I've asked seems to know. I'm aware there could be issues with the font in terms of where it's been sourced from, however I wanted to ask the question to see whether there could be anything else at play here.

    B
    Community Expert
    Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 29, 2024

    I think the problem is likely some kind of bug in the font files. Which operating system are you using, Mac OSX or Windows?

     

    I know the Windows OS can be a little funny with how it groups styles in font families. Part of the problem is, deep down, Windows still thinks a type family has only 4 styles (Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold-Italic). Modern type families often have dozens of styles. Some have more than a hundred styles. Variable fonts provide even more possibilities. Anyway, Windows can be bad at breaking one type family into multiple groups in the Windows fonts folder. That can then show up in the font menu within various applications. Most type foundries will test their fonts on multiple platforms and make adjustments when needed.

     

    When I bought Gotham (more than 10 years ago) the package included separate OpenType and Postscript Type 1 font files. If the font files you're using were conversions made from Type 1 fonts that could be a source of the problem. T1 fonts aren't cross-platform compatible; a conversion to TrueType or OpenType format might have glitched something.

    B
    Community Expert
    Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 26, 2024

    First of all just to be clear, Gotham is not a type family that is available thru Adobe Fonts. Monotype recently acquired the Hoefler&Co foundry that owned the rights to Gotham. Tobias Frere-Jones designed the Gotham typeface, but he has his own separate company after a bitter falling out and legal battle with Jonathan Hoefler. Several of Frere-Jones' type families, such as Interstate, are available via Adobe Fonts.

     

    Regarding Gotham and how it appears in Adobe software, such as Illustrator, I'm not seeing any issues with the copy I legally purchased in the late 2000's (when Frere-Jones was still at HFJ). All 16 styles of Gotham appear in the same menu. None of the sub styles, such as Light and Light-Italic are split apart from the other 14 styles in the drop-down menu.

     

    Gotham is one of the most pirated type families due to its popularity (although its over-use is getting really tiresome, especially in sign design where people are prone to artificially squeeze and stretch letters out of their normal proportions -Gotham looks very stupid when distorted). There are many copies of Gotham floating around on the Internet. Some are bad conversions from Postscript Type 1 to OpenType or even cross platform Mac-PC conversions. People routinely share font files and don't ask questions where the fonts came from. The unpredictable behavior in the font menu could be explained by these "free" versions of Gotham being downloaded. Some bad code is likely present.

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