Great article, really enjoyed it. I second the Talib connection.
But anyways... Does anyone else struggle with Substack's typeface, specifically it's width and spacing between characters? I'm a bit of a typeface nerd, and I genuinely like or enjoy most of our common fonts. Substack is the only site that I find the typeface to significantly affect the reading experience.
I tend to agree with you about the typeface they use, Spectral. I think it's a combination of factors: loose tracking designed to permit slightly over-emphasized differences in weight (which were a design goal for the font) and somewhat selective replacement of inktraps from the inspiration face (Elzévir) with angular serifs, which creates a bit of a visual discordance. I don't find it unreadable, personally, but it does call attention to itself.
Very well put. I agree with your analysis. There's a lot of things I like about Spectral, and in general I like the "genre" of faces that it belongs to. The loose tracking+over-emphasized font weights is the core of my challenge.
But anyways... Does anyone else struggle with Substack's typeface, specifically it's width and spacing between characters? I'm a bit of a typeface nerd, and I genuinely like or enjoy most of our common fonts. Substack is the only site that I find the typeface to significantly affect the reading experience.