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MatthewCarter_2014-_我的字体人生_
Type is something we consume in enormous quantities . 字体是我们 大量使用的东西。
consume:v.消耗;吃;毁灭;烧毁; enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的; quantities:n.数量;数目;大量;大宗;(quantity的复数)
In much of the world, it's completely inescapable . 从很大程度上, 字体完全不可避免。
inescapable:adj.不可避免的;逃脱不了的;
But few consumers are concerned to know where a particular typeface came from or when or who designed it, if, indeed, there was any human agency involved 但是很少有用户关心 某种字体是哪儿来的 或什么时候、谁设计的, 是否真有人力融入了字体的创造,
consumers:n.消费者;顾客;用户;(consumer的复数) concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词) typeface:n.字型;铅字样;打字机字体; agency:n.代理,中介;代理处,经销处; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
in its creation , if it didn't just sort of materialize out of the software ether . 它是否只是 由软件凭空产生的。
creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物; materialize:vt.使具体化,使有形;使突然出现;使重物质而轻精神;vi.实现,成形;突然出现; ether:n.乙醚;[有化]以太;苍天;天空醚;
But I do have to be concerned with those things. 但我却不得不关心这些问题。
concerned with:关心;涉及;忙于;与…有关;
It's my job. 这是我的工作。
I'm one of the tiny handful of people who gets badly bent out of shape by the bad spacing of the T and the E that you see there. 我是这一小部分人之一, 会对T和e之间错误的间距 大发雷霆, 就像你们这里看到的。
bent out of shape:气坏了;大发雷霆;
I've got to take that slide off. 我不得不换下那张幻灯片。
I can't stand it. Nor can Chris. 我受不了,Chris也是。
There. Good. 行了。好的。
So my talk is about the connection between technology and design of type. 所以我的演讲是有关 技术和字体设计之间的联系。
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
The technology has changed a number of times since I started work: photo, digital , desktop , screen, web. 自我工作以来 技术已变化了多次: 照排,数码,桌面,屏幕和网络。
digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; desktop:n.桌面;桌面(显示使用程序图标的计算机屏幕);
I've had to survive those changes and try to understand their implications for what I do for design. 我已不得不适应这些变化, 并设法理解它们对
implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数);
This slide is about the effect of tools on form. 这张幻灯片是有关工具对形式的影响。
The two letters, the two K's, the one on your left, my right, is modern, made on a computer. 这两个字母,这两个K, 在你们的左边我的右边的,是现代的, 用计算机设计出来的。
All straight lines are dead straight. 所有的直线都是笔直的。
The curves have that kind of mathematical smoothness that the Bézier formula imposes . 曲线具有用贝塞尔公式施加出来 的数学平滑。
curves:n.曲线; v.(使)沿曲线运动; (curve的第三人称单数和复数) mathematical:adj.数学的,数学上的;精确的; smoothness:n.平滑;柔滑;平坦; formula:n.公式; adj.(赛车)方程式的(指赛车要符合规定的体积,重量及汽缸容量等); imposes:强加于;征收(impose的第三人称单数);
On the right, ancient Gothic , cut in the resistant material of steel by hand. 右边,古老的哥特式的, 是从耐磨的钢材手工切割出来的。
Gothic:adj.哥特式的;野蛮的;n.哥特式; resistant:adj.抵抗的,反抗的;顽固的;n.抵抗者;
None of the straight lines are actually straight. 没有一条直线实际上是直的。
The curves are kind of subtle . 曲线有点微妙。
subtle:adj.微妙的;精细的;敏感的;狡猾的;稀薄的;
It has that spark of life from the human hand that the machine or the program can never capture . 它具有来自人手的生命火花, 这是机器或程序 永远也扑捉不到的。
spark:n.火花;电火花;火星;活力;v.引发;触发;冒火花;飞火星; capture:v.俘虏;捕获;攻占;夺得;刻画,描述;n.(被)捕获;(被)俘获
What a contrast . 多么鲜明的对比。
contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比;
Well, I tell a lie. 好吧,我撒了个谎。
A lie at TED. I'm really sorry. 在TED撒了个谎。我真的很抱歉。
Both of these were made on a computer, same software, same Bézier curves, same font format. 这两个都是电脑做出来的, 同样的软件,同样的贝塞尔曲线, 同样的字体格式。
font:n.字型;圣洗池(设于教堂中,常为石造);
The one on your left was made by Zuzana Licko at Emigre , and I did the other one. 你们左边的这个 是由Emigre公司的Zuzana Licko制作的, 另一个是我制作的。
Emigre:n.流亡者;移居者(尤指因政治因素而移居外国者);
The tool is the same, yet the letters are different. 工具是一样的,但字母是不同的。
The letters are different because the designers are different. 字母不同 是因为设计者不同。
That's all. Zuzana wanted hers to look like that. 就这些。Zuzana希望她设计的东西看起来那样。
I wanted mine to look like that. End of story. 我希望我的看起来这样。仅此而已。
Type is very adaptable . 字体有很强的适应性。
adaptable:adj.适合的;能适应的;可修改的;
Unlike a fine art, such as sculpture or architecture , type hides its methods. 不像雕塑或建筑这样的艺术, 字体使人看不出它的制作方法。
sculpture:n.雕塑;雕刻;刻蚀;vt.雕塑;雕刻;刻蚀;vi.从事雕刻; architecture:n.建筑学;建筑风格;建筑式样;架构;
I think of myself as an industrial designer. 我把自己看成是工业设计师。
industrial:adj.工业的,产业的; n.工业股票;
The thing I design is manufactured , and it has a function: to be read, to convey meaning. 我设计的东西被制造, 而且它有功能: 可读并表达意思。
manufactured:adj.制造的,已制成的;v.制造,加工(manufacture的过去式); convey:vt.传达;运输;让与;
But there is a bit more to it than that. 除此之外还有更多的含义。
There's the sort of aesthetic element . 有点儿美学的成份。
aesthetic:adj.美的;美学的;审美的,具有审美趣味的; element:n.元素;要素;原理;成分;自然环境;
What makes these two letters different from different interpretations by different designers? 是什么使这两个字母由于 不同的设计者有不同的解释呢？
interpretations:n.[计]解释;
What gives the work of some designers sort of characteristic personal style, as you might find in the work of a fashion designer , an automobile designer, whatever? 是什么使某些设计者的工作 有着特有的个人风格, 像你在时装设计师 或汽车设计师的作品中发现的一样？
What gives:出了什么事; characteristic:n.特征;特点;品质;adj.典型的;独特的;特有的; personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词; fashion designer:n.时装设计师; automobile:n.汽车;v.开汽车;坐汽车;adj.自动的;
There have been some cases, I admit, where I as a designer did feel the influence of technology. 我承认,在有些情况下, 我作为一名设计师
influence:n.影响;势力;感化;有影响的人或事;v.影响;改变;
This is from the mid-'60s, the change from metal type to photo, hot to cold. 这来自六十年代中期, 从铅字变成照相排版, 从热到凉。
This brought some benefits but also one particular drawback : a spacing system that only provided 18 discrete units for letters to be accommodated on. 这既带来益处 但也有一个特别的缺点: 它的间距体系只提供了 18个离散的单元
drawback:n.缺点,不利条件;退税; provided:conj.假如; v.提供; (provide的过去分词和过去式) discrete:adj.离散的,不连续的;n.分立元件;独立部件; accommodated:v.使适应(accommodate的过去式及过去分词形式);安置;为…提供住宿;
I was asked at this time to design a series of condensed sans serif types with as many different variants as possible within this 18-unit box. 当时我被要求设计 一系列紧凑的无衬线字体, 在18个单元之内 带有尽可能多的字体变化。
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; condensed:adj.压缩的,精简的; v.(由气体)冷凝; (condense的过去式和过去分词) sans serif:n.无衬线字体; variants:n.[计]变体;变异型(variant的复数);
Quickly looking at the arithmetic , 快速地看了一下算术,
arithmetic:n.算术,算法;
I realized I could only actually make three of related design. Here you see them. 我意识到实际只能进行三个相关设计。
In Helvetica Compressed , Extra Compressed , and Ultra Compressed , this rigid 18-unit system really boxed me in. Helvetica压缩,额外压缩,和超压缩三种字体。 真把我限制住了。
Helvetica:赫维提卡体(字体的名称) Compressed:adj.(空气或气体)压缩的; v.(被)压紧; (compress的过去式和过去分词) Extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外: Ultra:adj.极端的;过分的;n.极端主义者;过激论者;急进论者; rigid:adj.严格的;僵硬的,死板的;坚硬的;精确的;
It kind of determined the proportions of the design. 它某种程度上决定了 设计的比例。
determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式) proportions:n.[数]比例;大小(proportion的复数形式);
Here are the typefaces , at least the lower cases. 这里是这些字体的小写部分。
typefaces:n.字体(typeface的复数);
So do you look at these and say, 所以你是否会看着这些说,
Poor Matthew, he had to submit to a problem, and by God it shows in the results. “可怜的马修不得不屈从于这一难题, 天哪,结果显而易见。”
submit:vt.使服从;主张;呈递;vi.提交;服从;
I hope not. 我希望不是这样。
If I were doing this same job today, instead of having 18 spacing units, 如果我今天还做同样的工作, 我会有1000个间距单元,
I would have 1,000. 而不是有18个单元。
Clearly I could make more variants, but would these three members of the family be better? 显然我能制出更多的字体变化, 但这一系列的三种字体会更好吗？
It's hard to say without actually doing it, but they would not be better in the proportion of 1,000 to 18, I can tell you that. 没有实际做过很难说, 但我可以告诉你们 不会有1000比18倍这么好。
My instinct tells you that any improvement would be rather slight , because they were designed as functions of the system they were designed to fit, and as I said , type is very adaptable. 我的直觉是, 像我说的那样,字体适应性很强。
instinct:n.本能;天性;直觉;adj.充满的; improvement:n.改进,改善; slight:adj.轻微的;略微的;细小的;纤细的;n.侮慢;冷落;轻视;v.侮慢;冷落;轻视; as I said:正如我所说的
It does hide its methods. 确实让人看不出它的设计方法。
All industrial designers work within constraints . 所有工业设计师的工作都有局限性。
constraints:n.[数]约束;限制;约束条件(constraint的复数形式);
This is not fine art. 这不是艺术。
The question is, does a constraint force a compromise ? 问题是,是否局限性 会迫使妥协？
compromise:n.妥协;折中;互让;和解;v.妥协;违背(原则);达不到(标准);使陷入危险;
By accepting a constraint, are you working to a lower standard ? 接受局限性 你就降低工作标准了吗？
standard:n.标准;水准;旗;度量衡标准;adj.标准的;合规格的;公认为优秀的;
I don't believe so, and I've always been encouraged by something that Charles Eames said. 我不相信,而且我总是被 Charles Eames所说的话激励着。
He said he was conscious of working within constraints, but not of making compromises . 他说他意识到 工作有局限性, 但不是进行妥协。
conscious of:意识到; compromises:n.妥协; v.妥协;
The distinction between a constraint and a compromise is obviously very subtle, but it's very central to my attitude to work. 局限性和妥协之间的区别 显然是很微妙的, 但对我的工作态度确实是很重要的。
distinction:n.区别;区分;差别;卓越; attitude:n.态度;看法;意见;姿势;
Remember this reading experience? 记得这种阅读体验吧？
The phone book . I'll hold the slide so you can enjoy the nostalgia . 电话簿。我留住这张幻灯片,
phone book:na.电话簿; nostalgia:n.乡愁;怀旧之情;怀乡病;
This is from the mid-'70s early trials of Bell Centennial typeface I designed for the U.S. phone books, and it was my first experience of digital type, and quite a baptism . 这来自70年代中期 我为美国电话簿设计的 这也是我第一次用数码字体, 相当于一次洗礼。
Centennial:adj.一百年的;n.百年纪念; baptism:n.洗礼;严峻考验;
Designed for the phone books, as I said, to be printed at tiny size on newsprint on very high-speed rotary presses with ink that was kerosene and lampblack. 像我所说的那样,为电话簿而设计, 以极小的尺寸打印在新闻纸上, 用的是非常高速的轮转印刷机, 以及煤油和灯黑制成的油墨。
newsprint:n.新闻用纸(等于newspaper); rotary:adj.旋转的,转动的;轮流的;n.旋转式机器;[动力]转缸式发动机; kerosene:n.煤油,火油;
This is not a hospitable environment for a typographic designer. 对字体设计师来说 这不是一个好的环境。
hospitable:adj.热情友好的;(环境)舒适的; typographic:adj.排字上的;印刷上的;
So the challenge for me was to design type that performed as well as possible in these very adverse production conditions. 所以对我的挑战是 在这些非常不利的条件下, 尽可能地把字体设计好。
performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式) as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; adverse:adj.不利的;相反的;敌对的(名词adverseness,副词adversely);
As I say, we were in the infancy of digital type. 如我所说,我们处在数码字体的婴儿期。
infancy:n.初期;婴儿期;幼年;
I had to draw every character by hand on quadrille graph paper -- there were four weights of Bell Centennial — pixel by pixel, then encode them raster line by raster line for the keyboard. 我不得不在方格坐标图纸上 手工绘制每一个字符。 Bell Centennial字体有四种粗细。 先一个像素一个像素地绘制,
quadrille:n.四对方舞;四对方舞曲;adj.有方格的;有小方格图案的; graph paper:n.方格纸;坐标纸;标绘纸; pixel:n.象素;图像的基本单位;表示显示在萤幕上的一点; encode:vt.(将文字材料)译成密码;编码,编制成计算机语言;
It took two years, but I learned a lot. 我花了两年时间,但学了很多。
These letters look as though they've been chewed by the dog or something or other, but the missing pixels at the intersections of strokes or in the crotches are the result of my studying the effects of ink spread on cheap paper and reacting , revising the font accordingly . 这些字母看上去像 被狗或别的什么东西嚼过, 但在笔画的交点处或岔口处 缺失的像素, 是我研究了 从而相应修改字体的结果。
pixels:n.像素(组成屏幕图像的最小独立元素);(pixel的复数) intersections:n.交集,交叉点(intersection的复数形式);[交]十字路口; strokes:n.中风; v.轻抚; (stroke的第三人称单数和复数) crotches:n.(人的)胯部,分叉处;丫叉; reacting:v.起反应;(对…)作出反应;回应;(react的现在分词) revising:v.改变;修改,复习;温习;(revise的现在分词) accordingly:adv.因此,于是;相应地;照著;
These strange artifacts are designed to compensate for the undesirable effects of scale and production process . 这些奇怪的人为的缺陷被设计于用来弥补 大规模生产过程中所带来的 不良影响。
artifacts:n.史前古器物;人工产品; compensate:v.补偿,赔偿;抵消; undesirable:adj.不良的;不受欢迎的;不合需要的;n.不良分子;不受欢迎的人; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
At the outset , ATT had wanted to set the phone books in Helvetica, but as my friend Erik Spiekermann said in the Helvetica movie, if you've seen that, the letters in Helvetica were designed to be as similar to one another as possible. 起初,ATT公司想 在电话簿中用Helvetica字体, 在电影《传奇字体》中所说,如果你看过的话, Helvetica字体的字母被设计得 彼此尽可能相似。
outset:n.开始;开端;
This is not the recipe for legibility at small size. 这不是看清小尺寸字体的良方。
recipe:n.食谱;方法;诀窍;烹饪法; legibility:n.易读性;易辨认;
It looks very elegant up on a slide. 它在幻灯片上看起来非常优雅。
elegant:adj.高雅的,优雅的;讲究的;简炼的;简洁的;
I had to disambiguate these forms of the figures as much as possible in Bell Centennial by sort of opening the shapes up, as you can see in the bottom part of that slide. 我必须尽可能拆开 来给这些数字形式消除歧义, 就像你在这张幻灯片底部看到的那样。
as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的;
So now we're on to the mid-'80s, the early days of digital outline fonts, vector technology. 现在我们看到的是80年代中期, 数码轮廓字体的初期, 矢量技术。
early days:初期;为时尚早;前期; outline:n.概述;轮廓线;梗概;略图;v.概述;略述;显示…的轮廓:勾勒…的外形; vector:n.矢量;带菌者;航线;vt.用无线电导航;
There was an issue at that time with the size of the fonts, the amount of data that was required to find and store a font in computer memory. 当时的一个问题在于 字体的大小, 在计算机内存中搜寻和存储一种字体 所需的数据量。
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
It limited the number of fonts you could get on your typesetting system at any one time. 这个问题限制了 排版系统同时可用的字体数量。
limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式) typesetting:adj.排字用的;n.排字;
I did an analysis of the data, and found that a typical serif face you see on the left needed nearly twice as much data as a sans serif in the middle because of all the points required to define the elegantly curved serif brackets . 我进行了数据分析, 发现一种典型的衬线字体, 如你们左边看到的, 比中间的无衬线字体 要多近两倍的数据, 因为需要很多的点才能 给出衬线与主体之间优雅而弯曲的过渡。
analysis:n.分析;分解;验定; typical:adj.典型的;特有的;象征性的; define:v.定义;使明确;规定; elegantly:adv.优美地; curved:adj.呈弯曲状的; v.(使)沿曲线运动; brackets:n.支架; v.给…装上托架;
The numbers at the bottom of the slide, by the way , they represent the amount of data needed to store each of the fonts. 顺便提一下,幻灯片底部的数字 代表存储每一种字体 所需的数据量。
by the way:顺便说一下; represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送;
So the sans serif, in the middle, sans the serifs, was much more economical , 81 to 151. 因此中间的无衬线字体 是更经济的, 81相比于151。
economical:adj.经济的;节约的;合算的;
Aha, I thought. The engineers have a problem. 我想,“哈,工程师们有麻烦了。
Designer to the rescue . 设计师来救援。”
rescue:n.救援;抢救;营救;获救;v.抢救;营救;援救;
I made a serif type, you can see it on the right, without curved serifs. 我设计了一种衬线字体,你们可以在右边看到, 没有弯曲的衬线。
I made them polygonal , out of straight line segments , chamfered brackets. 我把它们用直线段制成多角形的 斜切的过渡。
polygonal:adj.[数]多边形的;[数]多角形的; segments:n.片段; v.把…分割成段;
And look, as economical in data as a sans serif. 看,数据量上和无衬线字体一样经济。
We call it Charter , on the right. 我们把右边的命名为Charter字体。
Charter:n.章程; v.包租(飞机、船等);
So I went to the head of engineering with my numbers, and I said proudly , 所以我带着我的数字找到工程部主管, 自豪地说:
engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词) proudly:傲慢地
I have solved your problem. “我解决了你们的问题。”
Oh, he said. What problem? “噢？” 他说, “什么问题？”
And I said, Well, you know, the problem of the huge data you require for serif fonts and so on. 我说:“你知道, 衬线字体等要求大量数据的问题。“
Oh, he said. We solved that problem last week. “噢,” 他说,”我们上周解决了那个问题。
We wrote a compaction routine that reduces the size of all fonts by an order of magnitude . 我们写了一个压缩程序 把所有字体的大小都缩小了一个数量级。
compaction:n.压紧;精简;密封;凝结; order of magnitude:n.数量级(量度物理量大小的标准,用以10为底的指数表达);
You can have as many fonts on your system as you like. 你想要多少字体, 你的系统就可以有多少。“
Well, thank you for letting me know, I said. 我说:“谢谢你告诉我。“
Foiled again. 再次受打击。
Foiled:adj.有叶形装饰的;v.阻止(foil的过去式和过去分词);
I was left with a design solution for a nonexistent technical problem. 留给我的是 为了一个不存在的技术问题而设计的一个解决方案。
solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答; nonexistent:adj.不存在的; technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的;
But here is where the story sort of gets interesting for me. 但这里是这个故事让我感兴趣的地方。
I didn't just throw my design away in a fit of pique . 我并没有赌气 扔掉我的设计。
pique:vt.刺激;伤害…自尊心;激怒;n.生气;愠怒;呕气;
I persevered . 我继续坚持做下去。
persevered:vi.坚持;不屈不挠;固执己见(在辩论中);
What had started as a technical exercise became an aesthetic exercise, really. 作为技术练习开始的作品, 变成了美学练习,真的。
In other words, I had come to like this typeface. 换句话说,我渐渐开始喜欢这种字体。
Forget its origins . Screw that. 忘掉初衷。别管它。
origins:n.起源; (origin的复数) Screw:v.旋,拧;压榨;强迫;n.螺旋;螺丝钉;吝啬鬼;
I liked the design for its own sake . 我喜欢这个设计本身。
sake:n.目的;利益;理由;日本米酒;
The simplified forms of Charter gave it a sort of plain-spoken quality and unfussy spareness that sort of pleased me. Charter字体的简化的形式 使它具有某种直言不讳的质量, 简洁而开阔, 这有点令我高兴。
simplified:v.简化; (simplify的过去式) plain-spoken:adj.坦率的;直言不讳的;说话直截了当的(等于plainspoken); unfussy:adj.不小题大作的,不大惊小怪的;
You know, at times of technical innovation , designers want to be influenced by what's in the air. 要知道,在技术创新的时代, 设计师们希望受到 当时环境的影响。
innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法; influenced:v.影响;对…起作用;支配;左右;(influence的过去分词和过去式)
We want to respond . We want to be pushed into exploring something new. 我们想要回应。
respond:vi.回答;作出反应;承担责任;n.应答;唱和; exploring:v.探索:考察:探查;(explore的现在分词)
So Charter is a sort of parable for me, really. 因此Charter字体对我来说真有点象个寓言。
parable:n.寓言,比喻;隐晦或谜般的格言;
In the end, there was no hard and fast causal link between the technology and the design of Charter. 最后,在技术和Charter字体的设计之间 没有硬性的因果联系。
hard and fast:adj.(船)牢牢搁浅的;必须遵守的;不可违逆的;固定的; causal:adj.因果关系的;有原因的;n.表示原因的连词;
I had really misunderstood the technology. 我确实是误解了技术。
misunderstood:adj.被误解的;v.误解,误会(misunderstand的过去式);
The technology did suggest something to me, but it did not force my hand, and I think this happens very often. 技术确实向我提出了些什么, 但并没有强迫我, 我想这种情况时常发生。
You know, engineers are very smart, and despite occasional frustrations because I'm less smart, 要知道,工程师们非常聪明, 尽管偶尔受挫折, 因为我不够聪明,
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; occasional:adj.偶然的;临时的;特殊场合的; frustrations:n.沮丧;受阻;阻止;挫败;(frustration的复数)
I've always enjoyed working with them and learning from them. 我总喜欢和他们一起工作 并向他们学习。
Apropos , in the mid-'90s, 恰好在90年代中期,
Apropos:adj.恰好的;适当的;adv.恰好地;适当地;恰当地;prep.关于;
I started talking to Microsoft about screen fonts. 我开始向微软 谈起屏幕字体。
Up to that point, all the fonts on screen had been adapted from previously existing printing fonts, of course. 当时,屏幕上的所有字体 都由先前已有的印刷字体 改编而来。
adapted:adj.适于…的; v.使适应,使适合; (adapt的过去分词和过去式) previously:adv.先前;以前;
But Microsoft foresaw correctly the movement, the stampede towards electronic communication, to reading and writing onscreen with the printed output as being sort of secondary in importance. 但微软正确地预见到了 这个潮流, 电子通信的热潮, 在屏幕上进行读写的趋势, 而打印输出成为了次要的。
foresaw:v.预见;预料(foresee的过去式); stampede:n.奔逃,蜂拥;狂奔;风气;v.狂奔,涌向;使仓促行事 electronic:adj.电子的;电子器件的;电子设备的; onscreen:adj.银幕上的;adv.银幕上; output:n.(人、机器、机构的)产量;输出;输出功率;输出量;v.输出; secondary:adj.第二的;中等的;次要的;中级的;n.副手;代理人;
So the priorities were just tipping at that point. 这种优先级当时才露端倪。
priorities:n.优先事项;优先权;重点;(priority的复数) tipping:n.倾卸台;adj.倾翻的;倾卸的;v.使倾斜;轻拍;踮起脚走(tip的现在分词);
They wanted a small core set of fonts that were not adapted but designed for the screen to face up to the problems of screen, which were their coarse resolution displays . 他们想要的是一小组核心字体, 不是改编而来的, 就是那些低分辨率的显示器。
core:n.核心;要点;果心;[计]磁心;vt.挖...的核; face up to:勇敢地面对; coarse:adj.粗糙的;粗织的;粗的;大颗粒的; resolution:n.解决;分辨;解析;决议; displays:v.陈列; n.陈列;
I said to Microsoft, a typeface designed for a particular technology is a self-obsoleting typeface. 我对微软说, 是自我淘汰的字体。
I've designed too many faces in the past that were intended to mitigate technical problems. 过去我设计过太多字体 意在减轻技术问题。
intended:adj.预定的;计划的;v.打算;计划;想要;(intend的过去分词和过去式) mitigate:vt.使缓和,使减轻;vi.减轻,缓和下来;
Thanks to the engineers, the technical problems went away. 多亏了工程师们,技术问题不存在了。
So did my typeface. 我的字体也不存在了。
It was only a stopgap . 这只是个临时措施。
stopgap:adj.权宜的;暂时的;n.权宜之计;补缺者;
Microsoft came back to say that affordable computer monitors with better resolutions were at least a decade away. 微软回过来说 价格实惠的有着更好的分辨率的 电脑显示器 至少还要等十年。
affordable:adj.负担得起的; resolutions:n.决议(resolution的复数);解决;决心;[物]分辨率;
So I thought, well, a decade, that's not bad, that's more than a stopgap. 所以,我想, 好吧,十年,不太坏, 不能算是个临时措施。
So I was persuaded , I was convinced , and we went to work on what became Verdana and Georgia, for the first time working not on paper but directly onto the screen from the pixel up. 所以我被说服了, 我们着手工作, 第一次不是在纸上工作 而是直接从像素到屏幕。
persuaded:v.劝说;说服;使信服;使相信;(persuade的过去式和过去分词) convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式) directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
At that time, screens were binary . 当时,屏幕是二进制的。
binary:adj.[数]二进制的;二元的,二态的;
The pixel was either on or it was off. 像素或亮或灭。
Here you see the outline of a letter, the cap H, which is the thin black line, the contour , which is how it is stored in memory, superimposed on the bitmap , which is the grey area , which is how it's displayed on the screen. 这里你们看到字母的轮廓, 大写的H, 细黑线是它的轮廓, 这也是它在存储器里的样子, 叠加在点阵字体上, 即灰色区域, 这就是它在屏幕上显示的样子。
contour:n.轮廓;等高线;周线;电路;概要;v.画轮廓;画等高线; superimposed:adj.[地物]叠加的;上叠的;重迭的;叠覆的,重叠的; bitmap:n.[计]位图,位映像; grey area:n.中间区域(界线不明、不易归类、难以界定或处理的领域或形势); displayed:v.陈列;展出;展示;显露(display的过去分词和过去式)
The bitmap is rasterized from the outline. 点阵字体是从轮廓点阵化而来的。
Here in a cap H, which is all straight lines, the two are in almost perfect sync on the Cartesian grid . 在大写的H里,全部都是直线, 在直角坐标网格上 两者近乎完美同步。
sync:n.同步,同时;vi.同时发生;vt.使同步; grid:n.网格;格子,栅格;输电网;
Not so with an O. O可就不是这样啦。
This looks more like bricklaying than type design, but believe me, this is a good bitmap O, for the simple reason that it's symmetrical in both x and y axes . 这个看起来更像是砌砖而不是字体设计, 但相信我,这是一个好的点阵字体O, 原因很简单, 在X轴和Y轴上都是对称的。
bricklaying:n.砌砖;砌砖工作; symmetrical:adj.匀称的,对称的; axes:n.轴线;轴心;坐标轴;斧头(axe的复数);
In a binary bitmap, you actually can't ask for more than that. 在二进制的点阵字体里, 你实际上不能要求更多了。
I would sometimes make, I don't know, three or four different versions of a difficult letter like a lowercase A, and then stand back to choose which was the best. 我有时会为一个难字母 设计三个或四个版本, 像小写的a, 再退回去选出最好的一个。
lowercase:n.小写字母;小写字体;adj.小写字体的;vt.用小写字体书写;
Well, there was no best, so the designer's judgment comes in in trying to decide which is the least bad. 其实没有最好的。 所以这里需要设计师的判断, 来设法决定 哪个是最不坏的。
judgment:n.判断;裁判;判决书;辨别力;
Is that a compromise? 这是一种妥协吗？
Not to me, if you are working at the highest standard the technology will allow, although that standard may be well short of the ideal. 对我来说不是, 如果你是按技术所允许的最高标准来工作, 尽管这个标准 可能不够理想。
You may be able to see on this slide two different bitmap fonts there. 你或许能看到这张幻灯片上 有两个不同的点阵字体。
The a in the upper one, I think, is better than the a in the lower one, but it still ain't great. 我觉得上方的“a” 比下方的“a”要好, 但仍不够优秀。
upper:adj.上面的;内陆的;n.靴面;兴奋剂;
You can maybe see the effect better if it's reduced. Well, maybe not. 如果缩小它,你们或许能更好地看出这种效果。
So I'm a pragmatist , not an idealist , out of necessity . 所以,我是一个出于需要的实用主义者, 而不是一个理想主义者。
pragmatist:n.实用主义者;爱管闲事的人; idealist:n.空想家,理想主义者;唯心主义者;adj.理想主义的;唯心主义的; of necessity:必然地;不可避免地;
For a certain kind of temperament , there is a certain kind of satisfaction in doing something that cannot be perfect but can still be done to the best of your ability. 有些事情无法完美 但尽你所能仍可完成, 就某种气质而言, 做这些事情时存在一种满足感。
temperament:n.气质,性情,性格;急躁; satisfaction:n.满意,满足;赔偿;乐事;赎罪;
Here's the lowercase H from Georgia Italic . 这是用Georgia斜体的小写h。
Italic:n.斜体字(或字母,数码等);adj.[印刷]斜体的;
The bitmap looks jagged and rough. 这个点阵看起来参差不齐,还粗糙。
jagged:adj.锯齿状的;参差不齐的;v.使成缺口;使成锯齿状(jag的过去式);
It is jagged and rough. 它的确参差不齐和粗糙。
But I discovered, by experiment, that there is an optimum slant for an italic on a screen so the strokes break well at the pixel boundaries . 但我通过实验发现, 屏幕上的斜体 有一个最佳倾斜 以致笔画刚好 在像素边界断开。
optimum:adj.最适宜的;n.最佳效果;最适宜条件; slant:n.倾斜; vi.倾斜; vt.使倾斜; adj.倾斜的; boundaries:n.边界;分界线;(boundary的复数)
Look in this example how, rough as it is, how the left and right legs actually break at the same level. 看这个例子,多粗糙, 左腿和右腿 实际上怎样在同一水平分开。
That's a victory. That's good, right there. 那是个胜利。那很好,就是那儿。
And of course, at the lower depths, you don't get much choice. 当然在更低深度, 你就没有多少选择了。
This is an S, in case you were wondering. 这是S,万一你想知道。
Well, it's been 18 years now since Verdana and Georgia were released . 那么, 自从Verdana和Georgia字体发行以来,
released:v.释放;使免除;已发布;(release的过去分词和过去式)
Microsoft were absolutely right, it took a good 10 years, but screen displays now do have improved spatial resolution, and very much improved photometric resolution thanks to anti-aliasing and so on. 微软完全是对的, 花了整整10年, 但屏幕显示现在确实 改进了空间分辨率, 也大大改进了光度分辨率, 多亏了反锯齿等技术。
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; improved:adj.改良的:v.改进:改善(improve的过去分词和过去式) spatial:adj.空间的;存在于空间的;受空间条件限制的;
So now that their mission is accomplished , has that meant the demise of the screen fonts that I designed for coarser displays back then? 所以现在它们的使命完成了, 是不是意味着 那时我为较粗糙的显示器所设计的 屏幕字体就消亡了呢？
mission:n.使命,任务;代表团;布道;v.派遣;向…传教; accomplished:adj.完成的;有技巧的;有学问的;v.完成;(accomplish的过去分词和过去式) demise:n.死亡,终止;转让;传位;vt.遗赠;禅让; coarser:adj.粗糙的;粗俗的;下等的(coarse的变形);
Will they outlive the now-obsolete screens and the flood of new web fonts coming on to the market? 它们的寿命会超过现已过时的屏幕 和大量涌向市场的 新网页字体吗？
outlive:v.比…活得长;比…经久;经受住;渡过…而存在;
Or have they established their own sort of evolutionary niche that is independent of technology? 还是他们已经建立了自己的 某种不依赖技术的 进化生态位呢？
established:adj.已确立的;著名的;v.建立;创立;设立;(establish的过去分词和过去式) evolutionary:adj.进化的;发展的;渐进的; niche:n.壁龛; vt.放入壁龛; independent of:不依赖…的;不受…支配的;
In other words, have they been absorbed into the typographic mainstream ? 换句话说,是否它们已被并入了
absorbed:adj.被…吸引住; v.吸收(液体、气体等); (absorb的过去分词和过去式) mainstream:n.主流;
I'm not sure, but they've had a good run so far. 我不确定,但到目前为止运行良好。
Hey, 18 is a good age for anything with present-day rates of attrition , so I'm not complaining . 嘿,以现今的淘汰率来看, 18对于任何东西都是个不错的年纪了, 所以我不抱怨。
present-day:adj.现代的;当今的;现在的;现时的; attrition:n.摩擦;磨损;消耗; complaining:adj.抱怨的;v.抱怨;控诉;(complain的现在分词)
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）