along the way, the consolidated write-up on the Monolexic font accumulated more revisions than i had anticipated as the original Hyperlegible Font was iteratively tweaked to address dyslexia.
Having “arrived” at this final release of Monolexic (famous last words.. see unolexic and typo’ asymmetry), a less daunting and easier to comprehend description of the font is in order for those uninterested in the technical history of the font and the rationale for the glyph choices.
Quite simply the..
font provides the main character variant glyphs for the Monolexic font..
A B C D E F G H I ◌ K L M N O P ◌ R S T U V W X Y Z
a ◌ c d e f g h i j k l m n o ◌ q r s t ◌ v w x y z
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
) ! ◌ ◌ $ ◌ ^ ◌ * (
, . / ; ' [ ] \ ` - =
< > ? : " { } | ~ _ +
with “◌” representing a differing alpha character glyph for the purposes of dyslexic legibility. Symbol substitutions largely follow the principle of minimal strokes and maximal stroke separation.
Note: Monolexic is also available with a short-serifed capital
I and tailed lower case d.
eliminate mirrored lower case glyphs (in all orientations) to minimize dyslexic confusion..
◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ J ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ Q ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌
◌ b ◌ d ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ n ◌ p q ◌ ◌ ◌ u ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌
◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌
◌ ◌ @ # ◌ % ◌ & ◌ ◌
between the b d p q and n u characters—especially when found in combinations within single words.
The capital descending J and detached-bend-tailed Q (also available as detached-tailed) are chosen as more legible and aesthetic monospaced glyphs, a reflection of my preference for minimal stroke maximal “air” glyphs—the monospaced crossing capital Q feels more compressed and lacks the “air” the Atkinson font’s geometric width provides. Like the upper/lower case U, the J echoes a distinctive symmetry to its lower case glyph.
Note: There are now a total of 8 typeface variants to chose from whose combinations are:
Capital I (serifed/serifless) x capital Q (tailed/bend-tailed) x lower case d p pairs (d-toothed p-serifed/d-tailed p-serifless) or 2x2x2 typeface families.
~ ~ ~
the Atkinson Hyperlegible character variants already provide high legibility for the visually impaired. The dyslexic character variant substitutions, while losing some of the Atkinson Hyperlegible glyph symmetry, improve the font’s dyslexic legibility—which is particularly noticeable with words containing combinations of b d p q or n u.
Additionally, Monolexic provides..
creating a uniquely beautiful font for the mildly dyslexic (in contrast to the heavier stylistic OpenDyslexic which is commonly found on ereaders). YMMV.
monolexic font family distinctions..
| font name | capital I | lower case d | lower case p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monolexic | serifless | toothed-serifless | motion-serifed | used on this web site |
| _Monolexic | serifless | tailed-serifless | eared (serifless) | |
| eMonolexic | short-serifed | toothed-serifless | motion-serifed | |
| e_Monolexic | short-serifed | tailed-serifless | eared (serifless) |
The font files are organized into two folders based on their lower case d p character glyph pairs—hence, the use of two font family names for the two capital I variants within each folder.
Historically, the popular short-serifed capital I of e_/eMonolexic was the first foray as an ereader font, with the serifless i_/iMonolexic added later (to satisfy my Neo-Grotesque leanings). For those wishing to preview the distinquishing lower case d p glyph variants without installing multiple *Monolexic fonts, these glyphs can be viewed on the Iosevka customize page (by “clicking” on the d p letters to display the available glyph variants).
~ ~ ~
The font files and associated build files may be found at..
Note: the Monolexic fonts at small font sizes render much better
on ereaders at 300 PPI, than on most computer displays (which are commonly
in the 80-100 PPI range).