It doesn’t feel like metal at all though. As you can see, I was sent the Metallic Red version which has a high-strength aluminum and Dupont Kevlar body with a back cover made of metalized glass fiber. The TURBO is available in Black Ballistic Nylon, Metallic Black and Metallic Red. But the outside is just as nice as the inside. This phone has all the best goodies baked inside including a fast processor, gorgeous display and a 21MP camera.
Motorola droid font portable#
Compared with previous assignments designing for portable media players, game consoles and closed captioning systems, Droid, he says, "looks like something from one designer rather than a committee.The old adage “It’s what’s inside that counts” rings true with the Motorola DROID TURBO. That's welcome news for Matteson, who describes the Droid job as particularly enjoyable.
Motorola droid font android#
Manufacturers of future Android devices have asked the company to adapt the characters to additional languages and screen widths, Davis says. Still, he admits, "I am surprised no one requested an Android icon," referring to the stylized robot character that bedecks Android's logo.Īscender is continuing to work on Droid, even as the G1 prepares to ship next month. "Developers and manufacturers might consider something like that off-putting instead of interesting and fun," Matteson says. That's likely because Android, as an open-source, collaborative effort, must suit the needs of many companies and multiple products. Though Google delights in planting playful surprises, or "Easter Eggs," in many of its products, Matteson says the company made no special requests for unique symbols, icons or hidden messages. The Google team consisted of user-interface designers, engineers, product managers and Andy Rubin, the company's director of mobile platforms. To support different languages, the Droid font family comprises thousands of characters, including more than 43,000 for Chinese, Japanese and Korean users alone.ĭavis estimates 18 to 20 Ascender employees worked on the project at various stages, from type design to fine-tuning the fonts for on-screen display.
Motorola droid font for android#
Applications written for Android will also feature Droid, since the font is built into the platform's software development kit. When a user goes online and surfs the Web, sites materialize in one of three Droid fonts: serif, sans serif or monospace. Droid is, in fact, the only font that exists on the G1. Says Matteson: "We wanted the type to be very useful, comfortable to read, and not in any way distracting." The teams also wanted a typeface that would work well with the distinctive Android logo, which was designed by another company.Īscender's work is visible throughout the G1, from the characters, symbols and numerals on the phone's physical keyboard to its software-everything from drop-down lists to the address book to map applications. That too was rejected, along with several others, in favor of a more neutral design that Matteson describes as "upright with open forms, but not so neutral as a design like, say, Helvetica." "There was a fine line between wanting the font to have character but not cause too much commotion."Īnother proposal erred on the side of "techno" with squared-off edges reminiscent of early computer typefaces. Matteson's first design was "bouncy": a look in line with the Google logo's angled lowercase "e." Google passed on the design because it was "a little too mannered," Matteson says. The sweet spot-and the final look for Droid-fell somewhere in the middle. "They wanted to see a range of styles, from the typical, bubbly Google image to something very techno-looking," Matteson says. Ascender's chief type designer, Steve Matteson, who created the Droid fonts, says Google requested a design that was friendly and approachable.
But for Android Google wanted a font with "common appeal," Davis says. In fonts, Google has a predilection for cute letters and bright primary colors, as showcased in the company's own logo. Open Handset Alliance, a coalition of 34 companies working on Android projects. Ascender, which has created fonts forĪnd others, nabbed the Android assignment because its workers knew people on Android's design and development teams, says Bill Davis, Ascender's vice president of business development. The font, dubbed Droid, is the product of a two-year collaboration between the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet giant and Ascender, a digital typeface company based in Elk Grove Village, Ill.