ESQ Fonts

by Allan Haley

Typographic know-how and attention to detail are what set Enhanced Screen Quality (ESQ) fonts above the rest. ESQ fonts are TrueType fonts that have been engineered to look and perform exceptionally well on screen, as well as in traditional print environments. They are developed to make text on screen most legible and true to the typeface’s original design.

First used exclusively by major system and software developers as “core” or system fonts that shipped with their products, ESQ fonts—and custom ESQ font development—are now available from the Monotype Imaging Custom Font Group.

Why Is Screen Quality Important?

Clean, readable screen fonts help ensure that a message is understood and remembered by the reader. ESQ fonts provide a vastly superior screen experience than standard TrueType fonts.

Most computer screens have resolutions of 72 or 96 dots per inch. At these coarse resolutions the subtleties of a typeface’s design become difficult or impossible to represent. The resulting text can be distorted and difficult and may actually impede the reading process. Some TrueType fonts have special instructions or “hints” included as part of the font data which improve on-screen character imaging. ESQ fonts take this hinting process to the highest level available commercially. They are hand-tuned to best represent the font at every size and resolution.

Custom ESQ Fonts

ESQ fonts can also be customized for special applications or customer needs. Individual letters can be modified to meet customer requirements, character sets can be customized to accommodate foreign language and special characters, and company logos can even be added to fonts. In every case, the integrity of the original design is preserved to provide the best possible font for on-screen and traditional print imaging.

There are currently over 150 ESQ fonts in the Monotype and Linotype Libraries. In addition, virtually any font in these libraries can be custom-developed to take advantage of all ESQ font features.

For more information on ESQ fonts and custom font development, call Monotype Imaging Custom Font Group at 1-888-988-2432 in North America or 44.1737.765959 in the U.K.

• Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs. He is also responsible for editorial content for the company’s type libraries and Web sites.
• Prior to working for Monotype, Mr. Haley was Principal of Resolution, a consulting firm with expertise in fonts, font technology, type and typographic communication. He was also executive vice president of International Typeface Corporation.
• Mr. Haley is ex officio Chairman of the Board of the Society of Typographic Aficionados, and past President of the New York Type Directors Club. He is highly regarded as an educator and is a frequently requested speaker at national computer and design conferences.
• Mr. Haley is also a prolific writer, with five books on type and graphic communication and hundreds of articles for graphic design publications to his credit.