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Segoe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For the Go player, see Kensaku Segoe

Segoe (pronounced /ˈsiːɡoʊ/) is a Humanist typeface family that is best-known for its usage by Microsoft. The company uses Segoe in their online and printed marketing materials, including recent logos for a number of products. Additionally, the Segoe UI family of fonts are utilized by numerous Microsoft applications, and may be installed by applications (such as Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Live Messenger 2009) or bundled with certain operating systems (including Windows Vista and Windows 7).

The Segoe name is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation, although the typeface was originally developed by Monotype. It is named after Segoe Road in Madison, Wisconsin, where one of Monotype's engineers lived.

Contents

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[edit] History

Segoe was designed by Steve Matteson during his employment at Agfa Monotype.[1] Licensed to Microsoft for use as a branding typeface and user interface font, it was designed to be friendly and legible. Matteson created a range of weights and italics with a humanist feel.

[edit] Segoe UI

Segoe UI font.svg
Category Sans-serif
Designer(s) Steve Matteson
Foundry Monotype
Date released 2004
Segoe UI sample text
Sample

Segoe UI is a sans-serif typeface used in Microsoft products for user interface text, as well as for some online user assistance material, designed to improve the consistency in how users see all text across all languages. It is distinguishable from its predecessor Tahoma and the Mac OS user interface font Lucida Grande by its rounder letters. Segoe UI was produced by Monotype Imaging.[2]

Segoe UI is just one of many fonts (at least 27) using the Segoe trademark; others include an extensive range of branding print fonts[3] used internally by Microsoft and their advertising agencies, the Windows Vista handwriting fonts Segoe Script and Segoe Print, Segoe Chess, a symbol encoded chess font, several Segoe Media Center fonts, and Segoe TV, which is built into MSN TV set-top-boxes.

Light and Semibold versions of Segoe UI were introduced with Windows 7.[4]

[edit] Characteristics

Segoe UI is optimized for Vista's default ClearType rendering environment, and it is significantly less legible when ClearType is disabled, except at key user interface sizes (8, 9 and 10 point) where Segoe UI has been hinted for bi-level rendering. The standard font size increased to 9 pt. in Windows Vista to accommodate for better layout and readability for all languages.

The Windows Vista version of Segoe UI (version 5.00) contains complete Unicode 4.1 coverage for Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and Arabic (romans only), totaling 2843 glyphs in the regular weight. Segoe UI contains almost 2850 characters.

Segoe UI has a true cursive italic, unlike the oblique used in Frutiger and Helvetica.

[edit] Variations

  • Segoe UI Mono is a variation of Segoe UI with monospace characters. It supports Latin (including Eastern European, and Turkish), Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew and Thai characters, and symbols, geometric shapes and drawing elements. The family includes 2 fonts in 2 weights, without italics.
  • Segoe UI Symbol is a font that includes symbols such as runes, chess pieces, playing card and dice symbols (these glyphs formed the basis of the Segoe Chess and Segoe News Symbols fonts), box drawing, block elements, technical symbols, mathematical operators, arrows, box drawing characters, control pictures, OCR, braille patterns, Ogham and Runic text.[5] However, it is a Unicode-encoded font with symbols assigned to respective Unicode code points, instead of a symbol-encoded font.[6] The font also includes the monospaced Segoe UI variant, and OCR characters as OpenType accessible stylistic sets.
  • Segoe Print is a font family based on the handwriting of Monotype Imaging employee Brian Allen,[7] developed by Carl Crossgrove, James Grieshaber and Karl Leuthold. The family includes 2 fonts in 2 weights, without italics. It supports WGL character sets.
Segoe Script
Nancy segoe script.svg
Category Script
Designer(s) Carl Crossgrove and Brian Allen
  • Segoe Script is a font family designed by Carl Crossgrove based from the handwriting of Brian Allen, but includes extended strokes found in cursive handwriting. It is produced by Monotype Imaging. By using stylistic alternate OpenType feature, the unlinked letters become accessible. The family includes 2 fonts in 2 weights, without italics. It supports WGL character sets.
  • Segoe Chess is a symbol encoded chess font, designed by Steve Matteson and Jim Ford.
  • Segoe Media Center is a font family, similar from segoe built for and privately installed with Windows Media Center in 2 weights: light and semibold. It resembles the original Segoe, but is not optimized for ClearType rendering.
  • Segoe TV is a font family built into MSN TV set-top-boxes. It retains characteristics of the original Segoe, such as sans-serif capital I and straight tail in capital Q, whereas other characters have been redrawn such as the i and j.
  • Segoe News Symbol is a font containing a set of dingbats popular with newspapers, including weather, astrology, playing card suits, dice, stars, pointing hands, pencils, check boxes, and other icons.
  • Segoe WP is the Windows Phone 7 specific version of Segoe. The Segoe WP family are distributed with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.[8]
  • Zegoe UI is a Zune-specific variation on Segoe.

[edit] Other font families

The Latin glyphs from Segoe and Segoe UI can also be found in the following Microsoft font families: Malgun Gothic (Korean), Microsoft JhengHei (Traditional Chinese), Microsoft YaHei (Simplified Chinese), Gisha (Hebrew), Leelawadee (Thai). In Windows 7, they are also found in Ebrima (N'Ko, Tifinagh, Vai), Khmer UI (Khmer), Lao UI (Lao), Microsoft New Tai Lue (Tai Lue), Microsoft PhagsPa (Phags-pa), Microsoft Tai Le (Tai Le).

In these fonts some of the glyph shapes diverge significantly from Segoe UI and the Frutiger/Myriad model and are in some ways more calligraphic. In Gisha and Leelawadee the capital M is narrower and has a raised apex, the lowercase i and l have tails, and the capital I has no serifs. These characteristics are also seen in Segoe UI italic.

[edit] Controversies

Unbalanced scales.svg
 A concern has been raised that this article's Criticism section may be compromising the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Possible resolutions may be to integrate the material in the section into the article as a whole, or to rewrite the contents of the section. Please see the discussion on the talk page. (November 2010)

There have been some controversies over Segoe UI's similarity to the Frutiger family of typefaces, licensed by German font foundry Linotype (as of August 2006 a wholly owned subsidiary of Monotype Imaging). In 2004, Microsoft registered certain Segoe and Segoe Italic fonts as original font designs with the European Union trademark and design office. Linotype protested, and in February 2006, the EU withdrew Microsoft's registration.[9] In its submission to the EU, Microsoft claimed that Linotype had failed to properly prove that it had been selling Frutiger and Frutiger Next prior to 2004. The EU rejected these claims. It should be noted that the EU looks at type specimens at 16 point size, in which many of the subtle differences of similar fonts are not noticeable; notwithstanding, this also prevents extremely subtle differences, which could be seen as solely for the reason of obtaining legality, from ensuring that the font gets validated.[citation needed] Microsoft did not appeal the decision.

Most distinct differences between Segoe UI and Segoe (top and bottom respectively), and Frutiger (middle)

Several letters have very distinct forms in Segoe UI, reflecting the fonts' different intended uses (low-resolution screen display for Segoe UI, airport signage for Frutiger). However, Ulrich Stiehl, an outspoken critic of font plagiarism (who also attacks Linotype and Adobe on his site), has claimed that many of these differences were introduced in more recent versions of the font, while earlier versions were closer to Frutiger.[10][11]

Simon Daniels, a program manager in Microsoft's typography group, quoted in a November 2005 blog entry, states "The original Segoe fonts were not created for or by Microsoft. It was an existing Monotype design which we licensed and extensively extended and customized to meet the requirements of different processes, apps and devices."[12] A Microsoft public relations spokesman, who asked not to be named, stated in April 2006:

Segoe was an original design developed by Agfa Monotype (now Monotype Imaging) in 2000. In 2003, we acquired the original Segoe fonts and used them to develop an extended family of fonts retaining the Segoe name. Many of these new fonts received design patent protection in the United States. Segoe was not derived from Frutiger. Microsoft also has a current up-to-date license that allows us to distribute certain Frutiger fonts in connection with Microsoft products including Office and Windows. There are distinct differences between Segoe and Frutiger. Additionally, unlike clone typefaces, the Segoe family of fonts are not metrically compatible with Frutiger so cannot be used as replacements.[13]

Under United States copyright law, the abstract letter shapes of functional text fonts cannot be copyrighted; only the computer programming code in a font is given copyright protection. This makes the selling of clone fonts possible.

On August 1, 2006, Monotype Imaging announced that it had acquired Linotype from its parent company. This signaled an end to this chapter in the history of the Segoe fonts.[14]

[edit] Availability

The Segoe UI font family can be obtained as part of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2010, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Certain Segoe fonts, but not Segoe UI, were included in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, replacing Trebuchet MS.

Segoe UI is installed into Windows XP if the user installs Windows Live Messenger, or Windows Live Mail, which are available as free downloads. Microsoft Word Viewer and Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 2007 install certain Segoe fonts, but not Segoe UI.

An early version of Segoe, possibly an evaluation version, was included with certain versions of SuSE Linux, but no longer ships as part of that operating system. The first company to distribute Segoe, under license from Monotype, was Scala[citation needed], a Canadian electronic signage company (unrelated to the typeface FF Scala). On June 7, 2005 Scala announced[15] that Segoe was being removed from its InfoChannel product "due to licensing issues". Scala replaced Segoe with Bitstream Vera fonts.

At one time, Microsoft also posted a package called Print Ad for Microsoft Dynamics Business Management Solutions Brief Description to the Microsoft downloads center. The package included TrueType and PostScript Type 1 beta versions of the Segoe branding fonts along with PowerPoint templates and marketing material.[16]

Segoe Print, Segoe Script are included with Windows Vista.

Segoe Chess 1.00 is included with Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010.

Retail versions of Segoe families (except original Segoe, Segoe Media Center) are available through Ascender Corporation. On April 13, 2007, Ascender announced the release of Segoe TV.[17]

Segoe News Symbol is included with the "Sample Font Pack" for the Syndicated Client Experiences Starter Kit, made by Ascender Corporation.[18]

Although Segoe Print, Segoe Script and Segoe UI can be installed on Mac OS (like all TrueType flavor OpenType fonts), Microsoft does not include them with Mac Office or any other Mac product.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Microsoft Corporate Fonts". Ascendercorp.com. 2007-05-15. http://www.ascendercorp.com/portfolio_custom.html#MS_Corp. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  2. ^ "Monotype Imaging Brings Fonts to Microsoft Office and Windows Vista Products". Ir.monotypeimaging.com. 2007-03-20. http://ir.monotypeimaging.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=299605. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  3. ^ The Two Faces of the Microsoft Brand (Doug Barney, July 2006)
  4. ^ "New Fonts in Windows 7 Beta". Microsoft.com. http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/windows7.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  5. ^ "21 new typefaces in Windows 7". News.office-watch.com. 2009-05-08. http://news.office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=871. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  6. ^ "Script and Font Support in Windows". Msdn.microsoft.com. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb688099.aspx. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  7. ^ "From digital fonts to Letterpress printing". Ascender Corp. 2008-09-08. http://www.ascendercorp.com/blog/2008/09/from-digital-fonts-to-letterpress.html. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  8. ^ Currently, only release candidate beta version is available (March 2010)
  9. ^ Designs Department - Invalidity Division (6 February 2006). "DECISION OF THE INVALIDITY DIVISION (pdf)" (PDF). Office for the Harmonization in the Internal Market. http://oami.eu.int/PDF/design/invaldec/ICD%20000000743%20decision%20(EN).pdf. Retrieved 2006-07-31. 
  10. ^ Designer Says Vista Font is Original (Brian Livingston, 25 April 2006)
  11. ^ Segoe UI 1997–2003 vs. Segoe UI 2005 (Comparison on page 3)
  12. ^ Simon Daniels (November 11, 2005). "I Guess No One Cares About Fonts". An Office User Interface Blog. MSDN Bogs. http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/11/28/497441.aspx. 
  13. ^ Brian Livingston (April 18, 2006). "Is Microsoft's Vista Font Just a Copy?". Datamation. earthweb.com. http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3599861. Retrieved 2006-08-01. 
  14. ^ "Monotype Imaging: Monotype Imaging Acquires Linotype". Monotype Imaging. August 2, 2006. http://www.monotypeimaging.com/aboutus/pr_display.aspx?year=2006&pr=292. Retrieved 2007-01-27. 
  15. ^ "Scala and TechMedia are pleased to announce InfoChannel 3 Release 7.4". Techmedia.com.au. http://www.techmedia.com.au/TM_pages/magazine/news/articles/A006_050607_scala7-4/A050607_scala7-4.html. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  16. ^ "Download the full Segoe font collection, official Microsoft branding typeface". Istartedsomething.com. 2007-05-31. http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070531/download-segoe-collection/. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  17. ^ "New TV Fonts Announced". Ascendercorp.com. http://www.ascendercorp.com/pr/2007-04-13/. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  18. ^ "Ascender OpenType fonts for the Microsoft Syndicated Client Experiences Starter Kit". Ascendercorp.com. http://www.ascendercorp.com/developers/syndicated-client/. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 

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