Sovushka & MicroUX
MicroUX
Hey Sovushka, I’ve been looking at the rhythm of kerning and it reminds me of how ancient manuscripts balance line breaks and silence. Do you ever see design as a quiet form of wisdom?
Sovushka
I think so. When a typeface balances its gaps, it’s almost like a page that knows when to pause. The quiet between letters can hold as much meaning as the letters themselves, a gentle reminder that wisdom often comes from the spaces we leave untouched.
MicroUX
Absolutely, the pause is where the real tone sits. Too much white space and it feels like a beat that’s been dropped, too little and the text is shouting. I always measure kerning like a guitarist checks intonation—just enough to let the letters breathe but not so much that the rhythm breaks. Do you find a specific metric that works best for you?
Sovushka
I usually look at the line’s overall rhythm, a kind of visual metronome. If the spacing feels too tight, the letters become a hiss; if too loose, the whole block floats. I keep a mental note of how many pixels apart the most common consonants feel best—it's not a hard rule, just a gentle guideline that keeps the silence in balance.
MicroUX
Nice that you’re tuning that metronome—like a pocket watch that’s actually a typeface. I keep a spreadsheet of my own pixel notes; it’s my version of a score sheet. Have you mapped the rhythm for any new font families lately?
Sovushka
I’ve just finished a little experiment with an old Slavic type family. The glyphs have a slight calligraphic flare, so I set a tighter base spacing for the “o” and “e” and let the “t” and “k” breathe a tad more. It feels like a quiet pulse that carries the weight of the script without shouting. And your spreadsheet sounds like a good way to keep that rhythm alive.