What is the best form for Maths Symbols?
- All maths symbols should be upright
- Oblique forms look better with italic text
- Only some symbols should have italic forms (please say which)
I’m still undecided on italic forms of maths symbols. In fonts where the italic angle is less than 10° the oblique forms of +=<> etc., look OK if oblique, and arguably better than the upright forms. When the italic angle is greater, they can look very odd. For italic fonts I centre upright symbols between figure zeros. Some symbols like Integral and Square Root, look better to me if they are obliqued for italic typestiles. What do you think about letterlike maths symbols like the inverted A (for All) and E (there exists)?
Microsoft has an article about Character Design Standards for Latin 1. The section about Math symbols might be useful.
Thanks for the link. The site has been updated since I last saved it for reference. I’ll take a close look at it later. I doubt if much has changed.
The page on maths symbols begins by saying:
Math signs also traditionally are only upright. Some designers are creating and arguing about the need for italic math operators.
I don’t actually use maths symbols much, so I am looking for some feedback from those who do need to typeset maths formulae and the like.
Thought Provoking!
As for “E,” I first thought about “e” - the base of the system of natural logarithms.
In physics, “E” is reserved for Electrical field strength, but
“E” is used for Total Energy; illuminance, or amount of illumination; Young modulus of elasticity; and sometimes as an abbreviation of the abbreviation e.m.f. -electromagnetic force.
It looks like you need BOTH forms to keep from causing confusion.
In the end I opted to make most maths symbols upright, with a few exceptions including Integral and Square Root. This I designed on the figure width to align with combining overline.
Most other maths symbols are also designed on the figure width wherever they fit comfortably without resizing:
01234567890123
−∝∞∴∵∷∼≅≡≤≥±