4 More Fonts to Help You Go Beyond Courier
Back in 2017, I wrote about how finding a font that wasn’t Courier made working in plain text even more enjoyable for me. Since then, I haven’t (quite) gone down the monospaced font rabbit hole but I have come across a few fonts that you can use in any editor, note taking tool, or wherever you use plain text.
Let’s take a peek at four of those fonts.
DejaVu Markup
One of my favourite font families on the Linux desktop is DejaVu. I don’t know what it is about that particular set of fonts, but it appeals to me. In my previous look at fonts, I talked about DejaVu Sans Mono. It’s a nice one, but DejaVu Markup does it one better.
What I like about DejVu Markup is that it straddles the line between a sans-serif font and a monospace one. It also looks really good at larger sizes.
IBM Plex Mono
For a company that’s considered staid and stuffy, IBM can get more than a few things right. One of those things is its corporate font family, called IBM Plex. One member of that family is IBM Plex Mono.
While Plex Mono didn't start off as my favourite font for working in plain text, it quickly grew on me. Now I used it as my main monospace font.
Hack
Designed specifically for coders, Hack looks a lot like DejaVu Markup. If you look a bit more closely, Hack has a character all of its own.
It leans heavily to the fixed-width side of the fence. On top of that, Hack has a certain flow and shape that other, similar fonts lack.
JetBrains Mono
Another one for the developers, I stumbled upon JetBrains Mono a few months ago. For reasons I can’t explain, I warmed to JetBrains Mono almost immediately after seeing a sample of it.
The folks behind JetBrains Mono claim it makes reading code easier, with no additional obstacles for your eyes as they scan the text vertically. I have to agree. This font is one that’s been one of the easiest on my eyes.
Final Thought
The four fonts I just looked at won’t appeal to everyone. And I’m sure that some typographic purists out there will find some fault with those fonts. I really don’t care.
I like all of those fonts, with DejaVu Markup being my favourite. Give them a try. You never know. One of them might grow on you.