RE: Unicode 6.2 to Support the Turkish Lira Sign

There may or may not have been elements of propaganda involved. And the design may or may not be poor. None of that changes the reality that the symbol in question _has_ started to be used in commerce, that government agencies are starting to expect ICTs to support the symbol, and hence that implementers are for better or worse required to start supporting it if they are to meet their users’ / customers’ needs.

We may like Unicode to be “pure” and aesthetically pleasing, but at the end of the day what matters most is that it is practical.


Peter


From: unicode-bounce_at_unicode.org [mailto:unicode-bounce_at_unicode.org] On Behalf Of Andreas Stötzner
Sent: May-21-12 2:54 PM
To: unicode Unicode Discussion
Subject: Re: Unicode 6.2 to Support the Turkish Lira Sign


Am 21.05.2012 um 22:48 schrieb Peter Constable:


they will hardly want to use the old drachma sign (₯, U+20AF)—it’s very old-fashioned and not in line with currency symbols in general.

Well, it's available and not being used for anything else. And it's probably even well supported already: they couldn't do much better than to make use of it.

I still consider the eager heralding of a new “Turkish Lira” by the UTC highly questionable, to say the least.
That poor design piece Mr. Erdogan so proudly presented to the photographers is a propagandistic endeavour, it has little to do with understanding of the nature of currency signs or of characters (in the UC sense of the word).
There IS still the character LIRA at 20A4 which would do very well for the Turks.

Now the resurrection of the Drachma is upon us. And yes, there is a character DRACHMA in the standard, but to state it is “out of fashion” out of a feeling of flavour does not help much and then somebody else will step in announcing “Ladies and Gentlemen: the NEW DRACHMA SIGN…” etcª etcª. Yet another strike of governmental design foolery to come, rubber-stamped by the UTC?
I always wondered about the strange Drachma glyph in the standard: a Latin script D connected to a greek rho. However, this glyph should not be the problem, other glyphs are possible. Designing glyphs is one thing, deciding upon characters is another one. If only we could sort it out.



Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

                             Andreas Stötzner.





_____________________________________________________________________

Andreas Stötzner
Gestaltung Signographie Fontentwicklung

Wilhelm-Plesse-Straße 32, 04157 Leipzig
0152-08336058

Received on Mon May 21 2012 - 18:41:38 CDT