Can you make the r look better?

[pakLebah]

Fira Code is the best font for writing code (programming). My only complaint is the r looks weird compare to other letters. Can you make the r looks better? I mean make it as sans-serif like the other letters, instead of being the only serif letter in the group.

Thank you.

[tonsky]

It has its form for legibility reasons. Maybe I’ll return alternative form as a stylistic subset one day, thanks for the reminder!

[pakLebah]

IMO, the current r is anything but legibility. Just look at the provided codes in the readme. The r seems out of place. I even notice it since the first time I tried this font. I love its ligatures though. So, I just ignore it but somehow it still annoys me. I wish I could replace it myself with something from Consolas or something. 😊

[abductedMind]

The "r" is not particularly in need of increased legibility. Currently it stands out like a sore thumb. My cooworker when shown Fira said hmm....looks cool...oh wait! Thats what the "r" looks like? Nope not doing it. Nevermind. I'm in the same camp.

[whenov]

Noto Sans Mono seems has the same problem.

[bynux-gh]

This issue is the one thing keeping me from using Fira Code as my main font. The lowercase r throws off the whole aesthetic. I've never had any problem with r being legible, except maybe in handwriting.

We need either a new r glyph or an alt-style with a sans-serif r. I scratched together a possible alternative in FontForge for the Regular weight:

If I have time this weekend, I'll work on the other weights and submit a pull request.

[j-f1]

@brilliantly-insane How about dropping the serif on the left side of the r too?

[bynux-gh]

@j-f1 Agreed; thought it might work with the l and J characters, for example, but it doesn't work for the r.

[pakLebah]

Yup. I think the r should be made completely sans-serif. And please make it the same for every style (italic, bold, light, etc). Thank you. 😊

[fatjoem]

The r is keeping me and my colleagues from using this font. I never encountered someone that actually likes the current r in this font.

[kumarharsh]

FWIW, the i is also in the serif style.

[abductedMind]

There are a few other traditional serifs such as the i j L, however the r is unusual for an r. Perhaps it would look right if the curved width was 10% wider or we had been used to seeing it in other fonts (there may be a font out there that does have this serif? But I don't know one off the top of my head). Almost all serifs are horz (in this font), the r has the only one vertical. I mean if for the r why not for the c as well? or s or z or 7? The point is that the r stands out. The r is not harmonious.

[tonsky]

It isn’t. Originally r didn’t have serifs. Those were added because people complained about low legibility. r without serifs used to look like lowercase i. If you dig deep enough I guess you can find the original r in oldest Fira Mono files

[fatjoem]

That's hard to believe really. How many people complained? Whomever I ask, they prefer using another font instead of Fira, because of the serifs in Fira r.

[tonsky]

mozilla/Fira#49

[abductedMind]

Yes, important link above. Note that people immediately complained about the result in that issue. Its a real SHAME that an "issue" with the r was the resolved this way, when this issue should be an issue for many other mono-spaced fonts, yet its not? IMO: It wasn't a real issue then, and now we have an ugly r.

[gphilipp]

I didn’t adopt Fira because of the r too, I just... can’t. That’s a pity because everything is so good but this spoils it. Maybe if I used it for several months I could get used to it, but each time I tried I just kept staring at those r letters.

[OldStarchy]

@diplomatic-dev how did you go with that?

[byoungju94]

I think fira code is the best font for intellij and windows console!

but i agree "r" looks awkward...

[al2me6]

Another viewpoint (possibly unpopular):

To me, the r is the one glyph that truly sets the font apart. While it is indeed quirky and unconventional, it's also one of the things that make the font instantly recognizable.

However, that is not to say the glyph looks good from a useability perspective. I feel like removing only the offending serif and keeping the body in the same form as the current i would be the best compromise to make.

[alexdreptu]

I'm mainly using Source Code Pro / Hasklig and I tried so many times to use Fira Code but couldn't even manage to have it set for a few days. It has many good parts but the r makes the code look unpleasant when I scan it with my eyes. This single glyph can make whole lines of code look displeasing.

[kisarid]

+1, please add a sans r. Fira Code would be my favorite font if it wasn't for that r

[radu-b]

I stopped seeing it after a week, now it looks just normal. The author, having looked at it for years, must think: what do these people have against a perfectly normal r?

[steebchen]

Am I the only one who likes the r?

[ollicle]

@steebchen you are not alone. I don’t believe it needs defending.

[MartinHaeusler]

I vote for a truly sans-serif version of Fira Code. It has become my favourite coding font, but the serifs look extremely odd, even more so on a 4k monitor with more pixels available for font rendering. Most notably, r and ì could use a sans-serif treatment, maybe l (lowercase L) too. g is also a bit too playful for my taste.

[mawkler]

How do I easiest get the version of FiraCode with sans-serif r? Is it exclusively through stylistic sets, or is there an already patched version of the font available somewhere? I'm asking because my editor currently doesn't have built-in support for stylistic sets.

[alexeyten]

How do I easiest get the version of FiraCode with sans-serif r?

There's a tool OpenType Feature Freezer.

With it you could patch the font yourself.

E.g. pyftfeatfreeze -f SS01 -S FiraCode-Regular.ttf FiraCodeSS01-Regular.ttf

[mawkler]

@alexeyten Thanks, I'll give that a try!