+0.20 Writing a Guide to SDF Fonts (www.redblobgames.com S:+0.22 )
112 points by chunkles 2 days ago | 11 comments on HN | Mild positive Editorial · v3.7 · 2026-02-28 11:02:50 0
Summary Creativity & Education Acknowledges
This blog post documents a technical writer's iterative process for creating an educational guide to SDF fonts. The content engages positively with the UDHR's rights to education (Article 26), participation in cultural and scientific life (Article 27), and freedom of expression (Article 19) through free, open publication of high-quality educational material, though these themes are implicit rather than explicitly framed as human rights.
Article Heatmap
Preamble: ND — Preamble Preamble: No Data — Preamble P Article 1: ND — Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood Article 1: No Data — Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood 1 Article 2: ND — Non-Discrimination Article 2: No Data — Non-Discrimination 2 Article 3: ND — Life, Liberty, Security Article 3: No Data — Life, Liberty, Security 3 Article 4: ND — No Slavery Article 4: No Data — No Slavery 4 Article 5: ND — No Torture Article 5: No Data — No Torture 5 Article 6: ND — Legal Personhood Article 6: No Data — Legal Personhood 6 Article 7: ND — Equality Before Law Article 7: No Data — Equality Before Law 7 Article 8: ND — Right to Remedy Article 8: No Data — Right to Remedy 8 Article 9: ND — No Arbitrary Detention Article 9: No Data — No Arbitrary Detention 9 Article 10: ND — Fair Hearing Article 10: No Data — Fair Hearing 10 Article 11: ND — Presumption of Innocence Article 11: No Data — Presumption of Innocence 11 Article 12: ND — Privacy Article 12: No Data — Privacy 12 Article 13: ND — Freedom of Movement Article 13: No Data — Freedom of Movement 13 Article 14: ND — Asylum Article 14: No Data — Asylum 14 Article 15: ND — Nationality Article 15: No Data — Nationality 15 Article 16: ND — Marriage & Family Article 16: No Data — Marriage & Family 16 Article 17: ND — Property Article 17: No Data — Property 17 Article 18: ND — Freedom of Thought Article 18: No Data — Freedom of Thought 18 Article 19: +0.22 — Freedom of Expression 19 Article 20: ND — Assembly & Association Article 20: No Data — Assembly & Association 20 Article 21: ND — Political Participation Article 21: No Data — Political Participation 21 Article 22: ND — Social Security Article 22: No Data — Social Security 22 Article 23: ND — Work & Equal Pay Article 23: No Data — Work & Equal Pay 23 Article 24: ND — Rest & Leisure Article 24: No Data — Rest & Leisure 24 Article 25: ND — Standard of Living Article 25: No Data — Standard of Living 25 Article 26: +0.17 — Education 26 Article 27: +0.23 — Cultural Participation 27 Article 28: ND — Social & International Order Article 28: No Data — Social & International Order 28 Article 29: ND — Duties to Community Article 29: No Data — Duties to Community 29 Article 30: ND — No Destruction of Rights Article 30: No Data — No Destruction of Rights 30
Negative Neutral Positive No Data
Aggregates
Editorial Mean +0.20 Structural Mean +0.22
Weighted Mean +0.21 Unweighted Mean +0.21
Max +0.23 Article 27 Min +0.17 Article 26
Signal 3 No Data 28
Volatility 0.03 (Low)
Negative 0 Channels E: 0.6 S: 0.4
SETL ℹ -0.03 Structural-dominant
FW Ratio ℹ 60% 9 facts · 6 inferences
Evidence 6% coverage ℹ
3M 28 ND
Theme Radar
Foundation Security Legal Privacy & Movement Personal Expression Economic & Social Cultural Order & Duties Foundation: 0.00 (0 articles) Security: 0.00 (0 articles) Legal: 0.00 (0 articles) Privacy & Movement: 0.00 (0 articles) Personal: 0.00 (0 articles) Expression: 0.22 (1 articles) Economic & Social: 0.00 (0 articles) Cultural: 0.20 (2 articles) Order & Duties: 0.00 (0 articles)
HN Discussion 3 top-level · 4 replies
adzm 2026-02-27 20:02 UTC link
The article in question, https://www.redblobgames.com/articles/sdf-fonts/ is really neat as well, especially the interactive demonstrations
bob1029 2026-02-27 20:29 UTC link
Valve originally devised this technique in 2007:

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/apps/valve/2007/SIGGRAPH2007...

jjkaczor 2026-02-27 22:38 UTC link
Oh thank-you for the reminder to check Amit's site again! (been following since the BBS and SolarRealms days...)
amitp 2026-02-27 20:51 UTC link
I originally had that near the top but in one of the rewrites I moved the papers to the end — https://www.redblobgames.com/articles/sdf-fonts/#appendix
amitp 2026-02-27 21:41 UTC link
Thanks!
socalgal2 2026-02-28 04:43 UTC link
That seems off a little. Here's GPU accelerated vector text, in perspective where as the article claims no

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/...

bananaboy 2026-02-28 08:26 UTC link
I’m always pleasantly surprised when I’m reminded that he and his brother made SRE and BRE. I love hearing that folks from those days are still making great things.
Editorial Channel
What the content says
+0.25
Article 27 Cultural Participation
Medium Advocacy Framing
Editorial
+0.25
SETL
+0.11

Post demonstrates participation in scientific and cultural life through creative technical work; author discusses artistic choices (Excalidraw, hand-written SVG), intellectual exploration, and craft refinement.

+0.20
Article 19 Freedom of Expression
Medium Advocacy Framing
Editorial
+0.20
SETL
-0.11

Post demonstrates freedom of expression through unrestricted personal reflection; author freely documents creative process including failed approaches and multiple redesigns.

+0.15
Article 26 Education
Medium Advocacy Framing
Editorial
+0.15
SETL
-0.10

Post documents creation of educational content with explicit goal to improve search result quality and help people learn about SDF fonts; emphasizes clarity and iterative pedagogical refinement.

ND
Preamble Preamble

Content does not engage with UDHR preamble themes.

ND
Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood

Post does not address equal dignity or inalienable rights.

ND
Article 2 Non-Discrimination

No discrimination or equality themes present.

ND
Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security

Post does not engage with life, liberty, or security.

ND
Article 4 No Slavery

Slavery not addressed.

ND
Article 5 No Torture

Torture not addressed.

ND
Article 6 Legal Personhood

Post does not discuss legal personhood.

ND
Article 7 Equality Before Law

Equality before law not addressed.

ND
Article 8 Right to Remedy

Effective remedy for rights violations not addressed.

ND
Article 9 No Arbitrary Detention

Arbitrary arrest not addressed.

ND
Article 10 Fair Hearing

Fair trial not addressed.

ND
Article 11 Presumption of Innocence

Presumption of innocence not addressed.

ND
Article 12 Privacy

Privacy not addressed in content.

ND
Article 13 Freedom of Movement

Freedom of movement not addressed.

ND
Article 14 Asylum

Asylum and refuge not addressed.

ND
Article 15 Nationality

Nationality not addressed.

ND
Article 16 Marriage & Family

Marriage and family not addressed.

ND
Article 17 Property

Property rights not addressed.

ND
Article 18 Freedom of Thought

Conscience, religion, thought not addressed.

ND
Article 20 Assembly & Association

Peaceful assembly and association not addressed.

ND
Article 21 Political Participation

Democratic participation not addressed.

ND
Article 22 Social Security

Social security and welfare not addressed.

ND
Article 23 Work & Equal Pay

Labor rights and employment protection not addressed.

ND
Article 24 Rest & Leisure

Rest and leisure not addressed.

ND
Article 25 Standard of Living

Standard of living and health not addressed.

ND
Article 28 Social & International Order

Social and international order for rights not addressed.

ND
Article 29 Duties to Community

Duties to community and limits on rights not addressed.

ND
Article 30 No Destruction of Rights

Prevention of rights destruction not addressed.
Structural Channel
What the site does
+0.25
Article 19 Freedom of Expression
Medium Advocacy Framing
Structural
+0.25
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
-0.11

Independently published blog with free public access and no editorial gatekeeping supports information rights.

+0.20
Article 26 Education
Medium Advocacy Framing
Structural
+0.20
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
-0.10

Freely published educational material accessible to all supports right to education and access to knowledge.

+0.20
Article 27 Cultural Participation
Medium Advocacy Framing
Structural
+0.20
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
+0.11

Work is published and accessible, supporting author's right to participate in cultural and scientific community.

ND
Preamble Preamble

No structural signal specific to this section.

ND
Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood

No structural signal.

ND
Article 2 Non-Discrimination

No structural signal.

ND
Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security

No structural signal.

ND
Article 4 No Slavery

No structural signal.

ND
Article 5 No Torture

No structural signal.

ND
Article 6 Legal Personhood

No structural signal.

ND
Article 7 Equality Before Law

No structural signal.

ND
Article 8 Right to Remedy

No structural signal.

ND
Article 9 No Arbitrary Detention

No structural signal.

ND
Article 10 Fair Hearing

No structural signal.

ND
Article 11 Presumption of Innocence

No structural signal.

ND
Article 12 Privacy

No tracking concerns evident but domain-level signal only.

ND
Article 13 Freedom of Movement

No structural signal.

ND
Article 14 Asylum

No structural signal.

ND
Article 15 Nationality

No structural signal.

ND
Article 16 Marriage & Family

No structural signal.

ND
Article 17 Property

No structural signal.

ND
Article 18 Freedom of Thought

No structural signal.

ND
Article 20 Assembly & Association

No structural signal.

ND
Article 21 Political Participation

No structural signal.

ND
Article 22 Social Security

No structural signal.

ND
Article 23 Work & Equal Pay

No structural signal.

ND
Article 24 Rest & Leisure

No structural signal.

ND
Article 25 Standard of Living

No structural signal.

ND
Article 28 Social & International Order

No structural signal.

ND
Article 29 Duties to Community

No structural signal.

ND
Article 30 No Destruction of Rights

No structural signal.
Supplementary Signals
How this content communicates, beyond directional lean. Learn more
Epistemic Quality ℹ
How well-sourced and evidence-based is this content?
0.74 low claims
Sources
0.6
Evidence
0.7
Uncertainty
0.8
Purpose
0.8
Propaganda Flags ℹ
No manipulative rhetoric detected
0 techniques detected
Emotional Tone ℹ
Emotional character: positive/negative, intensity, authority
measured
Valence
+0.5
Arousal
0.4
Dominance
0.6
Transparency ℹ
Does the content identify its author and disclose interests?
1.00
✓ Author
More signals: context, framing & audience
Solution Orientation ℹ
Does this content offer solutions or only describe problems?
0.76 solution oriented
Reader Agency
0.6
Stakeholder Voice ℹ
Whose perspectives are represented in this content?
0.00 1 perspective
Speaks: individuals
Temporal Framing ℹ
Is this content looking backward, at the present, or forward?
retrospective long term
Geographic Scope ℹ
What geographic area does this content cover?
unspecified
Complexity ℹ
How accessible is this content to a general audience?
moderate medium jargon domain specific
Longitudinal 522 HN snapshots · 24 evals
+1 0 −1 HN
Audit Trail 44 entries
2026-03-02 05:47 eval_success Evaluated: Moderate positive (0.33) - -
2026-03-02 05:47 eval Evaluated by deepseek-v3.2: +0.33 (Moderate positive) 14,441 tokens +0.06
2026-03-02 02:23 eval_success Evaluated: Mild positive (0.27) - -
2026-03-02 02:23 eval Evaluated by deepseek-v3.2: +0.27 (Mild positive) 13,202 tokens -0.08
2026-03-02 02:23 rater_validation_warn Validation warnings for model deepseek-v3.2: 0W 59R - -
2026-03-02 02:02 dlq_auto_replay DLQ auto-replay: message 97930 re-enqueued - -
2026-03-01 13:39 eval_success Evaluated: Moderate positive (0.34) - -
2026-03-01 13:39 eval Evaluated by deepseek-v3.2: +0.34 (Moderate positive) 13,812 tokens +0.17
2026-03-01 01:03 dlq_auto_replay DLQ auto-replay: message 97914 re-enqueued - -
2026-02-28 19:30 dlq Dead-lettered after 1 attempts: Writing a Guide to SDF Fonts - -
2026-02-28 19:30 eval_failure Evaluation failed: AbortError: The operation was aborted - -
2026-02-28 19:03 dlq Dead-lettered after 1 attempts: Writing a Guide to SDF Fonts - -
2026-02-28 19:03 eval_failure Evaluation failed: AbortError: The operation was aborted - -
2026-02-28 19:02 eval_failure Evaluation failed: AbortError: The operation was aborted - -
2026-02-28 18:51 eval_failure Evaluation failed: AbortError: The operation was aborted - -
2026-02-28 18:44 dlq Dead-lettered after 1 attempts: Writing a Guide to SDF Fonts - -
2026-02-28 18:44 eval_failure Evaluation failed: AbortError: The operation was aborted - -
2026-02-28 18:30 eval_failure Evaluation failed: AbortError: The operation was aborted - -
2026-02-28 15:42 eval_success Lite evaluated: Neutral (0.00) - -
2026-02-28 15:42 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 15:37 eval_success Lite evaluated: Neutral (0.00) - -
2026-02-28 15:37 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 15:23 eval_success Lite evaluated: Neutral (0.00) - -
2026-02-28 15:23 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 11:33 credit_exhausted Credit balance too low, pausing provider for 30 min - -
2026-02-28 11:06 eval_success Evaluated: Mild positive (0.17) - -
2026-02-28 11:06 eval Evaluated by deepseek-v3.2: +0.17 (Mild positive) 13,753 tokens
2026-02-28 11:02 eval Evaluated by claude-haiku-4-5-20251001: +0.21 (Mild positive)
2026-02-28 10:14 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 08:52 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 08:47 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 08:36 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 07:18 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 05:10 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 04:09 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 02:40 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 02:12 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 02:09 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 01:31 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 01:26 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 01:20 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 01:05 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral)
reasoning
tech tutorial no rights stance
2026-02-28 00:55 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion
2026-02-28 00:50 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral)
reasoning
Editorial on technical topic, no human rights discussion