Seventy years ago the mono-space typeface was chosen as the programming language due to its simplicity and low resolution requirements, since computers could not handle complex graphics. But despite the continual advancements in tech, we’re still using a largely same format of type, not devoid of the original. If humans are the ones spending hours dissecting and using the programming language, why hasn’t it been optimized for the human experience? Shouldn’t all design be intentional, no matter the use? The Proportional Code Sans project is a critique and reevaluation of what a modern programming language should look like, to both improve the code writing and reading experience and inject purpose into an often disregarded medium of communication. 

 

I use design to intentionally question and unveil often disregarded truths. If tech standards have been set by small elite groups, typically white cis men, then they’ve only catered to that community. But the demographics interested in programming have shifted. In countries including Japan and the UK youth as early as kindergarten-age are exposed and taught the visual language, making it universally consumed. The way something looks impacts who pays attention to it, so why shouldn’t there be a new visual language to increase the diverse range of people reading, writing, and creating magic with it? These thoughts inspired the redesign of the visual programming language, Proportional Code Sans.