Standardizing the Design of TW/HK's 辶 Component #229
Description
Situation
The 辶 component in HK and TW, despite the shape difference, functions similarly to its JP/KR/CN counterparts. But unlike the JP/KR version, the TW/HK-specific 辶 component has several variations:
Variations exist in:
- The dot’s position and angle
- The spacing and alignment of the two horizontal strokes
- The offset and protrusion of the ㇇ strokes
This can affect the gravity of the characters and hinder reading experience. 辶 is a common radical and phrases formed by two characters with this radical is also common. Readers can be distracted by the different design of the same component:
Suggestion
I believe the issue stems from unnecessary design variations within the radical itself. Positioning of the main component in certain glyphs also matters.
(For reference, characters like 通 and 迂 look fine, but the dot placement appears slightly too high. )
The suggestion is to develop a standardized form that can be consistently applied across glyphs. For instance:
The reference design is what I am dogfooding in my fork, please disregard minor stroke differences in certain main components. This zip file contains reference glyphs adhering to either the TW or HK form.
The reference is by no mean flawless, but I believe it illustrates the benefits of having a unified design.
Scope
This issue specifically pertains to the 辶 component when positioned at the left side of the em-box (including top-left and bottom-left placements). When placed at the middle the impact is less important. Of course adjusting those glyphs according to the new form is appreciated.
I recognize that this adjustment is a considerable undertaking due to the number of affected glyphs. Still, I decided to write this issue for your consideration after noticing it while reading a book typeset with Source Han Serif in a bookstore. This XLS file](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/19825097/affected-characters.xlsx) lists the relevant characters, categorized into three worksheets (Left-positioned 辶, top/bottom-left positioned 辶, and others)