Up- and down- flags: different widths

[Harpsichordmaker]

Sorry if this has already been discussed.
I was reading Leonardo Vinci’s “Erighetta e don Chilone”, ETS Edition, and I noticed the down-stem note flags have a larger width than the up-stem’s:

IMG_9766p.jpg (140.3 KiB) Viewed 3885 times

I - sort of - like it. The down-stem flags nicely support the nothehead, while the up-stem flags don’t eat too space.

I looked in my library and found only another edition doing the same. Corpus of Early Keyboard Music, Bernardo Storace “Selva di varie composizioni”:

IMG_9773p.jpg (244.55 KiB) Viewed 3885 times

I like it somewhat less, there is too difference in width.

So I gave a quick look at Elbsound web site and found only two fonts doing the same, Capella engraver and Engraver fontset. I didn’t check all the fonts there, however.

What is the consensus,is this a viable solution? Or it is required the upstem and downstem flags to be exactly the same width?


EDIT: I have edited the two pictures in order to make them smaller, from 7Mb both to 400kb. Sorry admin and all.

[tisimst]

No requirement. There's hardly anything written about music typography in the first place. It's semi-logical to have the stem-up flags take up less space because they contribute more to horizontal spacing problems than down-stem flags. I've seen both and done both myself. As long as they are consistent with the style, I don't see an issue either way.

[benwiggy]

Certainly, the simplest design is to have the flags be identical, just flipped. But that doesn't mean that more precision shouldn't be used.

[NorFonts]

The flipped 8th-note is thinking.... I don't like the flag be attached to the head, I little space should occur in between. This just my opinion.