For me, if it can be text it should be text, given the options available in the creator.
There are so many advantages for ease of maintenance through efficiency of the face.
Pros
- You get active and AOD colours in one element by default. No need for a separate element often
- So, so many fonts without pishing about with images
- You can make any image dial with a simple Facer dialmaker and some font size/radius tweaking anyway: Bodestone - *Dial Maker - watch face for Apple Watch, WearOS, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, Huawei Watch, and more - Facer
- The stroke option on text is another bonus if used well.
- Can be so much more efficient than an image stack if the font has the relevant glyphs
Cons
- Rotation is a bitch. OK, Rotation round a circle for a hand is fine but on the spot rotation (hand/compass pointer) will not work due to rotation anchor so X/Y is always needed.
- At the mercy of font maker. If not a clonable FontStruct then it is a PITA to modify a font where image manipulation is learning curve magnitudes easier.
- Limitation: Even with the most comprehensive font you are limited to the glyphs in the font and then halve that by those that will actually show once synced to a watch.
You can do a lot with just text elements. Here’s a 2 fonter in progress:
Thoughts on a postcard.