On of the simplest advantages a word processor has over a typewriter is the ability to use several different fonts. In fact, many beginning computer users seem to go a bit nutso, trying to see how many different fonts they can cram into a single document.
This completely understandable -- it's part of the joy of learning a word
processor. Most people eventually settle on using just a handful of fonts.
Other continue to use many fonts, but learn to choose fonts which work well
together on the page. Still others, of course, never learn and end up producing
documents that look like ads from the Yellow Pages.
Name
That Font
Each font has a name, which might be a city (New York, Monaco, Geneva), a
description of the font's appearance (Futura, Optima), or something seemingly
totally unrelated (Zapf Dingbats, MT Extra). While you won't employ a font
simply because of its name (well, at least not often), the name is the only way
to select a font within most applications. After using a computer for only a
short time, you'll be surprised how many different fonts you will be able to
identify by name. When you find yourself admiring the fonts during the credits
at a movie, you'll know you've taken things just a bit too far.
Serif
Or Sans-Serif?
A serifed font is one in which some (not necessarily all) of
the characters have serifs -- small lines which decorate the main strokes of a
letter. Consider this pair of Es, set in a popular serifed font named Palatino.
The uppercase E has two horizontal serifs (at the upper and lower left) and
three vertical serifs (along the right hand side). The lowercase e, even though
it is of the same font as the uppercase E, contains no serifs simply because
the strokes are round -- we don't have to "cap" any of our strokes with a
serif.
A sans-serif font doesn't contain any serifs ("sans" is actually French for "without"). The pair of Es should here are in Helvetica, a common sans-serif font. Sans-serif fonts typically appear less formal than serifed fonts, but can be used for striking effect in headlines, chapter names, and advertisements. In addition, sans-serif fonts are typically used when large print is called for, where serifs become a distraction.
One thing to keep in mind when choosing to serif or not to serif: studies have shown that serifed fonts are generally easier to read than sans-serif fonts. The effect is most pronounced at smaller font sizes, so body text is typically in a serifed font. Notice the difference in the following two paragraphs:
This text uses a font called Times, based on the font used in newspapers (such as the London Times). Notice how your eyes tend to flow naturally across the page, following the lines created by the serifs. All newspapers use serifed fonts (we challenge you to find a counter-example -- good luck!) to make them easy to read even when the print is small (or when the printing is smudged).
This text uses a font called Helvetica. Notice that without serifs, a font has
a strong vertical appearance which draws your eyes upward and away from the
invisible line the text is resting on. Helvetica isn't as easy to read as Times
for this reason, but it does offer other nice properties. Which of these two
paragraphs do your eyes first go to when you look at this page? If you were an
advertiser, which font would you select for your ad?
Monospace
Or Proportional?
In a monospace font, all of the characters are given an equal amount of
horizontal space. In a proportional font, each character is given only as much
horizontal space as it needs, so a lowercase "l" doesn't take up as much room
as a capital "W".
This is much easier to see than it is to describe...
Monospace: abcedefhigklmnopqrstuvwxyz The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog bill and jimminy cricketProportional: abcedefhigklmnopqrstuvwxyz
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
bill and jimminy cricket
It's easy to see why proportional fonts are generally considered easier to read; each word has a particular "shape" which we've all learned to recognize over the years. Unless you have a compelling reason to use a monospaced font, like emulating the ugly text seen on a computer screen, you should always use a proportional font
This system causes some fonts to appear larger than others even though they are the same point size. For instance, compare the following:
18-point Times
18-point Helvetica
The Helvetica text seems larger, both because the typical lowercase Helvetica letter is taller than the typical lowercase Times letter, and because Helvetica has taller ascenders than Times. However, the fonts are the same point size since Times has lower descenders -- look closely at the "p" in each font.
Typically, 12-point type is used for body text. You can use smaller fonts
sporadically, but you should generally spare your readers the eyestrain caused
by reading fonts much smaller than 10-
point.
Text becomes virtually unreadable at six points or smaller. Likewise, you
shouldn't annoy your reader with long blocks of large text.
Read
More About It
Our brief discussion only covers the very basics of fonts and their usage.
Where do you go from here?
An easy first step is to print out all the fonts you have available for reference. Fonts can look different on paper than they do on the screen, so it's always best to choose fonts by their printed appearance rather than by their on-screen representation.
Once you have your fonts in printed form, you can compare them to fonts you see
elsewhere. Look at text you enjoy in magazines, books, and advertisements and
see if you have a font to match. If you don't, you can always consider
purchasing additional fonts for your system from a variety of retailers.
A
Big BW: Robin Williams
Choosing which fonts to use is only a small part of producing good-looking
documents. Learning how the fonts work together to achieve an overall effect
takes us out of the domain of computer expertise and into the world of design.
We highly recommend The Non-Designer's Design Book as a first book for aspiring designers.