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15 Tips to Choose a Good Text Type for an Article

typies.blogspot.com — Many people have asked me which text type is best for a magazine, a newspaper, a poster, a newsletter, a publication, etc. In general, I tell them which to use, but I know that this is not the best answer, because they won't learn to do this by themselves.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 11, 2007

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  • quickgold192, on 12/12/2007, -0/+10they have entire classes on slight differences in fonts
  • the_snitch, on 12/12/2007, -0/+6Verdana is a good onscreen font, as its original purpose was for displaying Microsoft Help documents. It is designed with pixel boundaries in mind. In contrast, it looks rather boring when printed.
  • JustAboutReal, on 12/11/2007, -0/+6digg's algorithm for detecting that a story was already submitted, and redirecting you to it's page is broken. You can currently resubmit the exact same URL as another story
  • AnotherBrian, on 12/12/2007, -0/+6Oh come on, no love for Comic Sans?
    /ducks
  • the_snitch, on 12/12/2007, -2/+7Helvetica FTW!
  • inactive, on 12/11/2007, -0/+5Here's the original submission that got popular. - http://digg.com/design/15_tips_to_choose_a_good_te ...
  • xxpor, on 12/12/2007, -0/+5I like calibri, its just so easy on the eyes and looks more modern than TNR.
  • maddyshashtri, on 12/11/2007, -0/+4it didn't show the original post when i was submitting it.
    otherwise i wouldn't have.
  • kanzaclimber, on 12/12/2007, -0/+3Please no more Papyrus. pleaaasssseeeeeee
  • offput, on 12/12/2007, -0/+3To be fair, the original one was almost a year ago and I definitely missed it the first time through, so I wouldn't have seen this post otherwise. Sometimes, dupes are good.
  • Sneakmonkey, on 12/12/2007, -1/+4Im more impressed with the fact that they managed to make an entire article out of slight differences in fonts

    dugg for writing
  • scabbers, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2Nobody ever got fired for using Times New Roman.
  • FastLearner, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2I sure as heck would have been, when working at a design studio. At least severely chastised. With its miserably small x-height and many inelegant letters, it's rare that an art director would ever approve of its use, in my experience.

    These days, I wouldn't fire someone for using it, but I'd sure smack them on the head, hoping to knock some sense into them.
  • inactive, on 12/12/2007, -1/+3wow good article, verdana is my favorite font, very easy to read
  • gudnbluts, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Univers is another one that looks a heck of a lot like Helvetica. I can never tell them apart.
  • stormgren, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1I've been using Georgia for all my essays/papers for school recently, and my grades have gone up a few percent compared to Times New Roman... although I guess I could be writing better.
  • centran, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Arial is a nice bold font that is way too popular in signage. It just stands out.
    I don't know much about fonts.... what I do know is trying to "match" a font is nearly impossible. Don't bother if you can help it. It will drive you insane.
  • centran, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1You don't CHOOSE your font... your designer does. Most likely they will choose a font they had to buy.
    This article explains the process designers go through to choose a font and why they choose one font over another.
  • ElRayQuieres, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Best feature of Windows Vista - Consolas (even though it comes with office and is free w/ vs2007 too). Great programming font.
  • MackPrime, on 12/12/2007, -1/+2real men use courier new- black on white
  • morningmatters, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1I don't know jack about fonts other than the few which everyone uses (Arial, Tacoma, times new roman), but after watching the documentary Helvetica on netflix I feel like Helvetica, or its clone Arial are everywhere. This article gives good reason why they are..
  • muffinmanpoo, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Arial's capital 'R' looks retarded.
  • torrbarra, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1The description said "which text type is best for a magazine, a newspaper, a poster, a newsletter, a publication, etc." The article does not differentiate between any of those mediums, it only goes into what to look for in a good font. If you go by this article you would go through this process once and have your perfect font. Or are you telling me designers go through the process of comparing xheight and axis every single time? I would rather see 15 tips on considering your audience and situation because it seems to me that is what picking the typeface is about.
  • Phlosten, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Nothing that exciting for most users.
  • asskicker32, on 12/12/2007, -1/+2I prefer zapf dingbats. Or Comic Sans. The whimsy of the latter is enough to brighten any rude office note.

    Actually, this article should have been 6 words:
    "Ask yourself, is it Verdana, Helvetica or Arial?"
  • muffinmanpoo, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1@skinjester --- thumbs down for defending Comic Sans.
  • teh_techie, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1It's "Tahoma", with an H, not a C...
  • Goobernutz, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1I like to mix Comic sans and Mistrial. Every other character in the opposite font. And I use Bauhaus 93 for the punctuation. Sure, it makes the html slightly larger, but I don't know of a quicker way to induce nausea with the printed word. Oh yea, and don't forget the blink tags!
  • muffinmanpoo, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Media. The plural for medium is media.
  • skinjester, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1questionable call. There are projects where it would be completely appropriate. god help me, there are projects where hobo or comic sans would be appropriate. typefaces don't have inherent value - their value is in how they are used.

    p.s. sounds like your "design studio" may well have considered typography to be the selection of a "font" from a menu? do some research - the typeface in question was originally designed for the London Times during the 30's and continues to be widely used by newspapers and other publications today. Not particularly "kewl" but often appropriate.
  • atdrago, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1that's such a goofy font. comic sans screams 12 year old.
  • WhoDoneIt, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1So, what font do we use?? Thanks for leaving me hanging.
  • torrbarra, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1Is it just me or did he not explain a thing on how to CHOOSE a font for "a magazine, a newspaper, a poster, a newsletter, a publication, etc."? It only explained the different technical aspects of the font. Going by that advice there should only a few perfect fonts that are used all the time everywhere.

    If anyone knows a good article that deals on when to choose what font, do share.
  • tttam, on 12/12/2007, -1/+0Oh God, Papyrus is AWFUL.
    Helvetica is definitely my font of choice.
  • skinjester, on 12/12/2007, -1/+0crackhouse FTW
  • tardigrade, on 12/12/2007, -2/+0No, it is often a bad choice. It has serifs. Serifs - those little blocky things at the base of the letters. think story vs. professional. This story is great. Never seen anything quite like it.
  • chess007, on 12/11/2007, -6/+2Times New Roman is always a good choice. :)

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