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Fonts of wisdom

SipechSipech Shipmate
in Heaven
I may be no fan of Marco Rubio, but I do appreciate someone who has strong opinions when it comes to typefaces.

I'm rather fond of Calibri and spent some time reverting all my work defaults back to it when Microsoft imposed their utterly horrific Aptos typeface as standard on their products.

One new typeface introduced this year that I think works quite well in banner headlines is Seaford.

Which fonts/typefaces deserve to be banished to one of the circles of Hell and which ought to be elevated to the heights of Paradise?

Comments

  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I use one designed for dyslexic people. It 'sits' the words down and stops them floating around so much.
  • HedgehogHedgehog Shipmate
    For email, I prefer Baskerville Old Face, 14 pt. It is elegantly retro.

    Any font that makes a small l (as in "look!") and capital I (the perpendicular pronoun) look exactly the same should be banished.
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    If I bother to choose then Tahoma is usually my go-to, but mostly I use whatever the default is in the program I'm using. I will confidently assert, however, that Comic Sans should remain in comic books.
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited December 12
    My work presentations/lectures have to be accessible for people with various disabilities so I use Arial.
    I actually don’t like the one Boogie recommends for dyslexic people as I find it distracting as a presenter. My own disability can’t cope with distraction!
  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Purgatory Host
    One of the gravestones in our kirkyard was architect designed in the early C20th, using a font created by the architect. I'm not that keen on it as a font, but I would love to be able to use it. I don't think it has a name though.
  • Stercus TauriStercus Tauri Shipmate
    North East Quine wrote: »
    One of the gravestones in our kirkyard was architect designed in the early C20th, using a font created by the architect. I'm not that keen on it as a font, but I would love to be able to use it. I don't think it has a name though.

    Interesting - is there a photo online anywhere? Was the architect well known?
  • HarryCHHarryCH Shipmate
    I have a strong preference for Courier New.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    HarryCH wrote: »
    I have a strong preference for Courier New.
    I dislike monospaced fonts, including Courier New. I avoid them whenever possible.

    My usual go-to is Book Antiqua.


  • A Feminine ForceA Feminine Force Shipmate
    Garamond. So elegant, modern and readable in all its variants.

    AFF
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    My usual go-to is Book Antiqua.
    Me too.

  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Purgatory Host
    edited December 18
    Stercus Tauri wrote: »
    North East Quine wrote: »
    One of the gravestones in our kirkyard was architect designed in the early C20th, using a font created by the architect. I'm not that keen on it as a font, but I would love to be able to use it. I don't think it has a name though.

    Interesting - is there a photo online anywhere? Was the architect well known?

    You should know him, @Stercus Tauri , it's William Kelly (1861 -1944) who was responsible for Kelly's cats I'm not very clear whether is a complete font including every letter, or whether he just devised forms for letters as he used them.
    He also designed the lettering on the Hector Boece memorial to have a C16th feel, but I think that was just him playing with the words on the memorial.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    I tend to stick to Arial, which is very boring but I find it clear. My very dyslexic son once described Comic Sans as a fascist type face. I'm not quite sure why he disliked it so much, but it doesn't seem to be around as much as it used to be.
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    Although it's by no means a practical font, I love the eccentric one the erstwhile Mid-Suffolk Light Railway used for its signs: https://tinyurl.com/mtz6933p
  • SipechSipech Shipmate
    Baptist Trainfan wrote: »
    Although it's by no means a practical font, I love the eccentric one the erstwhile Mid-Suffolk Light Railway used for its signs: https://tinyurl.com/mtz6933p

    The needs of typeface for the odd sign or two is very different from the needs for something you're going to be reading long form.
    I think that's a wonderful sign, though I'd have trouble with a whole book used in it.

    I can't find the name of the typeface right now, but there's a modern printing of the works of PG Wodehouse in the Everyman Library collection that has a lovely presentation. Wouldn't be good for email, but just right for a whimsical novel.
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    Some interesting typefaces have been created for Wales, I first came across them in the magazine for "Welsh Heritage" - "Cadw". https://typography.guru/weekly/link/cymru-wales-typefaces-r887/
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    Sarasa wrote: »
    I tend to stick to Arial, which is very boring but I find it clear. My very dyslexic son once described Comic Sans as a fascist type face. I'm not quite sure why he disliked it so much, but it doesn't seem to be around as much as it used to be.

    That's funny because I've also heard that it is especially easy to read for Autistic people.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    It depends what for, but for a Sans font, I usually use Calibri or Gill Sans. For Serif, I prefer Garamond or a Baskerville, but Times New Roman is OK.

    I also quite like the SIL ones, Gentium for Serif and Andyka for Sans.

    I don't like Arial. One of my former employers tried to get everyone to use it. Dull and bland. It was very widespread at one time. I have assumed that was because it came at top of a typical alphabetical list of options. Helvetica is also a bit dull IMHO.
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