What font is the best?
Apr 08, 2011
Hello everyone,
Just wondered what font you tend to use for your presentations. I've always been an ariel man myself - mostly because that's what has been the standard where I work.
Recently I've started to notice that Ariel doesn't look amazing when it's published. So what does? Which fonts float your boat? or is it ok to just go for anything you feel like at the time?
What do we all think?
50 Replies
There have been a few fonts designed specifically for readability on screen and in print. Two fonts that stand out and were designed for this purpose are Verdana and Georgia. I tend to lean in this direction for much of my work. Using Verdana for heads and subheads and Georgia for body text. Several studies point out that these are generally preferred in studies as more readable. But more readable isn't always preferred for aesthetic preference
For more decorative / emphasis uses this varies, depending on the level of "font confidence" I have -- whether the target audience will have the font or I can embed within my media (SIFR, etc..) That said, I'm partial to Frutiger for general purpose print / screen use. I'll also use Calibri, Trajan Pro, Arial Rounded, Frankliin Gothic, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Myriad Pro, Trebuchet, Tw Cen MT situationally (never more than two +/- one fonts in a comp except in extreme situations).
Hey Chris - one of my favorite topics
I've always believed course fonts should support the topic. I've used a design mapping technique for years to help identify the appropriate fonts for my projects.
Here's the template: http://community.articulate.com/downloads/p/730.aspx
And how to use the template: https://player.vimeo.com/video/204926846
Before and after (notice how the font choices affect the theme) https://player.vimeo.com/video/204930215
Funny you mention that, Steve. There have been several articles that promote the educational benefits of "ugly fonts".
Wired:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/the-benefit-of-ugly-fonts/
Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347058/Why-ugly-fonts-messy-handwriting-make-easier-remember-youve-read.html
I have really been experimenting with different fonts.
My go to business font is the Articualte ones. However I have been using many free fonts from the sites recomended by the community.
My current top favs are:
- Hannah's messy hand writing
- Hand of Sean
- Feat of Flesh BB
- Catholic School Girls BB
Ha, Zara's post made me realize that sometimes when I go to dafont.com and start looking at fonts I get all caught up in just appreciating the names of the fonts, lol. Just this morning I looked at the site and what's on the home page? A font called "Ink in the Meat." Kinda makes you think, no?
One of my new faves for headings is Boris Black Bloxx. Used it for a conference preso recently and I like how it's heavy and chunky but still sorta playful.
@Jeanette - since you mentioned funny font names, you're going to love playing:
Cheese or Font <add reverb and echo>
http://cheeseorfont.mogrify.org/
I like frutiger (which is the NHS prefrerred font so I am lucky here) and Gills Sans (Apples font of choice fopr Keynote) I also like Angelina as a handwriting font
Phil
For personal projects I like the fonts here:
http://www.blambot.com/fonts.shtml
I've purchased couple long ago... Can't remember which. Quality stuff for special uses.
A related question I have is what font size, or size range, is ideal? Particularly for e-learning.
I think the ideal font size is the size that's determined by the user. This isn't always practical since an architected layout or a composition assembled for impact / focus won't always allow fluid adjustment. Not to mention tools don't necessarily support user determined scaling.
It really depends on the strategy driving the conveyance and factors like style (bracketed within usability principles) will influence font size decisions. We rarely go below 13px for any body text, callouts, etc.. But bigger isn't always better. Blocks of text aren't always bad. It depends on the problems presented to the design.
Frutiger pops up quite a bit. I think that's what the O2 logo is here in the UK, and I'm a big fan of that as a font. I used to use Verdana actually @Steve That's probably not a bad idea - I can't think why I stopped using it!
@Dave, I agree with you about the fonts supporting the topic - I have quite a limited number of fonts at the moment, and sometimes I think my creativity doesn't flow as well as it should. Perhaps being bolder with my fonts would help lead to more exciting creatioons in my eLearning!!
@Kimberley That's a good question too. When I first started using Articulate (and I'm sure I'm not the only one here) my job was quite often taking PowerPoints and turning them into eLearning. In PowerPoint I think people have a totally unnecessary beleif that the bigger you make the font, the better the presentation is. Personally I prefer to keep it small. If its big enough for anyone to read, it's big enough. As a general rule with basic text slides, I tend to go for around 36pt for a heading, 18 - 20 for a sub heading and no smaller than 14 for the main content (usually 16 though).
Actually I've just been asked to create a piece of training using Serif fonts because they force the learner to read the content and dont allow them to skim read. I'm not 100% sure about how this will affect the overall appearance of the training, but I guess it'll be fun finding out!!
@steve
Thanks for the cool font site!
I prefer clean fonts, like Veranda. Although I will try some fun fonts for titles and headers. However, I have to keep my audience in mind. I've started developing a healthcare safety course for all employees. I've thought about using a big calligraphy type font for headings. However, some of the letters are hard to read; and if English is not your primary language, I'm not sure the learner would be able to read it.
@Dave
Thanks for the articles.
Make it a great weekend!
Depends on what I am doing. If I'm designing a website ...
Again Kimberley - it depends...
Sometimes it's a great design to only have one word per "page", and so of course in that case 12pt may not be a clever choice!
I love the "Crimefighter BB" font for illustrations:
Bruce
Thanks, James and Bruce!
@Bruce, I love that font! It's got a real comic book feel to it!
I'm with Chris!
Love that font Bruce. Thank you for sharing!
Due to the serious nature (required by the employer) of my courses, I generally use Arial. I love also to use some of Tom's handwritten fonts, where I can.
Don't remember where I found it sometime in the past, but take a look at this!
Thankf for posting that Gabriele - that is BEAUTIFUL
Bruce
hehe yep Bruce!
A fun flowchart. I reversed this and printed it for a reference notebook:
http://img.labnol.org/files/font-selection-chart.png
Thanks for the great Font flowcharts!
Is there a thread/posts referencing good, free font sites? I am in need of some new, fun fonts...and I would prefer to snag some free ones if at all possible. I figured since you mentioned you used some sites recommended by the community...you might be able to point me in the right direction Thanks.
Hi Rachel,
Here is Tom's today blog post about fonts..
http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/over-150-free-fonts-to-use-in-your-e-learning-courses/
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