I work at a consulting engineering firm and write a lot of reports that are read by the public. I have an opportunity to recommend a different font for all of our written documents and am looking for something more modern/fresh than Times New Roman. Also open to recommendations for purpose specific communities about typography/fonts.
- deegeese ( @deegeese@sopuli.xyz ) 14•7 months ago
For regular text, something sans-serif that is not fixed width like Calibri.
For code or numbers, a fixed width sans-serif font like Consolas or Inconsolata.
Serif fonts definitely have their place, far away from technical documents.
It feels like low effort to use the default Office font when there are so many other options, but in my sans serif font tests Calibri ended up looking the best so far. I really didn’t want to like it! Curious where you think serif fonts belong? I don’t know shit about fonts/graphic design…
- Ashtear ( @Ashtear@lemm.ee ) 5•7 months ago
I write mostly for web, so I don’t use serif a lot. I think it’s still fine for use with headings.
If your reports are destined for print, it still belongs, imo.
What counts as print these days though? When I first started working, we’d get literal boxes shipped to us with 1,000+ page documents inside. Now it’s a cloud link that opens with a PDF reader. Does that still count as print? Genuinely curious, because I see conflicting advice depending on if its print or not.
- Ashtear ( @Ashtear@lemm.ee ) 2•7 months ago
Anything literally printed on paper. If you’re in PDFs and you know your audience is going to be reading it on a small screen, I’d say stay away from the serif fonts. Especially since you mentioned elsewhere that you’re concerned about document length; you can get away with smaller letter tracking size on sans.
- deegeese ( @deegeese@sopuli.xyz ) 3•7 months ago
I prefer serif fonts in fiction and humanities, but maybe that’s just my STEM bias showing.
gotcha. Serif fonts seem more readable to me in every setting, but they also look stuffy. ¯\(ツ)/¯
- JoBo ( @JoBo@feddit.uk ) 2•7 months ago
Calibri is bad for technical documents because you can’t easily tell the difference between I and l.
Whatever sans serif you use, choose one that makes the difference legible, like Trebuchet or Bierstadt.
- ConstableJelly ( @ConstableJelly@beehaw.org ) 1•7 months ago
Calibri is not actually the default font anymore! In M365, at least. Granted, it will be a long time before it’s not recognized as such.
My company uses Roboto. I like it a lot, but I think it’s gotten pretty popular. Do you know about fonts.google.com? Huge library that you can apply filters to, makes it really easy to browse.
- spaduf ( @spaduf@slrpnk.net ) 7•7 months ago
I’ve recently become a proponent of Atkinson Hyperlegible (while discovering I have some vision issues). Not sure if it’s appropriate in your industry, but the improvements to accessibility are hard to argue with.
- Helix 🧬 ( @Helix@feddit.de ) English4•7 months ago
improvements to accessibility are hard to argue with.
It’s pretty good, yes. But other fonts not specifically designed for this fare quite well in contrast to what you’d believe: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/garethfordwilliams_dont-believe-the-type-axe-con-2021-activity-6904510195884445696-93xG
Our designs have to comply with ADA, so accessibility is definitely a familiar consideration. This looks like any other professional looking sans-serif font, so if it’s more accessible for low vision/vision impaired people, all the better! I like that uppercase i and lowercase L are distinguishable, which is a personal peeve I have with some sans serif fonts. Thanks for the suggestion!
- spaduf ( @spaduf@slrpnk.net ) 3•7 months ago
It’s hard to explain exactly why but switching my ereader over made a night and day difference in my comprehension and reading speed.
- intensely_human ( @intensely_human@lemm.ee ) 2•7 months ago
That happened to me when I started using OpenDyslexic. I read so much more now, and I already read a lot.
Out of curiosity, what font were you using before?
- Bruno Finger ( @brunofin@lemm.ee ) 6•7 months ago
This one is going to be an unconventional one but I do love the Ubuntu font and I try to sneak it into some documents I write.
- Hello_there ( @Hello_there@kbin.social ) 5•7 months ago
Do that one font that’s friendlier to dyslexic people. There’s actually a reason to use that.
Dyslexie was one of the first fonts I looked at specifically for accessibility purposes. Unfortunately, despite it’s utility, it looks too much like a ‘fun’ font for our documents. Our reports are publicly published for the legal/administrative record, and need to reflect that level of professionalism. :/
Someone else suggested a font that’s helpful for vision impaired people that I will take forward in this process, so maybe I can get a different accessible font through. Really appreciating the thoughtfulness for people with various reading challenges!
- ani ( @ani@endlesstalk.org ) 4•7 months ago
OpenSans
- intensely_human ( @intensely_human@lemm.ee ) 3•7 months ago
OpenDyslexic if I’m reading it myself. Especially for a long technical report because I don’t need that eye strain.
- catastrophicblues ( @catastrophicblues@lemmy.ca ) 3•7 months ago
CMU Serif is always a good choice imo.
Times, which I think NeurIPS uses, is pretty solid.
Latin Modern Roman is another good one, used by TMLR.
IBM Plex just looks so nice too.
- thesmokingman ( @thesmokingman@programming.dev ) 2•7 months ago
I am incredibly partial to Computer Modern Unicode because it’s a Unicode-capable version of the default LaTeX font. I’ve used this web port of Computer Modern for a very long time as well.
- Saigonauticon ( @Saigonauticon@voltage.vn ) English2•7 months ago
When it doubt, I use Noto Sans.
If I’m feeling fancy (almost never), I’ll choose a serif font for section headings.
- kandoh ( @kandoh@reddthat.com ) 2•7 months ago
DIN was made for German highway signs. It’s pretty good.
Do not use Georgia, Times New Roman, or Verdana. Those are screen fonts.
- ThatFembyWho ( @ThatFembyWho@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) English2•7 months ago
Isn’t TNR a print font? It looks rather bad on a screen actually. I certainly wouldn’t (and never have) use it for a technical report.
- intensely_human ( @intensely_human@lemm.ee ) 1•7 months ago
It’s a font designed for columns of text about two inches wide. Not a good font for wide lines of text.