A Font Named Serif

Last week, I received a mail from a friend. When I opened the mail, I didn't feel like reading it: the mail was long, with compact paragraphs, and it had been written in Times New Roman.

In my module of Technical Writing, we talk about Web Design and how to write online. Our lecturer says the font usually used for the Web is a font sans-serif. This part of the lecture reminds me of another lecture from the module Web Development. From that one, I learned fonts can be divided in five families:

• serif (Times New Roman, Georgia).

• sans-serif (Arial, Verdana).

• monospace (Courier New).

• cursive (Comic Sans MS).

• fantasy.

My lecturer says Sans-serif fonts are the most suitable for the Web.

Serif fonts are “more suitable for print papers, not for the Web”. Cursive fonts are also “difficult to read”, that's why they are avoided on the Web.

I have never paid much attention to the font. To me, if a text is not written in a fantasy font, it is still readable. The writer has the choice for the font according to their preferences. And that's the point: the writer usually chooses the font they like the most! It is the same problem as for the template and the use of colors (I have mentioned it in Mr. Colors post), the creator usually thinks of themselves first before thinking of their audience.

Indeed, I've made two mistakes so far.

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First, I myself use the Georgia font, a serif font. I chose this one because it looks sober and makes my posts look serious. Although I always check my posts after putting them online, I have never noticed the font I chose could hurt the reader's eyes. My lecturer said if a serif font is “set at large size”, it can be usable on the Web. That's the reason why I set my posts at 14 points. Contrary to me, my friend used Times New Roman and set it at 10 points. It was ridiculously small and the mail was like a series of pâtés¹ than paragraphs.

The reason why serif fonts don't suit to Web usage is because they take more space than sans-serif. They look nicer but the curves at the ends of each letter take a few spaces. And when you write a long text, it seems like the ink has run.

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My second mistake is using Comic Sans MS when I write my mails. I think it is a cute font with round shapes. As my lecturer says cursive fonts are “difficult to read”, I checked my mails... and yes, I pity all my contacts, especially when I write big pâtés.

Comic Sans MS is closer to sans-serif than serif but each letter seems going away from one another, therefore the reading is not as easy as with a real sans-serif font.

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At the same time, I looked at several websites and the font used on them. Facebook, UL website and Overblog website all use a sans-serif font. Before I change the font of my mails to Comic Sans MS, the default font is Arial, a sans-serif font. On Overblog, on my activity page, I can see all my posts, with the first sentences of each of them; while I write my post in Georgia, the text is set at a sans-serif font... It's just like lots of messages were sending to me and telling me to change the fonts I'm using!

But by the way, did anyone notice that instead of Georgia, I'm now using Verdana?

1. Pâté: familiar French word meaning a big paragraph usually unreadable because of the length.