How to Choose the Perfect Font for Any Situation
Have there ever been days like this when you just sat around, falsified documents and just couldn’t choose the right font to convey the alleged corruption? This is great. We’ve all been there.
But how often – really speaking – do you think about the typeface you use? You come across words of all shapes and sizes every day, whether it’s texting a friend, writing a resume, or taking notes in any word processor. But fonts convey different meanings, and if you choose the wrong one, you might end up either being fired because of a potential job opportunity, or worse, everyone in the office will laugh at it before throwing your resume in the trash can.
You Can Do Better Than Times New Roman
Everyone uses Times New Roman. This is the default font for every standard resume, book report, term paper, and any other letterhead you can think of.
Sure, it looks majestic, but it also looks boring and implies a lack of intentionality. Instead, choose a font with a similar style, such as Garamond or Charter, to show that you both care about readability as well as style.
You can’t go wrong with Helvetica
You know it, you like it, you cannot live without it, this is Helvetica! Synonymous with great design, a typeface is always a good choice if you’re unsure of what to do with your choice of typeface. “It feels professional, light-hearted, honest, ” Brian Hoff of Brian Hoff Design told Bloomberg . The sans-serif typeface is modern, evenly weighted, and is used in everything from Fortune 100 company logos to signs on the malfunctioning MTA subway system.
Unfortunately, if you’re a Windows user, you’ll have to buy the font yourself: Microsoft created their own Helvetica clone, Arial, as they chose not to license the famous font. As Cleaver Magazine editor Remy Barnes said, “For God’s sake, don’t send Arial.”
Use thicker fonts for screen readers
While some fonts, such as Baskerville, are great for long reading on paper, they are more difficult to read on devices with low-resolution screens. Poor screen quality means that the thinnest font lines are poorly drawn, making it difficult to read. According to type designer and professor Charles Bigelow, use thicker fonts like Palatino and Georgia, which are better suited for screen readers.
Stop with Comic Sans already
Under no circumstances should you be using Comic Sans unless you are 8 years old. Its original purpose was to act as text for speech bubbles in Microsoft Word. Since its inception in 1994, it has been used in a wide variety of situations, from websites to storefronts, no doubt confusing and slightly distressed viewers due to uneven distribution and poor kerning.
Please license Helvetica, Microsoft. We hate Arial.