Webmaster: fix your font

I wrote this in my word processor in Times New Roman. That's not how it came out on the Forum

I didn't understand a word of that!

It’s the old serif vs sans-serif debate (newspaper type vs clean no tails type). Serif lettering leads your eye toward the right with its little tails. Sans-serif looks more modern and clean. Kb1942 mentioned research, but there is also possible push back from left-eye dominate readers who want equal access to the printed word.

It was the London Times, not the NY Times that refined the font according to Wikipedia. It’s a dull font whoever designed it!

Gee, I kinda like the current font. But in a world of pandemics, pick-pockets, rail passes, and luggage fees, the type face is pretty low on my list of priorities.

Most browsers will allow you to overwrite the font selection on the page.

E.g. Firefox (See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/change-fonts-and-colors-websites-use) If you click "Advanced" you can unclick "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of your selections above". Then you control which font you see.

I wouldn't do it myself, but each to his own.

There are all sorts of reasons to use a sans-serif font, brand personality being one of the more important. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a travel forum that uses a serif font, and I've looked at quite a number of them: TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet Thorn Tree, Fodor's, Caravanistan, Flyertalk, Nomadic Matt, India Mike, Travellerspoint.... I think Travelfish is the only one I've seen that does (I believe they use Georgia.)

wot - no comic sans???? 🤧😷🤪

Like the way it is. Please don't change it.

I prefer a Sans Serif font. I have no idea what research shows but what I do know is that it's easier and less tiresome for me to read.

I DO like ComicSans even better, though!

Sans Serif fonts have traditionally been used for body text on the web. Serif fonts are harder to read on low resolution screens and the designer has no control over the end user’s screen.

I much prefer serif fonts on paper, but I believe I read some time ago that studies show sans serif fonts are easier to read on screens.

Hey - I like Comic Sans :)

With all of the current problems in the world, this is your chosen battle? This isn't even a first world problem. If the website was using an elaborate Italic script, you might have a valid point. As it is, it's just your preference. Get over it.

This takes normal grammar-fascism to a new level. I've never seen a font-fascist in action before.

This is also fake use of research. The only issue would be in speed reading. We are not doing speed reading. The fake use of scholarship is so typical of grammar/spelling fascists, however.

I am enjoying reading this. I'm eating unsalted peanuts.

For the other readers, this is such a stupid issue that it has to be a joke.

For the OP: The solution for you, Sir/Madam, is to copy any of the posts to a Word document, and there use whatever font you choose. You could also move it to LaTeX, and employ many fonts that are not on Word. You have COMPLETE FREEDOM. Or in this case, COMPLETE FREEDUMB.

...a font-fascist in action

LOL!! 🤣
Pretty sure that fonts are the furthest thing on our poor Webmaster's overloaded mind just now.

I vote for Comic Sans.

Gee, I wonder if this might be the Forum “discussion of the month” in next month’s newsletter!

Oh for heaven"s sake...
(Hopefully this post was meant in jest to take our minds off of actual problems.)

Read some of kb1942 others rants and you will get the picture. At least it is a humorous diversion from the virus and refunds and do I cancel and regret it.

PS -- I just checked much of my correspondence. Looks like it has been in Cambria -- don't realize how deficient I had been. If everyone should be using New Roman, why does Office give me so many choices. Now my world is really upset.

Just a desperate cry for attention.

Its not virus, I love it!

This font is perfect as long as you arent an older person with a pre-existing condition. If you are you should self quarantine the font for 14 days....

It's all about - p a p y r u s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVhlJNJopOQ

I loved that book Emma! Bought it at the old Foyle’s.

Dear Webmaster, please keep this easy-to-read font!

By the way: it’s rather rude to command the webmaster to FIX HIS font as if there were a real problem with it, rather than it being a request to change it due to the OP’s personal preference. “Please change the font of the site” would have been a more polite imprecation.

Back in the olden days before computers I was a journalism student interning at a local paper in my university town. We all had to spend the day with the printer and try composing stuff on a composing stick. My word...that was awful. Still, the ultimate was if you got to do a headline in Bodoni Bold, lol!! That was a type font to catch your attention.

*sigh of relief. Thank you for this... a chance to not weigh in on the current news of the day. For those not introduced to the world of font choice and all the reasons behind it, well... you're about to know more than you ever wanted to know.

And thanks also to Carlos and Jo for their recommendations of Papyrus and Comic Sans. NO. :D

(For those not aware, these fonts are basically a running joke among graphic designers)

"The weight of the research shows that serif fonts are easier to read..." The OP is correct... in print. It's different on a screen. This is due to the pixel densities of screens being unable to properly render a serif with common font sizes. This is currently changing, especially with some of the latest high-pixel-density mobile-device screens, but the majority of desktop screens are still not good enough to warrant using a serif font. At least, that is our current M.O. as it applies to our website and the stats we see regarding device-usage. Other websites may already be there. We actually put a lot of thought into our current font choice, Proxima Nova.

And while Times New Roman is a common font for good reason in many applications, I'm not sure we'd use that particular serif font. ;)

but there is also possible push back from left-eye dominate readers who want equal access to the printed word

Thanks, Bets! This is the content I come here for. (I'm a Helvetica kind of guy, so I'll just continue lurking)

I feel so much better about my upcoming travels, knowing that I am getting the best advice that Proxima Nova can offer ;-)

Is Proxima Nova a star in our galaxy? Can I travel there without a Visa? Do they have any "cases" - other than upper and lower?

Lorem ipsum, ya'll.

I consider myself a font geek, and I don’t care. Kudos to the webmaster for an excellent response. And thank you for the book recommendation, Emma. Sounds like an awesome book that I would totally get onto. Alas, there is no Kindle edition so I am undecided about ordering it. I only read books on Kindle these days. Using a serif font, but only because I use a fairly large typeface, so it’s quite readable. : )

SEE !!!!!!! The webmaster did know something -- afterall !! And he had even thought about it --- Amazing !! Now I have to go back and think about all my correspondence. Will I be judged by the font I use???

I know you say there are, more readable fonts, but I find this pretty easy to read. And I don't have the best eye-sight. So what am I missing? How would it be more readable than it currently is? Guess I will make a quick run to TA. Interesting discussion.

I have trouble reading this font... thought it was just me! TA font is much easier for me.

I feel so much better about my upcoming travels, knowing that I am
getting the best advice that Proxima Nova can offer ;-)

Is Proxima Nova a star in our galaxy? Can I travel there without a
Visa? Do they have any "cases" - other than upper and lower?

Ha! No cases of coronavirus in Proxima Nova. You can get there without a Visa, but too much time spent staring at Proxima Nova -- as with any star -- may cause blindness. ... (please don't take me seriously here)

Will I be judged by the font I use???

Yes. ;) Mostly only in the cases of using comic sans or papyrus. Just doing a search for "papyrus font" comes up with a result saying "Papyrus - the other most hated font in the world." :D

That said there are more readable fonts than what this site uses. TA
forums recently updated theirs, much more readable.

I won't disagree, though I do like ours. I had to check TA... they are using a font called "Trip Sans" which I assume is their own font. That's dedication when you make your own font. While that's something you can do when making billions, it also likely becomes cost effective at a certain point to make your own than to pay to use another font for X00 million pageviews. I've seen a few other sites do this like the BBC. I can't imagine the time and cost involved with doing that -- not just to design a new font, but to make sure it renders properly across all font sizes and screens... with all the internationally used characters...

Interesting reply from Webmaster and here I thought the reason I use 16 point TNR for my word processor was old age. But then, 30 years ago with a screen with only half the resolution, I used 9 point without trouble reading it.

Folks who are interested in this sort of thing would probably really enjoy the Design Museum in London and the new V&A Design Museum in Dundee, Scotland. Both are free/donation-requested, though special exhibitions can be pricey.

I thought readable was more about content - that author is very readable - and legible was about ease of distinguishing the words/letters.

One of the funniest business signs that I (third-generation typographer) have seen was:

I thought Ariana Grande was a font,

Janet, very funny!

Here is a simple trick for those who want more Rick in a smaller space. This applies to Chrome

1) Go to the little "pipe" (or up-arrow or *) in the upper right corner, just below the "X" to close the window
2) Click on that symbol
3) In the section marked "Zoom", decrease the magnification of the page from 90 to 30, and you will get a lot more information on the screen. 2-pt type, but hey! Something's gotta give
4) If you want Less Rick, but more impact, increase from 100 to 500. If you can't read it at 500, see an opthamologist.