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[Poll #1466513]

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There are 32 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Generally speaking: offline, serifs; online, sans serifs.

Agreed.

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ITA

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Heh. Just what I was going to say.

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How am I supposed to answer a question like that?!?! I answered "serifs", because in a totally abstract way I do prefer the aesthetic flexibility they add to letterforms, but it totally depends on the context.

Serif: Cochin, Garamond, Charlemagne.
Sans serif: Gill Sans, Futura, Corbel.
Free font hobby designer: Pia Frauss.

—says the girl who accidentally all fonts but the system fonts off her computer this afternoon. Will have to reload and reconstitute from office computer. Sigh.

I know, it was totally unfair. You don't have to answer it; I was curious what the majority response would be from those who did, however. I wondered if Serifs would win out among medievalists and Sans Serifs among the computer scientists and engineers. (And, indeed, if there were other discernible trends along those lines.)

Still, I'm delighted to have what looks like a list of your favorite fonts.

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I'm surprised the results are so serif-heavy!

(And is it karma that I accidentally deleted the "deleted" in the comment above?

*ponders*

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San Serriffe, definitely...

Indeed!

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I thought you were referring to the font the poll was displayed in.

As good a way to answer it as any!

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I said serifs, because they are easier to read, but really... um... isn't the whole point of fonts that there are different fonts for different kinds of things?

Context is all!

Yes, context is all; but I still wondered what the results would be for those willing to commit one way or another. Serifs are easily winning out among those who've responded.

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Despite working on numerous user interfaces I am so clueless I though sans serif was an individual font, had not heard of serif, and got confused by the whole question.
I have designers for that sort of thing :o)

Thank you! I'm delighted to know that not everyone knows what they are. It's rather reassuring in a way. Bonus: You now know.

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I shot the serif... but I did not shoot the dangler.

Serifs. We use a sans serif font at work and I dislike the ambiguity of not being able to tell upper case "i" from lower case "l".

I cannot answer that question, because they are both superior for their respective proper uses. Serif fonts are more readable, which means they are superior for long tracts of text such as a book or speech. Sans fonts are more legible, which means they are good for instructions that must be read quickly, like roadsigns (which you will note all use sans fonts) and buttons.

Also, because sans fonts tend to have uniform width across the entire letter, they are better at small point sizes; serif fonts have thinner elements that tend to disappear below 7pt if the printing is a bit sub-par.

I do not disagree. And yet it is still interesting to see what the results are from those who are willing to choose.

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P.S. This was on my mind since I watched Helvetica (the documentary) last night.

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Much is explained. As much as I hate Helvetica as a font (ick! ick! ick!), I'd like to see that. Must add to Netflix list.

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Is Helvetica as cool as I want it to be?

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I suspect it's at least 75% as cool as you want it to be. It really grew on me as it went, as the issues became more complex, and as it turned out to effectively be a potted history of the last fifty years of typeface and graphic design history as well as about the typeface in question.

We didn't finish watching the extras last night, but we were having so much fun with them (they're just interviews) that we're planning on watching the rest of them tonight.

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I really enjoyed the film; I've got the director's sequel-of-sorts, Objectified, on DVD pre-order (it's about industrial design in general). Postman willing, I should get my mits on it next week...

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I rather assumed that was the impetus for the poll. :) As for the choice, were I forced to decide, I too would opt for serifs, since I read broadsheets rather than tabloids and therefore am more used to headlines with serifs. They are used as a signpost for a classier product, although with the advent of minimalism, that is now less prevalent than it used to be, I suspect.

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P.S. I presume you saw Targaff's recent post? :)

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*checks what you're referring to*

Ah, yes. I've been seeing links to it for several weeks now. It's such a good concept! I'd even already assigned it to my class as an optional extra.

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For routine work documents I tend to follow the convention of sans serifs headers and serifs body text. On the web, sans serifs for sure. Most fancy typography tends to involve serifs fonts. About 1/3 of livres d'artiste issued between 1945 and 1970 used Garamond.

I hit sans serif unconsciously, since I just watched part of Helvetica yesterday. But, in reality, I tend to use Times New Roman for everything (I even change my browser to default to it sometimes). Of course, my graphic designer friend winced when I told him that, too - he tells me it means I'm "bland" :)

Serifs! All the way. But, er, not because of all the good reasons others have mentioned, I just think they're prettier...

They ARE prettier!

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I put serif because I tend to use Times New Roman (boring as this may be) and I like those dangly bits... However some of my favourite fonts are sans serifs like Bell Gothic (used in phone books), comic sans and I think the calligraphy I'm currently practicing (assuming calligraphy can be so designated).

October