St Andrews Lynx Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Let's say that you are writing a formal document (e.g., research proposal, coursework essay) where there is no proscribed font for the text. What is your go-to font? I want something other than the default Calibri, and so usually stick with Times New Roman. But what else looks good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr. t Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Garamond. End of discussion ashiepoo72, beyondaboundary, ahlatsiawa and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 If it's in LaTeX, then it's usually in Computer Modern (default font) since I don't want to bother fiddling with that. For most fellowship research proposals (i.e. other formal writing), the agency often specifies a font so it's normally Times New Roman or Arial. But for other things I type up (often not for classes though since almost all my work is handwritten, or it's a report so it is written in LaTeX), I often choose Helvetica Neue or Georgia. Sometimes Georgia for headings and Helvetica Neue for the text. Currently, my CV uses Century Gothic (i.e. the main font used in the Ellen show) for headings and Georgia for the body text. For presentations, I really like Century Gothic and Helvetica Neue. Sometimes a very "compact" font (e.g. Impact) make good slide titles. Finally, I sometimes like to use Bitstream Vera Sans (free to download) because it matches the default font of Python's matplotlib package. sdufhdsuibf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Between Fields Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 (edited) We talked about this a little bit in another thread: Basically, it depends on the medium your reader is going to be presented with. Digital texts work better with sans-serif fonts, but print texts work better with serif fonts. The serifs make it easier to tell the difference between letters like 'l' and 'I', and in general make a text easier to read when it's really long. Even a Retina display doesn't have sufficient DPI to make serifs worth-while for digital documents. (And one of the links talked about in the other thread says that they can be difficult for people with visual impairments to understand.) I like Helvetica when I'm in a sans-serif mode and Palatino or Cambria when I'm in a serif mode. http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/quality/documents/StandardofAccessibility.pdf http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/03/serif-vs-sans-the-final-battle/ Edited October 18, 2014 by Between Fields VioletAyame 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylogician Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 My dissertation, CV, research statement, cover letters, etc. are all written in (an expanded) Palatino that contains the symbols for linguistic characters that I need for my work. I experimented with re-typesetting my entire dissertation in other fonts but liked that one the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartyupDMX Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Hoefler Text. Kand 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maelia8 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Call me old-fashioned, but i always go with either Times New Roman or Helvetica for official documents. Everything else just seems to flamboyant somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) I use XeLaTeX and make custom classes for everything, and my favorite fonts are Lato and Adobe Caslon Pro. Lato is big and clear (and free!), has many styles and weights, good for keynote presentations. Adobe Caslon Pro makes all written documents look like Shakespeare's. Edited October 23, 2014 by Cookie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I also really like Adobe Caslon Pro, however it's not free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rising_star Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I have a preference for Garamond or Georgia but I can't seem to convince my students to use it, unfortunately. For official things, I tend to use Times New Roman just because people are familiar with it but I may play around with other fonts on my CV this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danieleWrites Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I like Book Antigua for stuff printed on paper. I go for serif fonts, so if it's getting sent electronically, and not a .pdf, I put it in Times New Roman. Boring, but there's rarely an occasion where TNR is inappropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volitans Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I've always had a thing for Verdana 10pt, but I only use it on emails these days. For everything else, as allowed, I stick to the Twentieth Century font family - they're beautiful to me. And condensed versions work excellent for labeling purposes. Most of my professors have a strong fondness for Georgia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Q84 Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I think "Calibri" or "Cambria" both are very nice font style of writing. I strongly recommend to use "Calibri" or "Cambria" font style of writing. Calibri for me is the absolute worst. It makes me so rage-y that it's the new default font setting in Office 2010 and up, which means I often have to grade long papers set all in that font. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juilletmercredi Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I use Georgia. I wrote my dissertation in Georgia. If I'm not using Georgia, then I use Arial or Helvetica. I only use Times New Roman if the agency specifies that's what they want. I dislike both Calibri and Cambria, and when I teach, I require students use a specific font. In the past out of habit I used to require Times New Roman, but I think I will give them a choice (Georgia, Arial, Helvetica, or the standard Times New Roman). I'm looking at a grant proposal I'm a consultant on right now, written in Calibri 11-point font, and I want to shoot myself. It's at 125% and it's still too small! I have to blow it up to at least 145% for it be decent enough for me to read. I used to like Garamond, but it's too small and light at standard font sizes for my blind eyes to read. Plus the apostrophes and commas are weird now. beefgallo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorydance Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Times New Roman 12 pt. Pretty standard stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiqui74 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Comic Sans! No, seriously, Times New Roman 12 points. For footnotes, I decrease the size to 10 points. I cannot stand foodnotes in bigger font! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isilya Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I love Computer Modern, LaTeX's default font. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotov Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Times New Roman über Alles, über Alles in der Welt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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