The study—by New York Times Opinionator Errol Morris [no relation] and described in his piece "Hear, All Ye People; Hearken, O Earth (Part One)"—found that the fonts used to render the information we read influences our attitude toward the information, however blissfully unaware we may be of the influence. Morris writes that
We are more inclined to believe that gold has an atomic number 79 if we read it in Georgia, the font of The New York Times online, rather than in Helvetica.In order for me to decide whether to go to the effort of changing Moristotle's font to Georgia (as I did for yesterday's post and have again for today's), please be so kind as to let me know whether you think my credibility would be enhanced by using the Georgia font. If you feel no difference as to credibility between the Georgia font and the other one (the one without serifs), then do you just like one of the two fonts more than the other?
Thanks in advance for your help. I'm here to try to satisfy your preference (and to be believed when I say so).
1:40 p.m.. After reading Motomynd's comment (which you may read also; click "Comments," below), I decided to provide a sample of fonts, which I selected from within a Microsoft Word document and copied into this post's WYSIWYG editor in order for the samples' font characteristics to be preserved—so far as possible with Blogger and with whatever browser you may be using to look at this:
(Adobe Garamond Pro) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?
(Times New Roman) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?
(Cambria) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Georgia) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Book Antigua) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Byington) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Bookman Old Style) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Candara) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Tahoma) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Arial/Helvetica) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?(Verdana) This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it? This is a sample of text to judge legibility and appeal; how do you like it?
Moristotle, how refreshing to hear mention of the subliminal impact of font for the first time in years. As part of a design team that helped launch resort-lifestyle magazines and create affiliated advertising brochures back in the 1980s and 90s, we sometimes spent hours just choosing the fonts for a project. We never did a study about the effectiveness of the fonts we chose versus those we didn't, but we helped sell more than $100 million in resort property at one lake in Virginia, so we assume the fonts were acceptable. Or maybe it was just the Clinton-era boom economy?
ReplyDeleteAs to your question, if you are going to experiment with fonts, how about selecting some that instinctively appeal to you? If your message is different than the NY Times, shouldn't your fonts be different too? You have a vision for your blog, and your intuitive font choice may be the best fit for that message. Be wary, however, of something that looks creative but is difficult to read - a problem that seems endemic to electronic media but hardly ever happened with magazines and newspapers.
As for a font suggestion, it is difficult to beat Verdana for a font that receives high marks for readability, yet subliminally establishes an image of creativity backed with reliability. It happens to be the preferred font of Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, the maverick businessman who developed Virgin Records, Virgin Airways and enough other lesser known Virgin ventures to become a billionaire several times over.
Motomynd, thanks for your suggestions, and for the account of your font-related activities in the 80s and 90s.
DeleteYour second paragraph was like my slapping the side of my head with the heel of a hand—Why hadn't I thought before of using different fonts for different voices I might adopt for this post or that? (Not that that was what you were explicitly suggesting.) The "Jesus sighted" post of Saturday, for example, was written in what I've already suggested was a "tongue-in-cheek" voice. Maybe I could have used a font that sort of suggests that....
I'm not automatically convinced that this is a good idea. It's fun, after all, to leave it to the reader to figure out/realize that I'm not being serious. Anyway, there's nothing really that obvious about the Comic Sans MS font, for example, that says it's "not serious" (or whatever). Except its name, I guess. Employing a font to announce voice adds a complication.
I think that I've already convinced myself that the idea is not only not good, it is simply bad.
Legibility has to be number one, so long as the legible choice is also appealing. Studies done even earlier than the 80s found that serif fonts have an edge because the serifs provide additional visual cues as to letters' identity. I like Georgia for that reason, although the text seems a bit crowded. Something airier appeals to me more. Bookman Old Style is similar but the letters are less tight.
By all means, avoid "creative" fonts. I can't believe the fonts I see people employing in the service of their being "different" or "with it." I like to use a script font sometimes for a thank-you note (for example), but only one that is legible.
I don't especially dislike Verdana, but it's a little too "grade-school" for me, as though its letters were hand-drawn by an over-solicitous third-grade teacher pandering to her star pupil who, alas, is near-sighted. Its having been used successfully in the service of amassing billions doesn't impress me somehow.
I've been using the default font that goes with the Blogger template I chose for the blog, not even thinking about it. It seemed legible enough and otherwise not obviously objectionable. I think the comments are in the same font, and the font works well; I can understand why it seems to be Blogger's number-one default font. But having started to think about this, I now realize that I don't really love it. It's too slight or something, not quite heavy enough for thought.
It's definitely time for a change.
Blogger's options for default font are so severely limited (most seem to be in the sanserif font I had been using), I'm going to have to "hand-code" whatever font I choose, and my experiment with Georgia yesterday and today have already taught me what's involved.
An alternative is to manually alter Blogger's style sheet, but that's complicated and I'm not sure how ruly it is. (That is, it might prove to be unruly.)
Anyway, food for thought.
Which reminds me. You're prolific in providing that sort of food. Did your mother, perhaps, or that aunt or grandmother you mentioned once (I'd have to check my email), inspire you to be a gadfly?
Motomynd, prompted by your comment as indicated by my reply above, I have added to today's post a number of passages in various fonts so that we may have a convenient opportunity to eyeball some possible choices for use on Moristotle. Not only do the different sizes of letters (and their horizontal spacing) jump out, but also their weights (whether slight or somewhat bold).
DeleteMoristotle, about your gadfly comment...hmmm. Gadfly, as defined by Wikipedia: "A gadfly is a person who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or just being an irritant." My mother, who always tried to politely blend in wherever she went, would have been aghast at the thought of my being a gadfly. My grandmother would have loved the idea. I'm not sure I want it on my resume because that word "irritant" may be the one most people seize upon.
ReplyDeleteAs for your font samples, I will use the timely Olympics medal system: GOLD - Adobe Garamond Pro, because it nicely combines readability, style and a sense of heft. SILVER - Verdana, because it seems the next notch down. BRONZE - Byington, because it seems about the same as Verdana, but takes up more space without adding style or impact.
Motomynd, dear Motomynd, I am so sorry that I myself didn't look up "gadfly" before using it, for I didn't begin to think that it might have negative connotations, although after watching Episode 10 of Season 3 of Breaking Bad this evening, which is titled "Fly" for good reason), I can certainly see that of course it would. Please forgive me for my carelessness. You are no gadfly in that sense, but in the rich, Socratic sense of someone who by tenaciously questioning and following-up with your interlocutor elicits insight and understanding—something for which I think you know I am grateful.
DeleteAnd thank you for suggesting that Adobe Garamond Pro would give Moristotle a golden glow. I'll use it for tomorrow's post and see how it shines.
An example of how your questioning (or even just commenting) leads to insight is to hand: In the process of creating the samples in Word, I realized that a much easier way to prepare posts in a particular font would be to write them in Word in the first place, then copy them over. (Unfortunately, Blogger's WYSIWYG editor has nowhere near the features of Word, so I currently do a fair amount of HTML coding in the production of a post.)
So, other than my inadvertently making you wonder what I was trying to tell you by calling you a gadfly, it has actually been a pretty banner day, and I hope you can otherwise agree with that about your own day.