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Norlander
Fonts, which to use?

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Field Marshal

Group: Administrator, Klikan, Regulars, Outsiders
Location: Copenhagen
Joined: 09.06.06
Posted on 29-10-2007 15:49
There are many odd-job tasks of being a CEO. Today I've returned to trying to decide on which fonts to use on company papers. To some fonts don't mean much and they write everything in Times New Roman. Others have a different, more rabid view.


I also remember vuzman having a few opinions on the matter, so your input is desired.

For now I've selected Frutiger Linotype as the default font (text body, header, footer etc.), . It is easy on the eyes (my criteria), not over used, well designed (for Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport...yeah of course I'll pick an airport fontsmiley). Furthermore it's well liked by the fontsnobs.

For headings I'm seriously considering the 'sacrilegious' Comic Sans Serif, universally hated by fontsnobs, though I honestly like it in small dosages.

Any suggestions for what to use in it's place?


The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
- John Kenneth Galbraith

Edited by Norlander on 29-10-2007 15:58
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Vuzman
RE: Fonts, which to use?

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Admiral

Group: Klikan, Outsiders, Administrator, Regulars
Location: Copenhagen, DK
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Posted on 31-10-2007 19:30
Fonts can be an important part of a company's brand identity. Creating a brand is probably best left to the professionals, but not necessarily.

Since I'm guessing you don't have a brand identity as of yet, my advice will be limited to the second objective of font-selection: Not looking like a bumbling amateur.

Stay away from fancy, and/or complicated fonts. These can look good, but almost only in the hands of professionals. Stick to simple and clean fonts. Frutiger is a nice font. You might have chosen something more bold (not in the "fat" sense) and unique, but it's a safe choice.

Pick at least two fonts; one for heading, and one for text. Pick a bolder (again not "fat" sense) font for headers to create a brand-feeling, and a simpler one for text to ease reading. For large amounts of text I would suggest a serif font (but not Times New Boring); they're easier to read.

Stay away from overused fonts. While Comic Sans has its uses, it is overused to the point of inciting irrational hatred. There are other, nicer comic book fonts, but why would you want one for your corporate correspondence?

Microsoft has made some new fonts recently, but unless you have Visual Studio 2005, Office 2007 or Vista, you wouldn't have it. You can see samples of the fonts here. The fonts are made for better viewing on screen (but only with ClearType turned on), but they look nice as well on print. Besides, who uses paper anymore anyway?


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Norlander
RE: Fonts, which to use?

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Field Marshal

Group: Administrator, Klikan, Regulars, Outsiders
Location: Copenhagen
Joined: 09.06.06
Posted on 01-11-2007 13:37
Thank you for the post.


Fonts can be an important part of a company's brand identity. Creating a brand is probably best left to the professionals, but not necessarily.


The professionals take an extraordinary amount of money for this service, so that is sadly out of the question until this company a lot more room in the budget. This is not one of my priorities, just something that needs to be done.


Since I'm guessing you don't have a brand identity as of yet, my advice will be limited to the second objective of font-selection: Not looking like a bumbling amateur.


That is somewhat the point, if every other mail, paper, report etc. is done in completely different ways you end up looking like a bumbling amateur. So have to choose something for consistency, and stick to it until the pro's step in.


Pick at least two fonts; one for heading, and one for text. Pick a bolder (again not "fat" sense) font for headers to create a brand-feeling, and a simpler one for text to ease reading. For large amounts of text I would suggest a serif font (but not Times New Boring); they're easier to read.


Yeah I have tried surfing through good free fonts. Found a good version of Apple Garamond to use, but don't know if it's a reverse engineering of proprietary information or not. So still searching for my serif font.


Stay away from overused fonts. While Comic Sans has its uses, it is overused to the point of inciting irrational hatred. There are other, nicer comic book fonts, but why would you want one for your corporate correspondence?


Not on correspondence, that even I see as bad taste, but as headings for PowerPoint presentations a comic font can look good. Any suggestions for a good comic font?


The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
- John Kenneth Galbraith

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Norlander
RE: Fonts, which to use?

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Field Marshal

Group: Administrator, Klikan, Regulars, Outsiders
Location: Copenhagen
Joined: 09.06.06
Posted on 01-11-2007 13:59
Thinking about Palatino Linotype, came with Microsoft Reader (as did Frutiger Linotype)


The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
- John Kenneth Galbraith

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