Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Is Your Font Easy on the Eyes?

If you're like me, a lot of thought goes into the font you use for email, your blog, on your website, etc. Marian Manseau shared this tip with me. It's one her website designer shared with her. I wanted to share it with you.

Typography (fonts)

   Serif fonts: A serif is a terminating mark at the end of a letter stroke.
   Sans-Serif fonts: Fonts without terminating marks.


Studies in perception indicate that when blocks of text are used, serif fonts work best for the printed page and sans-serif are best for computer monitors and projection.

You can bet I rushed off to my blog and my website to see if I followed this rule. I'm good on my blog and will be making a few changes on my website.

Tell the truth, will you be checking your sites?


I interviewed Marian a couple of years ago, when her book Merely Dee was released. You can read the interview by clicking here.

14 comments:

  1. Hi Cherie, so is the font you used for this post sans-serif? Is sans-serif only one font?

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    1. Sans-serif is any font that doesn't have a terminating mark. For instance, Calibri, Trebuchet, and Arial are sans-serif. Whereas Times New Roman and Georgia are serif fonts.

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    2. Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for the education!

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    3. I just learned it, too. I love little tidbits like this.

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  2. I think I use Arial. Not sure, because hate to say it, I don't put a lot of thought into my text font!

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    1. I always think about changing the default on my blog and sometimes even use fancy fonts. I stop myself most of the time. Now I have a good reason to leave them as is.

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  3. Hi, Cherie,

    When I post on special posts I change to Sans Serif fonts... but my blog usually posts in Times New Roman. I may have to change this. Because I do change it when I want my bloggers to read special posts easer. I should have an easy read for them all the time.

    Thanks!

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    1. I have some Times New Roman on my website. I still need to change them. Like you said, I want my posts and info easy to read.

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  4. I always think of Serif fonts and Sans-Serif fonts. I remember when I was in graphics class oh so long ago. Working on MACs that looked like clouds we learned about fonts in advertising. That if you mix fonts you should have one each and so forth. I'm always trying to make my blog easier to read. Sometimes it is sometimes I'm not happy. It's funny how a font makes a difference

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    1. I agree. I like fun fonts, and I have to remind myself that they aren't always easy to read.

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  5. Now that's a juicy little tid-bit. I had this discussion a while back with another bloggie, but we were talking more about size and color as opposed to Serif. I wonder what the psychology behind these preferences is.

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    1. I wondered that too. I did notice my email and blog default to sans-serif. Now I know why.

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  6. Interesting. I think my blog needs a do over. It's serif.

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    1. You should do a side by side comparison and see if you agree. =)

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