# Do you use a non-standard font in a professional context? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492 "2014-06-10T19:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/21 "2014-06-11T10:30:51Z")
I settled on **High Tower Text** about three years ago [http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/High-Tower-Text-Regular](http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/High-Tower-Text-Regular). It’s unusual but no one’s complained so far so I stick to it. And I use dark purple as the default colour for my e-mails. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/22 "2014-06-11T11:05:07Z")
I use Garamond for all the materials I make for my classroom–worksheets, handouts, that kind of thing. I wanted a subtle “look” so that my handouts would look like “English stuff” when shoved in a folder, and because I want them to know when it’s something I made vs. a commercial product (which I hardly ever use, because I am a control freak). Anyway, I settled on Garamond because 1) I like serifs. Sue me. 2) It’s just distinctive enough 3) the italics really pop. Some kids hardly notice italics, or really can’t see the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/23 "2014-06-11T13:04:16Z")
Back in my tech writing days, Century Gothic was my go-to sans-serif font. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/24 "2014-06-11T14:27:39Z")
I prefer sans-serif fonts for the sake of readability, so I usually use Arial. I don’t think it’s worth the potential perceived loss of professionalism to venture from the standards. Blame it on comic sans! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/25 "2014-06-11T14:34:50Z")
Our Official Brand Font is Calibri. (Yes, we are expected to use the Official Brand Font.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/26 "2014-06-11T14:35:02Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I wanted a subtle “look” so that my handouts would look like “English stuff” when shoved in a folder… It’s standard practice - mine, anyway - to specify a subtly different font for a business’s use on all documents, for precisely this reason. The many readers may not know a font from a fart, but they learn to tell at a glance that a report or memo or such is from XYZ Company. Helps in things like multi-vendor presentations and anything competitive. > [@](#): > > Anyway, I settled on Garamond because 1) I like serifs. Sue me. 2) It’s just distinctive enough 3) the italics really pop. Some kids hardly notice italics, or really can’t see the difference. The only drawback of most Garamond variants is that the x-height is rather small, which looks peculiar to many readers. I don’t mind Adobe Garamond, but most classic Garamonds look… prissily old-fashioned. As for serifs, it’s long been established that serif fonts are easier to read in book-style layout (page after page of closely set text). Sans fonts are tiring to they eye after a page or two, no matter how “crisp” and “businesslike” they make memos and reports look. You’re also right that Garamond italics are as italic as Ezio Pinza, but they are also among the more difficult to read. But it sounds like big G does the job you need it to do. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/27 "2014-06-11T14:41:09Z")
One thing that even knowledgeable users and designers don’t know about the most modern fonts bundled with major apps - like Calibri and Cambria, and others - is that they were specifically designed to render well on LCD screens and business-grade printers. The reason many older fonts are disliked in the business world is because they don’t render well on these rather coarse devices - subtleties of curve and weight are lost. I have a few books set from metal type using the classics - Garamond, Caxton, Jenson etc. - and there is no comparison between those and any computer equivalent that doesn’t come off a 2400 dpi phototypesetter. So these fonts are fine for office uses, but I would never use Calibri, Cambria, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet etc. for typeset, graphic or branding work. They are dull and listless up against “real” typefaces that shine when rendered properly. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/28 "2014-06-11T14:41:26Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I am annoyed by folks at work who use comic sans. “Your email is so unimportant to me that I will use a comic book font.” > > I use Times New Roman. I have never understood the comic sans hate. It has a place. Not in emails or serious correspondence. But I use it a lot for making flyers. It is easily readable and brings a friendly feel to the text. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/29 "2014-06-11T14:47:20Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > I have never understood the comic sans hate. It has a place. Not in emails or serious correspondence. But I use it a lot for making flyers. It is easily readable and brings a friendly feel to the text. It’s the “emails or serious correspondence” that annoys me. I have no problem with it in the funny papers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/30 "2014-06-11T15:27:27Z")
Arial 10 is my default for professional correspondence. Arial 9 for spreadsheets. Palatino for personal use. I love Palatino. All our books are printed in Goudy Old Style. Elegant and old school, but easy to read and clean. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/31 "2014-06-11T15:32:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It’s the “emails or serious correspondence” that annoys me. I have no problem with it in the funny papers. 🙂 Even used as a comic font it just looks so amateurish. It’s just ugly. There’s plenty of good looking comic fonts out there, but Comic Sans just looks hackish to me. It’s a font that looks straight out of one of those “free font” websites, where almost every single font is terribly designed. It looks like it was put together at the last second in about 5 minutes, with no regards to aesthetics or design. But I’ll get off my soapbox now. There’s fonts I like that plenty of people hate, like Times New Roman and Helvetica. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/32 "2014-06-11T15:33:23Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > It’s not mine, but I received an email from an attorney, and while the body of the email was in a “standard” font, the signature was in Comic Sans. I asked around the office and discovered that it was the person’s favorite font and that they used to write the entirety of their emails in it, until other coworkers and colleagues called them out on it. Many years ago I had a manager who thought that Comic Sans was a perfectly acceptable font to use in our technical documentation that we had to deliver to our customer. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/33 "2014-06-11T16:44:53Z")
I use Courier New in (law office) emails. TNR everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/34 "2014-06-11T20:02:54Z")
I use Monaco for fixed width purposes in preference over Courier or Courier New. Verdana and Helvetica not Arial. For more literate material, Palatino and New Century Schoolbook. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/35 "2014-06-11T20:56:53Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I read some time ago that all documents submitted to the Supreme Court had to use Century. Ever since then I’ve used century I figure if it’s easier for a bunch of octogenarians to read hundred page documents with it it was probably a good idea. Over all I find it very easy to read and I don’t think anyone notices that I’m using a different font. It’s [true](http://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2013RulesoftheCourt.pdf) (pdf, page 46). > [@](#): > > The text of every booklet-format document, including any appendix thereto, shall be typeset in a Century family (e. g., Century Expanded, New Century Schoolbook, or Century Schoolbook) 12-point type with 2-point or more leading > between lines. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/36 "2014-06-11T22:19:45Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I settled on **High Tower Text** about three years ago [http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/High-Tower-Text-Regular](http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/High-Tower-Text-Regular). It’s unusual but no one’s complained so far so I stick to it. That is very attractive. Interesting that the letters are spaced more widely than comparable serif fonts. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The only drawback of most Garamond variants is that the x-height is rather small, which looks peculiar to many readers. The relative x-height is one reason why I like it. Longer ascenders and descenders are more graceful, IMHO. That’s one reason I liked the High Tower Text mentioned above. I don’t know if Garamond is necessarily the best choice for big closely-spaced blocks of text, however. > [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > I have never understood the comic sans hate. It has a place. Not in emails or serious correspondence. But I use it a lot for making flyers. It is easily readable and brings a friendly feel to the text. It doesn’t give a “friendly” feel to anything. The only feel it gives to anything is “amateurish and sad.” Why do you use it if you know it’s widely criticized and disliked? You may not see the problems with it, but why don’t you listen to people who DO know something about typography and design? I’m not including myself in the “knowledgeable about typography and design” group, and even I can see how hiddy it is. Even if I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t use it because if everyone who has some design expertise says it’s awful, then I’ll take their word for it. There are countless other choices. I do find it baffling that anybody can think this font is anything but hideous. Just look at that m! m m m m m Gah! My eyes!! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/37 "2014-06-11T23:09:50Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > I have never understood the comic sans hate. It… brings a friendly feel to the text. So does a drawing of a pony. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/38 "2014-06-12T00:03:33Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > It’s not mine, but I received an email from an attorney, and while the body of the email was in a “standard” font, the signature was in Comic Sans. I asked around the office and discovered that it was the person’s favorite font and that they used to write the entirety of their emails in it, until other coworkers and colleagues called them out on it. My boss uses Comic Sans. I’ve tried to lightly bring this up but he sticks with it and I’m not about to press the issue. I was hoping it was unintentional but I’m pretty sure now that it’s just his preferred font :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/39 "2014-06-12T09:21:37Z")
No - Times New Roman for me in work e-mails, occasionally I might use Calibri or Arial but I prefer the look of serifs, in general. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492/40 "2014-06-12T10:19:48Z")
The style guide at work requires us to use Verdana for emails and Trebuchet for other documents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-non-standard-font-in-a-professional-context/690492.md?page=3)