# Favorite typing font **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379 "2010-07-28T22:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/21 "2010-07-29T04:59:49Z")
I like 10-point Georgia. Somewhere I heard that Georgia was an ideal screen font because of the bigger x-height, et cetera, so I tried it out alongside all of the other classy serif fonts, and (lo and behold!) I liked it better than the rest, even good old boring Times New Roman. It wasn’t too old-fashioned or elegant, and it just seemed nice and open and readable. Of course at the usual 12 points it’s comically large, but that’s a small price to pay for a nice, non-awkward font that doesn’t seem torn from the pages of Serious Literature. (You know, the editions on nice paper that come with A Note on the Typeface? Not aiming for that.) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/22 "2010-07-29T05:21:58Z")
I’m a Cambria guy. ---
**Author:** ![4eva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/f05b48/32.png) [@4eva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4eva)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/23 "2010-07-29T05:26:25Z")
I love Courier. But for assignments etc. usually use Calibri… mainly because it was the default when I got Word 2007 … and also I find it just slightly more aesthetically pleasing than Arial. Times used to irritate the heck out of me, to the point where I’d ctrl-a and change the font on anything I had to read. These days, it doesn’t seem to bother me as much… ---
**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:** [July 29, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/24 "2010-07-29T05:48:31Z")
> [@wunderkammer](#): > > Somewhere I heard that Georgia was an ideal screen font because of the bigger x-height, et cetera, so I tried it out alongside all of the other classy serif fonts, and (lo and behold!) Verdana is also nice for similar reasons on the sans serif side as far as screen fonts are concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/25 "2010-07-29T05:58:20Z")
I hate reading anything serif on a computer screen. I like the Vista / Office 2007 suite of fonts a lot, these days. (Calibri, Cabria, Consolas, etc.) Calibri has subtle roundness which I find more appealing than the sharper edged Arial. Candara has a look which makes me think ‘classical’. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/26 "2010-07-29T13:30:06Z")
I like Calibri. But my all-time favorite is Copperplate. ---
**Author:** ![powerjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@powerjacob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/powerjacob)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/27 "2010-07-29T14:55:29Z")
10 point Baskerville Old Face if I’m doing any considerable amount of writing on a computer. Most of the time, if I write anything I sit down behind my Underwood manual typewriter. Whatever that font is works for me. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/28 "2010-07-29T16:19:18Z")
My website runs Lucida Console, green font on a black background, to make it look all hackerish and cool, yet still being more legible than a proper terminal font. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/29 "2010-07-29T16:29:01Z")
> [@wunderkammer](#): > > I like 10-point Georgia. > > Somewhere I heard that Georgia was an ideal screen font because of the bigger x-height, et cetera, so I tried it out alongside all of the other classy serif fonts, and (lo and behold!) I liked it better than the rest, even good old boring Times New Roman. It wasn’t too old-fashioned or elegant, and it just seemed nice and open and readable. > > Of course at the usual 12 points it’s comically large, but that’s a small price to pay for a nice, non-awkward font that doesn’t seem torn from the pages of Serious Literature. > (You know, the editions on nice paper that come with A Note on the Typeface? Not aiming for that.) I was a Georgia guy for a while, but I gave it up. The numbers just looked too weird. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/30 "2010-07-29T16:41:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@MsRobyn](#): > > > > Times New Roman that most, less-creative, people tend to use. > > Ahem. While I do like Minion, Times New Roman is my default, because everyone has it, it’s easily readable, it doesn’t draw attention to itself, and it’s elegant. I’m a creative professional, but I don’t think it’s important to show your creativity through your typeface. Show it in your creative work. The fact that someone uses Times New Roman or Helvetica or Arial as their default font doesn’t mean they’re “less creative.” How absurd. > > Sure, when you’re designing marketing materials or what not, it’s fine to play around with some distinctive typefaces, make things look a little more personalized. But in day-to-day stuff? Keep it simple. Most of the stuff I write day-to-day is stuff I want to stand out, like resumes and such. I tend to use Century Gothic for academic papers because it’s easier to read; unless the professor is anal about the typeface she wants, or the paper absolutely positively has to conform to APA style, I’d rather be nice and use an easier-to-read font. The rest of the time, I don’t care, so I just stick to the two I like and leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/31 "2010-07-29T16:49:29Z")
You guys remember the business card scene from American Psycho? …I’m just saying that if anyone brings up paper, I’m outa here. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/32 "2010-07-29T16:57:33Z")
Georgia – It’s a standard font in Ms Word. Easy to read. Data files have to be courier new. It’s a fixed point type. 60 characters equals 60 bytes in a data file. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/33 "2010-07-29T17:03:31Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > Most of the stuff I write day-to-day is stuff I want to stand out, like resumes and such. Sure. That falls under my exception “marketing materials or what not.” > [@](#): > > I’d rather be nice and use an easier-to-read font. Century Gothic is nice, but I think, in print, Times New Roman is easier to read. After all, that was the whole point of the typeface. YMMV, of course. I will agree that on-screen, sans serifs tend to look better. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/34 "2010-07-29T17:13:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Century Gothic is nice, but I think, in print, Times New Roman is easier to read. After all, that was the whole point of the typeface. YMMV, of course. I will agree that on-screen, sans serifs tend to look better. Ah, but TNR is a little cramped. Century Schoolbook is nice and loosey-goosey—and praised for its legibility. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/35 "2010-07-29T17:20:58Z")
Arial. Only heathens use TNR or \>shudder\< Centrury Gothic \>shudder\< ---
**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:** [July 29, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/36 "2010-07-29T17:39:29Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > > [@pulykamell](#): > > > > Century Gothic is nice, but I think, in print, Times New Roman is easier to read. After all, that was the whole point of the typeface. YMMV, of course. I will agree that on-screen, sans serifs tend to look better. > > Ah, but TNR is a little cramped. Century Schoolbook is nice and loosey-goosey—and praised for its legibility. To me, that font is a little too “airy,” but it is a very nice, clean, legible font. Like I said, my preference is actually for Minion for this sort of thing, but I think Times New Roman unfairly gets a bad rap. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/37 "2010-07-29T17:46:49Z")
Actually, when I look at Century Schoolbook at the same font size as the rest of the text on this page, it does look very pleasing, indeed. I admit, it does look a little better than TNR. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/38 "2010-07-29T17:50:21Z")
I use Palatino or Computer Modern Roman almost exclusively. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/39 "2010-07-29T17:52:12Z")
Since we’re talking fonts. What font is used in printing paperback fiction? For small type it is easy to read. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379/40 "2010-07-29T18:31:10Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Since we’re talking fonts. > > What font is used in printing paperback fiction? For small type it is easy to read. There’s a bunch. I see a lot of Baskerville and Bookman Old Style, but I’ve also had books set in Palatino, Book Antiqua, Jenson, and Minion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-typing-font/548379.md?page=3)