I want to make my own web site but I don’t want to use boring old Verdana, Times Roman or ugh Courier. I want to use fonts that look nice in addition to being very readable but also fonts that nearly everyone has on their computer whether they got them from work or from some program they purchased recently. Any suggestions?
There aren’t many fonts that you can expect nearly every user to have, but here’s what I can think of:
Serif:
Georgia
Times New Roman
Sans-serif:
Arial
Comic Sans MS
Tahoma
Trebuchet MS
Verdana
Monospace:
Courier New
Windows and Mac comps should have all of those, even the older ones.
I really like Sans-Serif. Arial and Times New Roman make good ad copy.
Matisse and Lucida Script are good light hearted (huh?) fonts.
Lots of fonts out there. Do a websearch for free ones. If you have Corel Draw 10, you have a whole disk of fonts and pix and stuff.
Alot of Adobe products also have extras on a 2nd disk. Check through your stuff.
If you want to use a font that you think most people won’t have, you can always include a link so that they can get it, but they might not choose to take the time for the download. Just an idea.
Another serif font that most computers (PC or Mac) have, that typhoon did not mention, is Garamond. It’s a very nice font, readable at small or large sizes, and it’s italic set is gorgeous.
I recommend sticking to typhoon’s list, with the addition or Garamond, if you’re at all concerned about the universal availability of your font.
I’ve always liked “Cricket” for something spunky. But I noticed that it is not on my new computer. How about mixing up the fonts for different sections of your web site?
No offense to NoClueBoy, but if I ever see the Matisse font used again, I will explode in a homicidal rage. I detest that font. I usually see it used by people who need a “cute, funky font!” and I see it over. and over. and over. and over.
Plus, you can’t be guaranteed that everyone has that font (I’d guess there’s a lot of people who don’t). Add to that the fact it makes a terrible body font (very hard to read), I’d avoid any fancy-ish fonts.
I read (sorry, no cite ;)) that sans-serif fonts are easier to read on a monitor (compared to printed documents, where serif fonts are easier on the eyes). typhoon’s list is quite wonderful, and I would recommend Trebuchet MS (it’s my pet font).
For any “fancy” fonts that you’d want to use for only a few words, or as headers, etc, I would make an image of it (open a paint program, type the words in the font you want, and save as a GIF with a transparent background). That way, even if most people don’t have “Porcelain”, for example (I LOVE this font), I can make an image that has that font, and people wll see the words in that font, since it’s not technically text, it’s a GIF.
I would recommend against having a font that your visitors would have to (or even have the option of) downloading. For personal websites, there is no good reason any websurfer should have to download and install anything to view your site. Even if it’s optional. That’s rude web design. You should use technologies and components that you are absolutely sure the majority of users already have on their machines.