General Font And Typeface Thread [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

FlashRah

2011-02-16, 01:06 PM

Yeah I really can't pad this out into a whole paragraph can I? I mean everything that needed to be said has been said. I mean it's right there in the title. It's beautiful... Of course that leaves me with no opening paragraph. You know I hate to be one of those guys that just has a line as an intro post.

Anyway... Curlz MT gives me a migraine. I can't imagine a single place I could use it and yet I see it everywhere. It boggles the mind that someone looked at it and thought to themselves "Yeah! Perfect!"

http://modernl.com/images/illustrations/curlz-mt.png

Papyrus is also an ungodly sight but I'd read an entire essay of it than a single line in Curlz MT. No joke.

EDIT: Since discussion seems to be splintering across the board I've just decided to go ahead and make this an all-inclusive font thread. Go nuts!

Eloel

2011-02-16, 01:32 PM

Comic Sans
[/thread]

Dallas-Dakota

2011-02-16, 01:51 PM

Seconded.

Favorite is helvetica.

Thorcrest

2011-02-16, 01:59 PM

While Curlz MD is REALLY BAD, it's not nearly as bad as Wingdings :smalltongue:... which are thankfully not supported on this Forum! :smallbiggrin:

Yeah, pretty much anything like Curlz MD is pretty bad, same with things that repalce letters with random symbols.

Here's a list of some I hate:
Fiolex Girls

Jokerman

Matisse ITC

Neurochrome

Outright Televism

Yeah, that's just a few... then again none are as bad as Wingdings and it's ilk!

The Rose Dragon

2011-02-16, 02:24 PM

Comic Sans
[/thread]

Comic Sans is not a font, though. Comic Sans Regular, for example, is a font, and so is Comic Sans Bold. Probably the same with some of the other examples given.

cycoris

2011-02-16, 04:50 PM

Comic Sans is not a font, though. Comic Sans Regular, for example, is a font, and so is Comic Sans Bold. Probably the same with some of the other examples given.

I do believe that the OP meant "what is your least favourite typeface?" but isn't quite as anal about the topic as you or I.

I despise Arial with a passion, though that's probably more on principle than aesthetics. I also tend to dislike any sans serif typeface that isn't Helvetica.

Garamond for the win! :smallbiggrin:

The Rose Dragon

2011-02-16, 04:51 PM

Garamond for the win! :smallbiggrin:

Omigod marry me NOW.

AsteriskAmp

2011-02-16, 04:52 PM

I despise Arial and the inappropriate use of Comic Sans and Papyrus.
And also Courier New, but that's because of APA format, which I despise.

Haruki-kun

2011-02-16, 05:16 PM

As a Design student, I'm supposed to say Comic Sans. But I won't. :smalltongue: I'll just point out that...

inappropriate use of Comic Sans and Papyrus

THAT I hate. I can make peace with them otherwise. Jokerman's the worst font in my book.

@V: ........:smalltongue:

Dogmantra

2011-02-16, 05:17 PM

Jokerman's the worst font in my book.

Why did you write a book with such a bad font in it?

factotum

2011-02-16, 05:55 PM

I never understand why people always have a go at Comic Sans. It's a perfectly reasonable typeface--I think the only reason it gets such hate is because it's so massively over-used!

As for least favourite of mine, I don't really have any I dislike; so long as the text is clearly readable without too much chance of confusing 0s and Os or 1s and ls, I'm happy.

MoonCat

2011-02-16, 06:02 PM

Wingdings and Impact. Also, Papyrus is yuckily overused and itches my brain.

Ikialev

2011-02-16, 06:11 PM

Webdings. I can't imagine a single place I could use it and yet I see it everywhere. It boggles the mind that someone looked at it and thought to themselves "Yeah! Perfect!"

I have no idea why does everyone hate comic sans.

ghost_warlock

2011-02-16, 06:12 PM

I hate everything that's not Viner Hand.

snoopy13a

2011-02-16, 06:17 PM

Everything that isn't Times New Roman. To be fair though, Courier has its uses when a monospaced font is preferred.

Trog

2011-02-16, 06:26 PM

Any font that has been stetched or squashed or is an inappropriate choice for the project. My favorite lately has been the Gotham font family.

rayne_dragon

2011-02-16, 10:03 PM

I don't think I have a least favourite font specifically, I just hate when a font is used improperly. The worst is any document that uses something like a dozen different fonts for any reason other than providing a demonstration of the different fonts. Why would you do that to anyone? :smallyuk:

Garamond is awesome, as are similar fonts.

CynicalAvocado

2011-02-16, 10:11 PM

i hate hate hate the jokerman font

http://www.fontscape.com/pictures/itc/Jokerman.gif

and these ones too (http://www.fontscape.com/explore?7S4)

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2011-02-16, 10:25 PM

From Avacado's link. EF Stayawhile? More like EF STAYAWAY!

Lady Moreta

2011-02-16, 10:36 PM

Comic Sans MS & Papyrus for sheer overuse. Papyrus especially when it's being used in the wrong places... sometimes it works (there's an Egyptian shop in the city that uses it, that's okay that works), other times it's just ridiculous. Like a book I once read the back of - the title and the entire blurb were written in papyrus... yeah, no.

Agree that Garamond is lovely... but Parchment is my favourite :smallsmile:

Trekkin

2011-02-16, 10:43 PM

I would have to say Jokerman, if only because I've seen it used so often to simply imply lightheartedness and "fun" by someone chained to a word processor cranking out whatever flyer bears it. I see it and my Wordart/clipart senses start tingling.

That's not to say it's a bad font, particularly in small doses and for specific connotations (or if you find a version with those little pegs on half the letters removed). It's just that every time I see it I want to find the person behind it and go "you keep on using that font. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Amiel

2011-02-16, 11:50 PM

While Curlz MD is REALLY BAD, it's not nearly as bad as Wingdings :smalltongue:... which are thankfully not supported on this Forum! :smallbiggrin:

Yeah, that's just a few... then again none are as bad as Wingdings and it's ilk!

What are you talking about, man. Wingdings is awesome :smalltongue:
Who needs encrypted coding and ciphers when there's Wingdings?

Flickerdart

2011-02-17, 02:10 AM

Garamond for the win! :smallbiggrin:
There are lots of different Garamonds, though. Some of them are horrible. The best Garamond is Sabon. :smallamused:

But it really all depends on context. Didot is absolutely lovely, but as soon as you try to set copy in it, it turns into a horrifying mess.

Of the typefaces that aren't obvious picks (yeah, Jokerman sucks, we know) Copperplate Gothic is the one I hate most. It has absolutely no redeeming qualities, and why anyone would use it instead of pretty much anything else baffles me. Trajan is a close second.

Skeppio

2011-02-17, 02:19 AM

*snip*

cycoris! It feels like I haven't seen you in ages! :smallbiggrin:

On topic, my least favourite has to be either Comic Sans and Times New Roman. OOTS style stuff is the only instance where I've seen Comic Sans work well, and I dunno.... I've just never liked Times New Roman....

Lady Moreta

2011-02-17, 02:35 AM

On topic, my least favourite has to be either Comic Sans and Times New Roman. OOTS style stuff is the only instance where I've seen Comic Sans work well, and I dunno.... I've just never liked Times New Roman....

Write a thesis in Times New Roman. In fact, write two theses in that font... that'll fix it :smallsmile::smalltongue:

I used to dislike Times New Roman as well... hated it in fact... then I had to use it for uni and eventually grew kind of fond of it. It looks good in italics :smallsmile:

I dislike all Courier fonts, pretty much all the Lucida variants (especially Lucida Handwriting because I defy anyone's handwriting to actually look like that) and... drat I forgot the other one. Oh Ariel, used to love Ariel, but as I started using TNR for uni, I switched my like from one to the other :smallsmile:

My problem is that I love the beautiful old-style cursive scripts like Parchment and Kunstler Script, but you have to have the font size up so big to make it readable that they're just not practical to use... which makes me sad :smallfrown:

AsteriskAmp

2011-02-17, 02:43 AM

Write a thesis in Times New Roman. In fact, write two theses in that font... that'll fix it :smallsmile::smalltongue:

I used to dislike Times New Roman as well... hated it in fact... then I had to use it for uni and eventually grew kind of fond of it. It looks good in italics :smallsmile:

I dislike all Courier fonts, pretty much all the Lucida variants (especially Lucida Handwriting because I defy anyone's handwriting to actually look like that) and... drat I forgot the other one. Oh Ariel, used to love Ariel, but as I started using TNR for uni, I switched my like from one to the other :smallsmile:

My problem is that I love the beautiful old-style cursive scripts like Parchment and Kunstler Script, but you have to have the font size up so big to make it readable that they're just not practical to use... which makes me sad :smallfrown:
I can attest that this may not happen and you may grow to detest it even more if forced to use it, that's what happened to me with Courier New, though it wasn't a uni thesis it still was a thesis (Damn investigation and it's 120 pages thesis)

Lady Moreta

2011-02-17, 03:22 AM

I can attest that this may not happen and you may grow to detest it even more if forced to use it, that's what happened to me with Courier New, though it wasn't a uni thesis it still was a thesis (Damn investigation and it's 120 pages thesis)

That's because you used Courier New and it has no redeeming features :smalltongue:

I remember using that one during high school when we were learning tabbing. We were always told to use a font like Courier when tabbing with numbers because everything was evenly spaced and it would give us nice neat columns. Oh how I hated that font. It's just so ugly...

AsteriskAmp

2011-02-17, 03:25 AM

That's because you used Courier New and it has no redeeming features :smalltongue:

I remember using that one during high school when we were learning tabbing. We were always told to use a font like Courier when tabbing with numbers because everything was evenly spaced and it would give us nice neat columns. Oh how I hated that font. It's just so ugly...

I was asked for a minimum number of pages (40), after I exceeded that, it was too late to change the typeface without having to massively redo a lot of stuff, specially indexes.

Tip: If you need to fill space without it looking blatantly obvious, use Courier New.

The Rose Dragon

2011-02-17, 03:32 AM

That's because you used Courier New and it has no redeeming features :smalltongue:

I remember using that one during high school when we were learning tabbing. We were always told to use a font like Courier when tabbing with numbers because everything was evenly spaced and it would give us nice neat columns. Oh how I hated that font. It's just so ugly...

It actually grows on you after a while. There aren't that many academically accepted monospaced typefaces, so we have to use Courier to write all the protein and gene sequences.

VeisuItaTyhjyys

2011-02-17, 03:35 AM

I hate everything that's not Viner Hand.

This, although the Iron Maiden font is acceptable if one is writing "Iron Maiden."

FlashRah

2011-02-17, 06:21 AM

Webdings. I can't imagine a single place I could use it and yet I see it everywhere. It boggles the mind that someone looked at it and thought to themselves "Yeah! Perfect!"

Say wat? Didn't I say that at the top there? Only with Curlz MT?

Ikialev

2011-02-17, 06:32 AM

You're imagining things. :smallwink:

FlashRah

2011-02-17, 06:42 AM

Get out of my head! :smalleek:

Cyrion

2011-02-17, 09:56 AM

Telonius

2011-02-17, 12:56 PM

MS Mincho. I despise this font. I do work at a science journal. While I've never seen somebody try to submit in Comic Sans, there are a few each year that try to go with Mincho for some reason. The font hurts my eyes, whether it's on-screen or in print.

Dogmantra

2011-02-17, 01:11 PM

And what made them think that setting 11 as the default font size was a good idea?

Well it's 11! It's one better than 10!

Cyrion

2011-02-17, 03:53 PM

Well it's 11! It's one better than 10!

Except as an office standard, it's not. People expect things in either 12 or 10- If you're submitting something to be published, or trying to get your thesis/dissertation past Graduate Studies, they usually have very strict formatting requirements, and they really are that picky about font size.

Eloel

2011-02-17, 04:36 PM

Except as an office standard, it's not. People expect things in either 12 or 10- If you're submitting something to be published, or trying to get your thesis/dissertation past Graduate Studies, they usually have very strict formatting requirements, and they really are that picky about font size.

Hint:
http://xkcd.com/670/

super dark33

2011-02-17, 04:42 PM

I dont dislike anything, but i like the Times new Roman

Aedilred

2011-02-17, 07:02 PM

Comic Sans. There's nothing so wrong with it in itself, and I can understand totally why it was created, but it's been so abused since its inception that I'd rather just see it banned. But then to be honest I don't really like any sans serif fonts at all, or "novelty" fonts outside a fairly narrow context... and Comic Sans ticks both boxes.

Of commonly used typefaces, Garamond is my favourite by a country mile.

11 is, I think, for most commonly used typefaces the most comfortable point size to read. I find 10 too small and 12 a bit childishly large. However, as has been mentioned, 10 and 12 are for some reason considered standards, so we adhere to them without really questioning why they're standards in the first place.

Don Julio Anejo

2011-02-17, 07:50 PM

Has to be Time New Roman. Doesn't help that yes, it's forced on you in University. It's just... looks... so.. bad on screens. It's okay when it's typed, but since I have to look at papers on screen for anywhere from 2 to 30-40 hours, it honestly doesn't matter how it looks like printed out.

Also, used to dislike Comic Sans and Papyrus, but now that I've been out of high school for a while, I don't see it very much.

Favourite.. Calibri. Fixed font - Lucida Console.

MoonCat

2011-02-17, 08:14 PM

Is this relevant to the Papyrus dislikers? Me included?

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/papyrus.png

Haruki-kun

2011-02-17, 11:18 PM

Everything that isn't Times New Roman. To be fair though, Courier has its uses when a monospaced font is preferred.

....but you do know, though, that Serif fonts are taboo for web? There'sa reason why there's Serif and Sans Serif. Times New Roman is EXCELLENT for published works. Don't write a website in it.

On topic, my least favourite has to be either Comic Sans and Times New Roman. OOTS style stuff is the only instance where I've seen Comic Sans work well, and I dunno.... I've just never liked Times New Roman....

On the other end of the spectrum... Times New Roman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_New_Roman) gets its name from the London Times, and it's purpose was published and printed Newspapers.

A font for everything, I say! :smallbiggrin:

Skeppio

2011-02-17, 11:25 PM

On the other end of the spectrum... Times New Roman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_New_Roman) gets its name from the London Times, and it's purpose was published and printed Newspapers.

A font for everything, I say! :smallbiggrin:

Ooh, neat. I've learned something today. :smalltongue:

HalfTangible

2011-02-17, 11:36 PM

The one that just has SHAPES for it's letters. (Wingdings?) Seriously, just WHY?!?!

Chainsaw Hobbit

2011-02-18, 12:02 AM

My least favorite font is Times New Roman. It's hard to read, overdone, and sickeningly overused.

EDIT: I also hate any font with curly things stuck to letters.

Lady Moreta

2011-02-18, 12:10 AM

Mine is Calibri. Microsoft designed it to look good on screens, but didn't really care what it looked like on paper. On a hardcopy document, it's just slightly harder to read than standard professional fonts.

And what made them think that setting 11 as the default font size was a good idea? It's not appropriate in any professional application, and yet that's your default for all Office programs now.

Really? That's sad... I like Calibri to look at but I've never written/printed anything in it. I can understand making 11 a default, though I understand the problems with it not being appropriate for a lot of stuff, all my uni work had to be in size 12.

Chainsaw Hobbit

2011-02-18, 12:18 AM

Really? That's sad... I like Calibri to look at but I've never written/printed anything in it. I can understand making 11 a default, though I understand the problems with it not being appropriate for a lot of stuff, all my uni work had to be in size 12.

I quite like Calibri. It's smooth, simple, readable, unassuming, and refreshing.

Amiel

2011-02-18, 12:52 AM

The one that just has SHAPES for it's letters. (Wingdings?) Seriously, just WHY?!?!

Because it wants you to get back to your fun. There is no mind control, citizen. Beginning self-termination.

Ravens_cry

2011-02-18, 12:30 PM

Well, Wingdings and similar fonts were probably added as a way to add graphics, for a given value of graphics, to word processing. Nowadays, clip art and other media have taken over this function.
Now, I can't remember what font this is, but ugh, its ugly. I admit to using it myself in my younger years, but no more. It's not on my computer, but it is prevalent in the text seen in this video. (http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/al_dente/)

super dark33

2011-02-20, 11:46 AM

My favorite is times new roman, maybe cuz it looks good on hebrew?

זמנים רומאיים חדשים
times new roman

i dont realy dislike any font.

Flickerdart

2011-02-20, 06:27 PM

Times New Roman is good at what it's for, which is to be legible in print media. It's bad at things it isn't for, which is everything else.

Windings is a dingbat font, which were used by typographers to add common symbols into things they were typesetting. It's not supposed to be used for anything else, and isn't. Hating it is rather peculiar.

J.Gellert

2011-02-22, 06:35 PM

Easily, my favorite is Palatino Linotype. I use it for pretty much everything that's important.

At least among those simple ones... I also like Mason and Black Chancery, for other things.

Don't have any fonts I hate.

What's the reasoning behind "inappropriate" fonts? Why would Comic Sans or Papyrus be overused? What's the right way to use them? :smalltongue:

Moff Chumley

2011-02-22, 07:53 PM

As has been stated, most fonts have a specific use, TNR and Comic Sans included. However, for text on the internet, I'm happy with any simple sans-serif.

CrimsonAngel

2011-02-22, 07:57 PM

Everything as boring as this one is.

Flickerdart

2011-02-23, 01:03 AM

What's the reasoning behind "inappropriate" fonts? Why would Comic Sans or Papyrus be overused? What's the right way to use them? :smalltongue:
There is no right way to use them. Comic Sans, Papyrus, Curlz MT and similar are unique in that they came pre-installed on Windows machines back when having your word processor switch fonts was a new thing. People who didn't know any better started using them, and then just never stopped.

grimbold

2011-02-23, 11:33 AM

This, although the Iron Maiden font is acceptable if one is writing "Iron Maiden."

i really want to submit an essay with iron maiden font
the led zeppelin font is pretty cool

The Rose Dragon

2011-02-24, 12:18 PM

There is no right way to use them. Comic Sans, Papyrus, Curlz MT and similar are unique in that they came pre-installed on Windows machines back when having your word processor switch fonts was a new thing. People who didn't know any better started using them, and then just never stopped.

No, see, that's only what self-righteous typography geeks say to make themselves feel comfortable at night because their favorite typefaces and fonts are never used by the populace due to sheer ugliness. :smalltongue:

Dubious Pie

2011-02-24, 01:30 PM

I love Monaco because I stare at monospaced fonts all day, and it is the only one that doesn't make me want to cry myself to sleep.

Least favorite font? That would be Consolas.

Tiger Duck

2011-02-24, 02:26 PM

Century is my favourite font

I print books in Century size 5pt. on A6 pages.
I find it easier to just print them then to go borrow books from a library.:smallsmile:

Chainsaw Hobbit

2011-03-03, 09:42 PM

I once read a many-page high school brochure written ENTIRELY in Papyrus. It was practically illegible.
I really hate it when people think writing text-bodies in Papyrus is original and artistic. They make themselves look clueless and ignorant.

Trazoi

2011-03-04, 04:34 AM

I'm not sure I have one particular favourite. Monaco is a good monospaced font. And I like the whole Deja Vu/Bitstream Vera family for being a pretty good font across all operating systems.

Least favourite? While I still have a grudge against Comic Sans, I think I dislike the overuse of Papyrus more. It turned up as the subtitle font in Avatar, for criminy's sake! :smallannoyed:

PairO'Dice Lost

2011-03-04, 05:17 AM

Speaking as a coder, like Dubious Pie I stare at monospaced text day in and day out, so Monaco is quite nice and the various Couriers are..acceptable, I suppose, if it's not a system I have control over. I've also made my own Aurebesh (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aurebesh) font (because the downloadable ones floating around the internet weren't complete enough for me) for use in Star Wars RPG documents and handouts...and my players and I can read it fluently. :smallredface: Yay nerds.

For generic word processing, I like Calibri, and I've become accustomed to (though not particularly enamored with) Times New Roman after writing pages upon pages of college papers.

@MoonCat: My best friend is a graphic design major and a big font snob, so for his last birthday I made him two cards. The first card had a paragraph-long message in Papyrus written in it. The second card, handed to him after he gave me a "Do I thank him or smite him?" look, just had that picture in it, captioned with "Gotcha!" :smallcool:

Flickerdart

2011-03-05, 12:00 PM

@MoonCat: My best friend is a graphic design major and a big font snob, so for his last birthday I made him two cards. The first card had a paragraph-long message in Papyrus written in it. The second card, handed to him after he gave me a "Do I thank him or smite him?" look, just had that picture in it, captioned with "Gotcha!" :smallcool:
My friend did that to me once, only more so. the font had Times New Roman, Comic Sans and 3D rainbow-gradient faux-bold WordArt Papyrus.

PairO'Dice Lost

2011-03-05, 12:09 PM

My friend did that to me once, only more so. the font had Times New Roman, Comic Sans and 3D rainbow-gradient faux-bold WordArt Papyrus.

:smalleek: My eyes hurt just thinking about seeing that.

MoonCat

2011-03-07, 12:31 AM

Azuyomi244

2011-03-07, 08:27 AM

I actually don't like Times New Roman. It looks fine in print, but on the computer in makes my eyes hurt.

Winter_Wolf

2011-03-09, 05:35 PM

I generally have problems with any and all fonts that are so tiny that they can't be read at 12 pt. A lot of the cursive style fonts are guilty of this. If I have to bump up the font size from say 12 to 24 (or was it 36?) just to be able to tell the difference between a 'g' and a 'q', there's a problem with it.
Also I hate fat fonts. Those that look like someone decided it would fun and neat to take normal letters and inflate them to ridiculous amounts so that everything looks like you just want to stick it with a pin and watch it pop. It's more of a problem with the Chinese and Japanese fonts I've seen, they simply become unreadable.

Flickerdart

2011-03-09, 11:47 PM

That's because most ultra-bold fonts are made by idiots. I've used Gill Sans Ultra Bold before, and there are others that are also effective at few things. Just like with most fonts, there is a time and place. Same with script fonts - what possible use is there for setting a script in 12 point? It's not supposed to be legible at that size.

Rob Roy

2011-03-10, 01:27 AM

Everything that's not New Times Roman or Courtier New(for when you need monospaced fonts). Especially Helvetica, though that's probably hype aversion.

Flickerdart

2011-03-10, 02:26 AM

In that case, you must cringe whenever you look up from high school essays.

Rob Roy

2011-03-10, 03:17 AM

In that case, you must cringe whenever you look up from high school essays.
Not really, just ignore it when it's used and don't use it. Simple really.

lesser_minion

2011-03-10, 09:41 AM

Personally, I try to be tolerant of most things -- there aren't many fonts I'd use myself, but I don't particularly despise anything.

I do have a couple of complaints -- I'm not sure Comic Sans MS or Papyrus is ever actually appropriate, to the point that I'd probably avoid using either even if the goal was to be inappropriate.

Windings is a dingbat font, which were used by typographers to add common symbols into things they were typesetting. It's not supposed to be used for anything else, and isn't. Hating it is rather peculiar.

To be honest, I have no idea how such a thing could be appropriate for use on computers, where separation of style and content is considered to be a key advantage -- if you need a dingbat, it's better to ask the computer for one. Asking the computer to pretend that that 'a' you just typed is actually not an 'a' at all is just asking for trouble.

Klose_the_Sith

2011-03-10, 10:29 AM

Personally, what time I spent talking to the design/what-have-you oriented people at my school just left me with a poor opinion regarding the fortitude of their eyes.

"Look at this contrast. See how it hurts your eyes? Now see how this one is a nice relaxing one?"

No. I look at your 'relaxing' one and think ... gee, brown. Thrillsville. It might be 'good' contrast but it sure as hell isn't working as a poster.

Then they started complaining about fonts ... :smallsigh:

By the end I was taking the 'Ban Comic Sans' posters off the walls, just because it seemed to be the only way to make them stop talking about it.

In other news, Helvetica :smalltongue:

(Not so much from an aesthetics as from a 'STOP TALKING ABOUT IT LIKE IT'S THE MESSIAH' perspective)

Flickerdart

2011-03-10, 10:53 AM

Helvetica hasn't been "the messiah" since the 70s. Not sure where you've been. :smalltongue:

Azuyomi244

2011-03-10, 11:16 AM

I forgot to put my favorite font. http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/fresh_fonts_6.jpg
Apple Gothic. I like it because it is readable, and not overused.

Irbis

2011-03-10, 11:21 AM

Times New Roman.

Klose_the_Sith

2011-03-10, 12:06 PM

Helvetica hasn't been "the messiah" since the 70s. Not sure where you've been. :smalltongue:

Listening to some incredibly self-involved design students prattle on? :smallwink:

And also their teachers, who were even more obsessed with Helvetica :smalleek:

Chainsaw Hobbit

2011-03-10, 06:18 PM

Times New Roman.
Yes, that is one of the worst fonts ever. :smalleek:

I forgot to put my favorite font. http://webdesignledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/fresh_fonts_6.jpg
Apple Gothic. I like it because it is readable, and not overused.
Quite nice.

Flickerdart

2011-03-10, 06:54 PM

I can't think for many good uses of a font that only comes in that weight. :smalltongue: Now Univers, there's a font that has enough weights. All of them, in fact.

FlashRah

2011-03-11, 06:10 PM

EDIT: Since discussion seems to be splintering across the board I've just decided to go ahead and make this an all-inclusive font thread. Go nuts!

There you go.

Flickerdart

2011-03-11, 08:27 PM

Excellent. I'm taking Typeface Design in the summer, maybe I'll put up the final product if this thread is still alive by that point.

R.O.A.

2011-03-13, 09:34 AM

My biggest typeface peeve is when lazy professionals use fonts I can name rather then spending ten minutes googleing to find an appropirate and less well known font. Examples? Down the road from me a hairdressers has used Curlz for its printed sign, and the other day I watched a TV show that used Papyrus in it's title sequence. :smallyuk:

Flickerdart

2011-03-13, 09:44 AM

You can hardly call those people "professionals". Nor is it professional to google typefaces - anything you can find for free is most likely not worth the bandwidth to download.

Ashtagon

2011-03-13, 10:15 AM

You can hardly call those people "professionals". Nor is it professional to google typefaces - anything you can find for free is most likely not worth the bandwidth to download.

More to the point, anything you can download for free is most likely attached with a "no commercial use" licence, so professionals can't technically use it anyway.

Flickerdart

2011-03-13, 11:36 AM

Many fonts on DaFont or similar have a "if you want to use it commercially, send me a couple of bucks" sort of license. But yeah, googling fonts is a no-no. Any designer worth the name should have at least a rudimentary knowledge of a variety of fonts, their appropriate uses, and the files for said fonts.

factotum

2011-03-13, 11:49 AM

My biggest typeface peeve is when lazy professionals use fonts I can name rather then spending ten minutes googleing to find an appropirate and less well known font.

So, any font you can name is perforce not appropriate for any use whatsoever? :smallconfused: In a lot of cases, the reason these fonts are as widespread as they are is because they're good fonts that get the message across in a clear and concise manner--just being widely used does not automatically make a font bad.

Chainsaw Hobbit

2011-03-13, 01:37 PM

Trazoi

2011-03-13, 04:32 PM

Weren't the subtitles in Avatar done in Papyrus?
They certainly were. That bugged me throughout the entire film. Umpteen million dollars thrown into special effects and then they shrug and go with Papyrus for the subtitles.

I don't think Papyrus is that bad, but it's horribly overused. And as a decorative font that robs it of its distinctiveness. It's fine for local flyers or restaurant menus but its really overused in film titles. They might as well use Times New Roman.

Chainsaw Hobbit

2011-03-13, 05:30 PM

They certainly were. That bugged me throughout the entire film. Umpteen million dollars thrown into special effects and then they shrug and go with Papyrus for the subtitles.

I don't think Papyrus is that bad, but it's horribly overused. And as a decorative font that robs it of its distinctiveness. It's fine for local flyers or restaurant menus but its really overused in film titles. They might as well use Times New Roman.

They don't need an exotic font just because the movie was big budget, I just don't think Papyrus was particularly fitting. Cambria would have been much better.

Trazoi

2011-03-13, 05:47 PM

They don't need an exotic font just because the movie was big budget, I just don't think Papyrus was particularly fitting. Cambria would have been much better.
Yeah, I blended the two issues I had with Papyrus in Avatar - the subtitles and the title logo. It especially doesn't work for the subtitles because the font is too decorative and thin. I don't mind using a standard font for the subtitles as long as it's clearly readable - but Papyrus isn't very good at that.

The title logos however, that's a different matter. Using Papyrus for the main title makes me think they want the film to look faintly exotic, but it fails to achieve that effect when it's used so often. It's not as if it would break the bank to pay for a graphic designer to come up with something genuinely unique.