Re: Favorite/Recommended Fonts

[Chuck Martin <cwmartin -at- US -dot- ORACLE -dot- COM>]

CASSIN Gilles wrote:
>
> Chuck Martin wrote:
> <I learned that the reasoning behind this difference was because of what
> <was used to teach children to read. Apparently, in the U.S., most books
> <are printed in serif fonts, while in Europe, most books are printed in
> <Sans serif fonts.
>
> Dunno which European bookshop you frequented. Was it that one with the
> green librarian, which tentacled your book while typing the bill with
> her antennas?
>
Actually, it was one of several things I learned in one of my Technical
Communication classes, from an instructor (Tom Williams) who is quite
knowledgeable about teh technical details of subjects such as fonts,
readability, screen design, and so on.

From one of that class' texts: "The typefaces we learned to read with
are the ones we are used to and that we therefore find most congenial
and comfortable. In the United States those happen to be the faces with
serifs (Century, Primer, Times Roman, and so on). In Europe, sans serif
is the rule rather than the exception."
 - Graphic Design for the Electronics Age, Jan V. White, ISBN:
082302122X, p. 13

Note that that same page also states that "[the cliche] 'sans serif is
harder to read'...[is} an oversimplification," that readability comes
from a number of factors. However, what we begin with cannot be
discounted.

By the way, in the one time I visited Europe, in the one city I was in
(Amsterdam, last August), I was far too busy and had way too many
commitments to step into a bookstore.

--
"Online help should ignore first-time users and concentrate
on those people who are already successful using the
product, but who want to expand their horizons."
        - Alan Cooper
        "About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design"

Chuck Martin
Principal Technical Writer, Oracle Developer
Tools Division, Oracle Corporation

cwmartin"at"us.oracle.com

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