According to Wikipedia and other Internet sources, fonts were originally created in the 1450s with lead alloys or sometimes wood for larger fonts. Technology advances have allowed many designers to create other fonts, for both the print and digital worlds. Here at Writer’s Relief we take our fonts pretty seriously. Here’s a list of our personal faves. (Please note: some browsers may not support all of these fonts, so you may not be able to see them all.)
We realize that Arial and Times New Roman are the accepted fonts for manuscripts, but feel free to comment with YOUR favorite font(s) below. Have fun with it!
Dan: (Wingdings) Wingdings: amusing, arbitrary, utterly incomprehensible.
Frank: Calisto.
Hermine: Times New Roman (or Verdana, because the big print is easier on the eyes).
Joi: Kabel.
Jon: Times New Roman, because you can never go wrong with a classic choice.
Kriste: Century Schoolbook. I love that it’s basically a modern-day typewriter font, but it isn’t as obnoxious as Courier (or Courier New). Sorry Courier fans!
Lisa: I think Old English Text is fun, but I’ve never found occasion to use it until now so….Huzzah, ye fellow scribblers! Write on!
Liz: Lucida Handwriting, because I think my own handwriting is very severe and unreadable, and I have always secretly wanted to be one of those girly-girls with bubbly script and hearts as dots over i's.
Margaret: Arial.
Maria: Times New Roman.
Marissa: My favorite font is Vivaldi because it makes my name look really nice when typed: Marissa..
Matt: Ruritania. To see an example, click here.
Meg: Book Antiqua for readability, Bradley Hand for fun, Edwardian Script is just pretty, but hard to read.
Pam: Bradley Hand.
Ronnie: Comic Sans is this week’s favorite, but when push comes to shove, it’s Arial, as opposed to The Little Mermaid’s Ariel (whose six older sisters’ names are Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alanna).
Shawn: I don’t really have a favorite font, honestly. Does handwritten calligraphy count? I like the sound of Garamond.
Simone: Helvetica and Courier.
Steve: Candid.
Wendy: I really hate to pick favorites. A lifelong adherent of the Hericlitean flux, I have issues with consistency. Not that it’s truly my favorite, you understand, but Arial is probably the epitome of me. Bare bones, no nonsense, etc. That old New England patrimony!
I like Bradley Hand because it looks like I have decent hand writing, but for manuscripts, I think Times New Roman, 12 pt, is the best. For reading I like Garamond
Oh la la! Simone likes courier and that other one!!! Moi, non!
I find sans serif’ so terribly dry. It makes me think of my old
( bitchy) high school math teacher who didn’t have a particle
of fun, light, smile, or encouragement, and who despised
anything, poetic, light, decorative or fancy. If it wasn’t rigid
it was no good!
So much for courier. I know Simone is nothing like Melle Frelin,
because I’ve spoken with her. She’s a sweetheart, but her taste
in fonts still puzzles me!
Best of luck and fun to all of you,
A
Thank you for giving us all insight into the personalities within your staff. I was more interested in the reasons for their choices than their actual choices. The font that intrigues me the most is Ruritania as it reminds me of medieval manuscripts,( perhaps because I am an artist and can appreciate a labor of love.)
Posted for Jim Hutchins–
I’m a big fan of Sylfaen for routine documents and for my manuscripts.
For large amounts of text in tables — and I have to thank Edward Tufte (http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/) for this — Bell Gothic is still the best ever.
Sylfaen: http://www.tiro.nu/Articles/sylfaen_article.pdf
Bell Gothic: http://www.identifont.com/show?FH
Posted for George–
I believe the transparency of Times New Roman allows your words to breathe.
Calisto MT and Rockwell: a silver and a bronze to the unanimous gold of Times New Roman–when your eyes have wearied of staring at the winner.
Yeah for Book Antigua, my favorite as well as Meg’s!
Times New Roman is what my agent requests me to use, but I am quite fond of Palatino Linotype Itallicized. It’s pretty and very easy on the eyes. I use it for literature that accompanies my second business’ products. It looks nice without being too fancy while not being too plain either.
Meg and Marilyn are right on; I love Book Antiqua too.
Rekaya Gibson, Author
The Food Temptress
I love Lucinda, use it for my name on my business card, makes me seem mysterious, elegant, and nubile. Trudy
Posted for Camille Jacks:
My favorite font may not be an original one, but I like Courier. The reason: romance. Great writers that inspired me from an early age were photographed typing away on manual typewriters; they drank cheap booze and objectified everyone they knew–if they didn’t have a cigarette dangling from their lips, they wanted to. That’s what real writing feels like; it’s raw and romantic.
It depends on what I’m writing. When I am working on early drafts, I think the font should match the feeling behind the piece. Am currently loving California FB , 16 pt., for its special storyland feel. For spiritual pieces I tend to go w/ sans serif fonts–particularly Verdana. When it’s getting close to submission, I switch to Times New Roman, and that gives me another boost. For personal letters, I love script fonts. Right now, ITC Zapf Chancery.
I don’t understand the infatuation with Times New Roman. The "r" & "n" together look like an "m", and there are weird spacings within words, especially around "e’s". I don’t have a favorite; I use TNR because editors seem to like it. Guess I need to design my own new improved font.
I love Geneva, size 14, as it is very readable and open.