Plan B Forum

Why is 'san-serif' almost the universal choice for contemporary written communication? (Like the phpBB forum software logo at the top of this page) Type faces like Helvetica, Adobe Gothic, Geneva. With these san-serif type designs, particularly in small sizes, it is difficult to distinguish an upper case letter 'eye' or the lower case letter that comes after kay, from the number that comes before two, or the zero from the upper case letter that comes before pea in the alphabet.

I just purchased a new Apple phone. It was impossible for me to read the serial number. too many places where it could be a number or a letter, impossible to tell. However, the number one in the style apple was using for this, had a serif at the top. but I need a 6x magnifying glass to see it.

Personally, for readability I prefer Times Roman. For looks, I prefer Palatino.

snailgate

It's not that hard to use a different font (such as Times New Roman) on this site (and I have done so, occasionally), but the default size ("Normal")(size 100) shows up as too small, so when I use it I usually increase the size to 120 or maybe 125 or sometimes even 130.

(Bah, that's too much fiddling with the format, even for an obsessive format-fiddler like me...)

As far as a sans-serif font, I always did like this one..... ... but as E'line points, it looks even better the larger it gets.

(ps.... it's called 'Bahnschrift' — German for 'Railway Font'— and was developed for use on signage on the Autobahn and elsewhere.  This is what is looks like when italicized in this board's size 120.)

-"BB"-

BB Bahnschrift example you posted may be part of the Bahnschrift family from Microsoft, but it is not san-serif. Look carefully at the bottom of the letter "i" Look at some of the other letters-- clearly, in the larger size there are serifs.

As you point out, it was developed with readability as an important factor.

snailgate

From 2014 to 2017 I worked for a contract research company. Our product was a report and our division focused on toxicology. Our motto - 'we kill fish so you don't.' (OK I just made that up.). Depending on the extent of the research, one report could be anywhere from $30,000 to $1,000,000 or so.

Our reports were always TNR. Towards the end of my tenure there we were taken over by an investment company. The order came down from on high - corporate style was Arial and there would be no exceptions. That lasted about three days. Customers had to submit our reports - originals, with signatures - to the feds, to the EU, to other government bodies and they did not like the sans serif font. 'Doesn't look scientific.' We tried to persuade the new owners. In the end we just said 'fuck 'em', and went back to the old way.

Edited to correct Ariel to Arial. Ariel was the little spirit in The Tempest.

And BTW Bahnschrift is indeed a sans serif font - and BB correctly dialed it in for his post. But - and I assume it's a rights (i.e., $$$) issue - the font as displayed on my computer is not Bahnschrift but looks TNR-ish. I think phpBB has a limited number of fonts they support or are licensed to use and if you request one they do not have, they just throw in the closest they can find. It may also depend on your computer. Garamond in my post above looks right but I can't tell the difference between (say) Helvetica and Arial just from looking at it.

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Sun May 30, 2021 12:38 pm

Edited to correct Ariel to Arial. Ariel was the little spirit in The Tempest.

The crossword should use that clue every once in awhile instead of always using the Disney movie.

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Sun May 30, 2021 12:38 pm

Edited to correct Ariel to Arial. Ariel was the little spirit in The Tempest.

And the Lion of God אריאל

Bahnschrift was indeed developed for readability. It does not have serifs, but it does have thick-and-thin. What was the baseline when it was developed?Check out Fraktur in Wiki. In Germany and many other European countries at that time, Fraktur or Black Letter was nearly universal. A simple form of Black Letter is the NY Times logo at the top center of the first page. And that is a simple version.

Andy's tale above of a type face chosen by a Hq for branding purposes illustrates my complaint at the head of this thread.

snailgate.