Fonts in Books

[Athena]

I was thinking this afternoon about fonts in books. This will apply mostly to paperbooks and less so to e-readers (as at least on my Kindle there don't seem to be a lot of font choices and unique fonts in books). Interestingly enough on the computer my preferences are a bit more complicated, as I also like some sans serif fonts on the computer. I am fond of this font for example (if you'll forgive me the pun if that's what it is).

 

Here's an image I made that illustrates the difference between the two:

 

 

I opened up some books (in my house) at random and found almost all of them used a serif font. I think most books have a serif font, at least based on my memory of the ones I've read and on the ones I opened just now. I have a preference for a serif font in books, but provided it's legible I do also read sans serif books with no problem.

 

I've found that I associate certain fonts with certain authors or publishers or publishing series. And that if a whole series or a whole set of books by one author are all using the same font and fontsize style, I get a bit upset if the newest book doesn't use the same font or fontsize style (not as upset as when the book is a different size or has had a cover change, but still a bit upset), and am pleased if the newest book does use the same font and fontsize style. Especially if all the other books by the author do use the font and I've come to associate the font with that author (or the author with the font). Of course, fonts are often used for more than one author, sometimes I associate a font with a certain publisher or publishing series, or with multiple authors.

 

I prefer my fonts to generally be medium sized. My preferred size is medium (of course, one can debate how big medium is). Some children's books use a larger font, and I'm okay with that. Some books use a smaller font, and unless it's really small, I'm okay with that too, as long as I can read it allright without too much effort.

 

About whitespace between the lines, I've noticed that some YA books and some children's books have a lot of whitespace between the lines. Books for adults usually have a medium size whitespace (whatever that means, just like here on this forum in my post I guess). For my money I prefer a medium amount of whitespace, because then I feel you get more for your money, but reading wise medium or somewhat larger than medium (like in YA or children's books) are both fine. I don't like it when there is very little whitespace (but then one can debate what is very little and what is medium), gladly this rarely happens in the books I read. I guess my preference would be medium, but I do like the variety in books.

 

Overall I prefer a medium sized serif font for my books, with a medium amount of whitespace. I don't have one specific font I prefer above all others. Like I said, I associate certain fonts with certain authors, so it depends on the author which font I prefer to see. If it's a new author, well, I don't know, there isn't one font that I prefer above everything else.

 

Actually, I love to see the variety of fonts in paperbooks and for me not having the same font, the same fontsize and the same amount of whitespace all the time adds to the reading experience (something which I don't always experience on the Kindle, as only some books have a publisher set font; a lot of books just come in the font one has set the Kindle to use.)

 

What do you think? Do you prefer serif or sans serif, do you have a favourite font, font size, whitespace amount? Do you wish all books were set in your favourite?

 

 

 

[willoyd]

For reading, I always prefer serif type, and will positively avoid sans-serif.  The serifs are meant  apparently to make text easier to read.  Having said that, I do somewhat of a positive dislike of Times New Roman  - too spindly for my taste.  On the sans serif side, I have got totally fed up with Comic Sans, ubiquitous in primary schools, yet not conducive to easy reading. 

 

I don't really have a favourite reading font, as long as the book is readable.  The Folio Society have a habit of choosing fonts that seem to fit books very neatly.  Amongst those they use that I've found easy on the reading eye are Baskerville, Eherhardt, Adobe Caslon, Clifford, and a number of others.  Some very apposite matches have been Baskerville for their Conan Doyle books, Utopia for Brave New World and The Drowned World, Bell for Mrs Dalloway, The Herefordshire Pomona in Bulmer; on the sans-serif side, 2001 Space Odyssey was set in Univers

 

What is important though is the quality of the print, cheap, smudgy printing can really make reading a chore, and white space: especially in the gutter.  I'd agree on medium margins and medium white space - but one person's medium is another person's narrow or broad, I suspect.

 

As for setting in one typeface - please, no!

Edited April 14, 2017 by willoyd

[chesilbeach]

The general rule is that serif fonts are easier to read on the printed page and sans serif are better on screens.  I tend to stick to that and it works for me.

 

The Persephone books have a beautiful layout, with typeface (most often a Baskerville one), spacing and even the whiteness of the page making for a very pleasing reading experience for me, although some of their books (I think it might be their Classics editions) sometimes use a typeface contemporary to the time the book was first published, and it takes me back to being a child with that almost splodgy printed page and I'm not a huge fan of that.  In fact, it's one of the reasons I don't like old second hand books, as the old printing style has a sort of spidery, splodginess to it, and the pages tend to have yellowed as well, which is not conducive to a good reading experience in my opinion.

 

 

[Raven]

On ‎14‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 1:20 AM, willoyd said:

On the sans serif side, I have got totally fed up with Comic Sans, ubiquitous in primary schools, yet not conducive to easy reading. 

 

Interesting article about Comic Sans here: How we made the typeface Comic Sans.

[Athena]

8 hours ago, Raven said:

Interesting article about Comic Sans here: How we made the typeface Comic Sans.

 

That was an interesting article, thanks for that, Raven .

[willoyd]

14 hours ago, Raven said:

 

Interesting article about Comic Sans here: How we made the typeface Comic Sans.

 

Certainly is, thank you Raven.  Actually, I don't dislike it - I'm just fed up with it.  As the author says, it is used inappropriately, and primary school teachers do, all the time!  It seems to be their (our) default, and it's a font that works best when used in small doses.

 

@chesilbeach : do so agree with you about Persephone - I love their books.  I hadn't thought about the difference between on-screen and printed fonts, but what you say makes sense.  It's probably why, in spite of saying I prefer serif fonts, I tend to use sans-serif on screen.  Had never thought about that before....

Edited April 19, 2017 by willoyd
punctuation and spelling

[Athena]

20 minutes ago, willoyd said:

[...] and its a font that works best when used in small doses.

 

Agreed.

[Raven]

2 hours ago, willoyd said:

As the author says, its is used inappropriately

 

That's the rub. 

When used for what it was designed for, or for similar applications, it does the job it was meant to do very well.

 

When used in company to company work e-mails, not so much... (I don't get this as much as I used to 10/15 years ago, but the odd one still pops up on occasion.  It's usually from someone who thinks it looks friendly, they just don't seem to realise how inappropriate it is!).