1. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Choosing fonts

    Discussion in 'Print on Demand' started by SapereAude, Apr 19, 2021.

    It's generally accepted (I think) that Times New Roman is not the ideal typeface to use for publications like books. It's also generally accepted that serif typefaces are better for body text in books than sans serif typefaces.

    Great. That narrows it down to anywhere from a few dozen to hundreds of typefaces (depending on what's installed on your computer and how much time you want to spend on the Font Squirrel web site). If any of you work with books or similar long publications (magazines, technical manuals, etc.) -- how do you decide what typeface and size to use for a particular publication?
     
  2. pyroglyphian

    pyroglyphian Word Painter

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    I work on technical manuals which require a clean, modern font. For example, they are written in English but are read by non-native English speakers too, therefore the font is functional. Size is based on reading device; they may well be read on mobile phones, so font size is chosen accordingly.

    However, I don't want to give the impression that I know what I'm doing. Alan Watts sums the process up well: "When we decide, we’re always worrying —'Did I think this over long enough? Did I take enough data into consideration?‘— And if you think it through, you find you never could take enough data into consideration! The data for a decision in any given situation is infinite. So what you do is you go through the motions of thinking what you will do about this. And then when the time comes to act, you make a snap judgement."
     
  3. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    I'm asking about fonts for books.
     
  4. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    I had an idea of the look I wanted, so I went on sites like Font Squirrel, 1001 Fonts, etc., and searched for serif fonts that were free for commercial use, or better still, available for commercial use under the SIL Open Fonts License.

    I downloaded the ones I liked. Then I compared them on a printout, using a sample sentence from my novel that included a question mark, quotation marks, italics, so on and so forth. Looked them up and down, and chose the one that had the letter forms, readability, and overall feel that best suited my story.

    At the back of the book there's a Typography page where I give credit to the font designers and make note of the licenses under which the fonts are used.
     
  5. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Ultimately, I suppose that's really the only way to do it.

    Thanks.
     

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