Member mol… Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 This topic was imported from the Typophile platform Dear all, I am writing a PhD thesis in the natural sciences (chemistry, biochemistry). After completing the scientific part, I wish to create a professionally-looking layout in InDesign. This question exclusively relates to the layout part. What are suitable combinations of body and heading fonts for a modern, research-based thesis in the Sciences? My plan is purchase a limited set of fonts specifically for this purpose - I do not wish to use Arial/Times New Roman. I have the following constraints: (1) The body font should be a serifs font, the heading font a sans-serif font. (2) Both fonts must contain a full set of Greek characters (3) The body font should read well when printed at 12/18. (4) Preferentially, the heading font should have separate styles suitable for the different sizes that it will be used at, such as for captions (8-10 pt), headings (12-14 pt) and larger title pages (20+ pt). My initial thoughts were Myriad Pro/Minion Pro or Frutiger/Garamond Premier Pro, but I would prefer a more modern/contemporary body font. Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated! Link to comment
Member hra… Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 > The body font should read well when printed at 12/18. Why this exact size/linespacing? hhp Link to comment
Member mol… Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 The University regulations recommend (but do not require) the use of a 12 pt font, with a "spacing between the lines" of approx. 8 mm. In practice, however, most students are using 12 pt with 1.5-fold line spacing, i.e. 12/18. I guess that depending on the font choice, it would be okay to use a different spacing, as long as the visual appearance of the spacing is similar to Times New Roman set in 12/18. Link to comment
Member hra… Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Times is small on the body, so 12 makes sense. It's good to know though that you can choose a smaller size if the font warrants that (meaning you're far less restricted in terms of font choice). Concerning linespacing, 1.5 is generally a bit much, unless your lines have to span the width of a letter-size/A4 page, which is not advisable. Also note that the ideal linespacing does depend on the font (mostly its x-height). hhp Link to comment
Member cda… Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Have you had a look at Skolar? I've never used it, but I've wanted a copy for a long time - sadly it is outside my student price range. http://www.type-together.com/Skolar Link to comment
Member And… Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Your requirement of Greek in both sorts narrows the choice down a little bit. What about Parachute fonts? Centro Serif Pro and Centro Sans Pro might be a possibility. Link to comment
Member Ric… Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Related:https://typography.guru/forums/topic/92845-forwardinghttps://typography.guru/forums/topic/98187-forwardinghttps://typography.guru/forums/topic/84267-forwarding Link to comment
Member J.… Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Maybe related:https://typography.guru/forums/topic/99876-forwarding Problem with capital letters. Does this apply to your work? Several approaches are considered. Link to comment
Member mol… Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Thank you all very much for your helpful responses. I am particularly inclined towards using Skolar as the font for body text. In terms of capital letters, likely I will use full caps for abbreviations (rather than small caps), as this is standard in most science publications and people in the field are used to it. Personally, I would however prefer small caps. Do you have any recommendations (or can refer me to a related post) on which heading fonts would work well with Skolar? Link to comment
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