Overused typefaces

[cliff]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

Not only do I use Arial (Narrow), I also use (secret tip) Herculanium for Feet and Inches marks. Looks way better than the "PC default' of non-curly quotes.

And I just looked up at the Blackletter/fraktur/German thing. I will talk to my German GF and get back to you on this.

[bart]

Verdana

[daveaux]

I can't resist - which web-proliferated face, then, would you experts all recommend for this forum to use? I'm sure the admin would love to be up on things

[daveaux]

[PYMadlon]

Personally, I'm quite comfortable reading Verdana on-screen. It is wide and round and has great letterspacing at most sizes. Geneva runs a close second, but it's more closed and boxy.

I never think Arial or Helvetica look very nice on the web, especially when they aren't anti-aliased. They are far too tight and closed.

[imagineer]

Everything in these forums is always referenced back to the same republican style.

We're going to be operating your world soon. Live with it.

[bibigoogles]

..i don't know if this face has been mentioned yet:

Friz Quadrata

[anonymous]

Times is actually one of my favourites. It is neutral, and lets the text content be in the focus. And now I'm not talking about the 12 point Linotype Times version that comes with most printers. It is too condensed and has too much contrast to work well as a body text face in my book. Take a look at Times Ten, Linotype's 10-point version, which is thicker, wider and has less contrast. Very good for body text.

[Hildebrant]

Gill Sans makes me sick.

[pablohoney77]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder. i never get tired of seeing gill. but i don't need to ever see times again. (okay maybe i don't hate it that much)

[anonymous]

Morison never intended to create a stunning, beautiful typeface with Times New Roman. It was purposely made to be neutral and free from bells and whistles. There is a charm in that approach too, I think. I do like old classic typefaces like Jenson, though. But it doesn't fit in every situation. Imagine a bill set in Adobe Jenson...
There's a reason that Times is "overused", not only the fact that it comes with printers. It is simply a good and versatile typeface (as long as one doesn't use the 12-point version for body text that is).

[Chris Rugen]

I have to use Helvetica Condensed and Times for our corporate typefaces. I'm sick of both. Times is flat, dead, unpleasant, and tricky to set in a manner that doesn't hark back to its intended use, which is (of course) not what we need it for.

A close second for me is Gill Sans. There are a lot of unoriginal art directors out there working for big manufacturing companies, and they love their Gill. A lot of our work has to take on the look of our business partners, so we routinely work with a variety of 'identities'. I'd kill to work with faces like DIN or Minion on a regular professional basis, overused or not.

I run into a lot of Adobe Garamond, but for some reason that doesn't bother me so much. ::shrug::

I think the reason that Times and TNR are so overused is a) default b) free c) the apocryphal story about how it's the 'most legible' typeface.

TNR isn't terrible at face value, I just wish people would set type on long measures that was intended for long measures. Also, most people use 12 pt for the same reasons, it's the default. Plus, it makes their writing appear longer. I think the default should be set to Zapf Dingbats. Force people to make their own decisions and set up their own defaults. ::thumbs nose at Microsoft Office::

[Stephen Coles]

Mats:
Imagine a bill set in Adobe Jenson...

Haha. So funny to hear you say that. I just designed mine last
week and it's set in Jenson Pro. Ok, the figures are Trade.

[William Berkson]

> run into a lot of Adobe Garamond, but for some reason that doesn't bother me so much

I guess a classic - and Garamond is a classic, and Adobe's version superbly done - is something you don't get fed up with. It just keeps on being good.

[Hildebrant]

Stephan: And ours are set in Fedra Serif/Sans

[adriano]

Show it here Kyle! I'm looking for an excuse to get the Fedra family...

[Hildebrant]

I'm not sure, Im still a healous lover.
I can show you a pic of our stationary, and ID suite if you like?

[anonymous]

Stephen:

"Haha. So funny to hear you say that. I just designed mine last
week and it's set in Jenson Pro. Ok, the figures are Trade."

Everything is possible, but everything isn't appropriate.

[anonymous]

Chris:

"I think the reason that Times and TNR are so overused is a) default b) free c) the apocryphal story about how it's the 'most legible' typeface."

You obviously read too much what others say.
Use your brain. Look at a book set in Times and then
tell me it isn't legible.

[anonymous]

Chris:

"a) default b) free"

Again, I'm not talking about the 12-point version. And Times Ten is not free. Unfortunately most people use the 12-point version since it is what you said, default and free.

[secondtoughest]

I'm surprised not to have seen Bank Gothic on this list yet. I see used in logos and on business cards all over the place.

[marcox]

Mats: I art direct a magazine for a client whose corporate branding standards dictate that we use Times Ten for body copy. After more than a year, I still find it cold and sterile.

Maybe we should print the publication on newsprint. ;-)

[anonymous]

Of all things: a good 50% of this thread is spent fuming over the use and abuse of Hellvectica/Arial when the thread itself is in precisely that typeface. If you hate Helvectica, you could complain about it to the mods. ;)

Personally, I've seen Medusa (and other names for her) WAY too much in "designer" settings: everything from tatoo-parlor signs (in a military town, we have our share) to coffee-shop signs, to the covers of Christian Rock albums (every heard of "Third Day"?) Blackadder/Blackadder ITC is also flogged to death: witness its use on the cover of the "Harry Potter" Spanish edition paperbacks. And anything in Algerian is nails on a chalkboard.

[anonymous]

Of all things: a good 50% of this thread is spent fuming over the use and abuse of Hellvectica/Arial when the thread itself is in precisely that typeface. If you hate Helvectica, you could complain about it to the mods. ;)

Personally, I've seen Medusa (and other names for her) WAY too much in "designer" settings: everything from tatoo-parlor signs (in a military town, we have our share) to coffee-shop signs, to the covers of Christian Rock albums (every heard of "Third Day"?) Blackadder/Blackadder ITC is also flogged to death: witness its use on the cover of the "Harry Potter" Spanish edition paperbacks. And anything in Algerian is nails on a chalkboard.

[anonymous]

Of all things: a good 50% of this thread is spent fuming over the use and abuse of Hellvectica/Arial when the thread itself is in precisely that typeface. If you hate Helvectica, you could complain about it to the mods. ;)

Personally, I've seen Medusa (and other names for her) WAY too much in "designer" settings: everything from tatoo-parlor signs (in a military town, we have our share) to coffee-shop signs, to the covers of Christian Rock albums (every heard of "Third Day"?) Blackadder/Blackadder ITC is also flogged to death: witness its use on the cover of the "Harry Potter" Spanish edition paperbacks. And anything in Algerian is nails on a chalkboard.