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Old 01-28-2008, 12:42 PM   #1
Clayton
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Default Typeface for Newsletter

I've been using Times New Roman and Arial typefaces to publish a newsletter. I use those because the newsletter appears fine when viewed on screen as well as in print. The printed copies are just that - I give Office Depot a PDF which they plug into their printer/copier. The body style for the newsletter is 10 points.

I've tried other typefaces, but haven't found one that looks decent both in print and on screen. I've tried New Century Schoolbook (T1), News 701 through 706 (TT) and some other basic Windows typefaces and now I'm burned out and back at the old TNR and Arial.

Perhaps somebody can suggest a typeface that not only converts well into PDF for screen viewing but into good printed copy as well? I do have access to T1 typefaces.
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Old 01-28-2008, 03:40 PM   #2
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In another thread, I recommended Robin Williams' (not the comedian) book: "The Non-Designer's Design Book" (Peachpit Press), which was very helpful to me (a non-designer!) in getting away from Times and Arial (or in my case, Helvetica). It's a quick read and could really help you improve the look of your newsletter.

The font gurus here can give you better advice, but FWIW, I use Adobe Minion and Myriad for a newsletter I publish. I distribute it to readers in both printed and PDF formats.

   
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Old 01-28-2008, 04:19 PM   #3
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Yes, that's a great book. I used it back in 1998 to set up the documentation for the company I was working for. Since then it's been propping up other books in the bookshelf about 5 feet behind me. Prolly better to place it about 12 inches directly in front of my eyes while shifting them slowly from left to right...

During my tech-writing career I had settled on a few good typefaces that fit my purposes - mostly technical manuals, ad slicks, proposals, and PowerPoint presentations. My point is that I became so used to them on screen and in print that anything different looked odd to me. Now that I'm retired, I don't have the advantage of obtaining feedback from coworkers. No matter what I try in my newsletter (written for a homeowner association population that, like me, is slowly going blind), it doesn't look good to me. Might be fine for everybody else though.

It's been a long day. Maybe after a good night's sleep EVERY typeface will look great!!! Ya think??
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Old 01-30-2008, 06:45 AM   #4
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My longish reply to you got eaten up in our recent server failure, but I will try to recreate it.

I suggested you consider using a contemporary slab-serif font, such as PMN Caecilia or Chaparral, both available in OpenType format from Adobe (and others).

I have used both of these with success on a variety of jobs, including newsletters. They are readable and easy to set, with a good range of weights (Caecilia is the better for that, as it also has small caps). Besides those essential virtues, though, they are also warm-looking, kind of cheerful and welcoming.

I would not justify the text — let it run ragged right.
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Old 01-30-2008, 08:20 AM   #5
Gerry Kowarsky
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clayton View Post
Perhaps somebody can suggest a typeface that not only converts well into PDF for screen viewing but into good printed copy as well? I do have access to T1 typefaces.
In a newsletter I used to edit, I was very happy with 10 point Adobe Utopia both on screen and in print. Four Utopias (regular, italic, bold, and bold italic) are available in Adobe's Type Basics Opentype Edition. The collection costs less then the four fonts would separately. Also in the collection are four Chaparalls, which KT recommended in another reply.

Your mentioning News 701 through 706 suggests to me that you acquired a collection of Bitstream fonts along with a Corel product. If so, you might want to look at Charter and Dutch 811, bitstream's version of Matthew Carter's Olympian. According to one listing I've seen, Corel Draw X3 has Charter's small caps and oldstyle figures, but I can't verify that information myself.
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Old 01-30-2008, 09:13 AM   #6
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Quote:
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I would not justify the text — let it run ragged right.
Why is that?

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Old 01-30-2008, 09:56 AM   #7
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Quote:
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Why is that?
Several reasons. For one thing, a newsletter is usually informal, and informality is better conveyed by ragged type. And these slab-serifs are informal looking, anyway.

It is also much more difficult to set justified than ragged type. It calls for skill and a good eye, and at least some manual tweaking, even with wonder programs like InDesign. That level of effort is out of scale for a newsletter, and most editors are not interested in mastering the finer points of typography, anyway.

These typefaces are much easier to read when spaced naturally — that is without squeezing or widening word spaces, as must occur with justification (that, combined with control over hyphenation, is essentially what justification is).

Besides that, you cannot have good spacing with short lines, and newsletters tend to have two or three columns. If you want an example of this problem, look at any newspaper — newspapers rarely take time to fuss about typography, and the results can be hideous, especially when they try to run type around a picture.

Do you want your newsletter to look as if it were produced hastily in a slap-dash way? I would recommend against it.

If you want more formality, Gerry’s suggestion of Utopia might make more sense. I used that for years for the quarterly newsprint magazine I produced for the UNA, and the client loved it. It is readable, easy to set, and easy to read.

And I agree about Charter, too. I didn’t know anyone was bundling the small caps (but you can buy them from Carter & Cone, anyway).

Those are all good choices for newsletters. Among other things, they should all survive photocopying or faxing pretty well — people often do that with newsletters.

   
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Old 01-30-2008, 11:49 AM   #8
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And I agree about Charter, too. I didn’t know anyone was bundling the small caps (but you can buy them from Carter & Cone, anyway).
Myfonts.com has the small caps, too.

Last edited by ktinkel; 01-30-2008 at 12:52 PM. Reason: fixed broken quote
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Old 01-30-2008, 12:26 PM   #9
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Several reasons. For one thing, a newsletter.....
That's all interesting. I want to talk about this some more as I'm looking at my booklets again, and I can't make up my mind about some things. I like how you even consider the position of the thumb, and I do study how that thumb fits. But I got some stuff going on, so I'll start a new thread a bit later.

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Old 01-30-2008, 12:51 PM   #10
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That's all interesting. I want to talk about this some more as I'm looking at my booklets again, and I can't make up my mind about some things. I like how you even consider the position of the thumb, and I do study how that thumb fits. But I got some stuff going on, so I'll start a new thread a bit later.
At your leisure!

   
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