Proper Font Selection Can Make a Difference By Jeffrey Moses from The National Federation on Independent Business Presenter: Ellen Aldrich

Overview Introduction Why is the font important? Differences in fonts Do’s and Don’t regarding fonts and document design Summary

Introduction There has been an increase in at-home publishing occurring for small businesses, but some people are not aware of the importance of the fonts they use. Software such as Microsoft Office makes thousands of fonts available to users. This enables the user to have the opportunity to pick the right fonts, or the wrong ones just as easily. When selecting a font to use in readable printed documents, serious thought is needed, or the efforts of the creator go to waste.

Why is the font important? If businesses have printed material that is difficult to read, then the customer will stop reading, and vice versa. The document is useless if the reader can not clearly and easily read it. Font selection can limit or enhance the readability of a document. Small font size can make documents too hard to read Words being too close together can make documents difficult to read Simple or basic fonts, makes documents easier to read.

Differences in Fonts There are traditional font styles and there are non- traditional font styles Traditional font styles Simple and basic Do not have swirls or unusual shapes Examples: Times Roman, Helvetica, Garamond, Bookman, Geneva, Optima, Courier Non-traditional fonts styles These fonts are flashy and unique They are sometimes difficult to read Examples: Curlz, Chiller, Jokerman, Brush Script, Old English

Do’s Use a traditional font- mentioned earlier Use appropriate font sizes Size 12 for business documents Larger fonts used for headlines or flyers Make sure headlines and subtitles are in a font size larger than your text. Subtitles should have a smaller text than headlines but larger than the text Leave some blank spaces on the document so it not does look cluttered

Layout your documents so that the lines of text do not run too close into the margins An average line of text should be 40 characters in length Have your unfinished documents looked over by another person so they can make suggestions for improving your design Take a desktop-publishing course or purchase a book, in order to create successful business documents

Dont’s Use italics frequently Italics should be used for names or books or periodicals, not for fun. Place the lines of text too close together or too far apart Poor decisions in spacing can make the document difficult to read Create a document with white letters on a dark background Research shows that the contrast in color make documents difficult to read

Use asterisks when you are making a list Use bullets or numbers This feature is available in Microsoft software to make it easier for the user Use more the three font styles in a single document Using more than 3 may make your document look tacky and unprofessional Use fonts that look like handwriting in a document Fonts that mimic handwriting tend to be difficult to read and should only be used on flyers if the size is large enough

Conclusion The decisions one makes about the font and design of a document in the business world is very important. The font needs to be easily read and the size needs to be appropriate. The creator should never use a font that is difficult to read, or the document will never get read. Always keep in mind the Do’s and Dont’s when creating a document so you come up with the best finished product.