The impact of typeface

Details

Created on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 13:15

by Deborah Shawcross

A lot of thought is put into the typeface and design of a newspaper and many papers have made changes to stay visually appealing to readers. Words can be big or small but in the world of print news size does matter. A bold headline catches the eye of a reader but after they are hooked a slim text has to keep the sentences flowing.

A newspaper has a lot of options when it comes to typefaces. A typeface is the look of a letter; Times New Roman and Helvetica are just two examples. However, non-typologists often use the word font, which has become an all-purpose term when talking about type. Font actually refers to the size and other characteristics.  For instance Bulmer Bold and Bulmer Bold Italic are two fonts but one typeface.

The Globe and Mail is the most dramatic and recent typeface transformation, debuting a new look in October 2010.  Glossy pages and a custom typeface rebranded the national paper by giving it a more modern design.  Newspapers in Saskatchewan are not making such a dramatic change however they are tweaking words on paper and online to ensure readers have a pleasurable experience.

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has chosen to stick with what works by using fonts that are most commonly used in papers. News editor John Grainger believes using fonts like Times Roman, Helvetica and Franklin Gothic helps the newspaper remain consistent and not detract from what is being presented on the page.    

“It must look authoritarian, stately, have a nice clean appearance and be easy to read. You want to make sure the reader stays engaged in the article and the font is the basis of that,” said Grainger.

A change of typeface in the Star Phoenix would shock many readers so the real transformation is being made online at the paper’s website. A few years have passed since the complete redesign of the site and now people can enjoy larger fonts and more space between paragraphs. Before the improvements were made, online editor Dave Deibert received many complaints from readers who experienced eye strain. But the new site did not stop the criticisms.
 
“Even though it was better, people knew what they knew so they hated the new look and didn’t know where to find anything. Now that we have done it, people have gotten used to it,” said Deibert.

For student newspapers it is more of a learning process, as there is room to play with typefaces. The Carillon at the University of Regina currently uses three typefaces but at the start of year they had a total of five. Editor-in-chief John Cameron brought about the reduction and took on the task of researching new typefaces.
 
The Carillon selected Palatino, ICT Garamond and Frutiger as their main typefaces and the logo continues to be Helvetica. Throughout the process Cameron discovered the tacky side of typography. Jokerman, Curl MT and papyrus are typefaces that you will not see in the Carillon if Cameron has anything to do with it.

The website for the Carillon received a similar typeface edit, going from four to two. The main reason for the change was to become more web-compliant so the type will appear on the majority of computers, said technical coordinator Matthew Blackwell.

“We're not really pushing any boundaries in the font department on either site, really; it's all about maintaining a clean look and keeping things standard across platforms,” said Blackwell.

University of Regina students were polled on what popular newspaper type they liked the best and many picked Times New Roman, which is the typical typeface used for essays. However there were some alternative views.

“I’ve always liked Times New Roman. Crisp, clear, defined,” said Marshall St. John.  
 
“I like Miller just for the boldness of the letters and it also has that authoritative style to it,” said Ben Valiaho.

“You know what, I’m a Nimrod fan. Why? Because it reminds me of Courier New, which reminds me of typewriters, which I like,” said Rebecca Coppens.

Newspapers have the difficult task of finding typefaces that are easy to read and computer compatible. Based on reader responses, it appears Times New Roman is the safest bet.

Photo by Deborah Shawcross