TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I've tried to stay out of this one. I really have. But I am weak.
1. I have not seen the articles, but I am highly skeptical of the
validity of the "studies"; I'd want to know something about the peer
review process used by the journal. Do any of the reviewers know
anything about type? Anything about statistics? Anything about the
design of experiments? Just asking.
2. I cannot imagine what this subject has to do with technical
communications. Yes, fonts convey different moods (to that small subset
of the reading public that has any sensitivity whatever to font choice),
largely based on cultural conditioning. But SO WHAT???? As much as I
avoid Times New Roman and Arial in my personal life (going so far as to
cross a street to avoid shaking their hands), I have never encountered a
design challenge in _technical_ communications that could not be
adequately met with one or both of these two faces.
3. I have lots of fonts on my PC, but I don't use the majority of them.
I find that a small collection of well crafted fonts suffices for 99% of
the design work I do. Wanna talk about the moods conveyed by fonts in
advertising and marcomm? I'm your guy. Wanna talk about font choices for
tech comm? Arial and/or Times New Roman. That's all you need to know
about font selection. Spend time learning something about page layout,
instead. Don't sweat the fonts.
Harrumph!
Dick
--
Fondling fonts since 1960. Yes, really.
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