Many system fonts aren’t good. The Windows and Mac OS libraries have improved, but they’re still minefields of awful fonts. I won’t name names, but my least favorite rhymes with Barial.
Many system fonts have been optimized for the screen, not print. This comes at the cost of design details, which have been sanded off because they don’t reproduce well on screen (e.g., Georgia, Verdana, Cambria, and Calibri). Screen-optimized fonts look clunky on the printed page.
Compare the two fonts above. In basic appearance, they’re similar. But Georgia was optimized for the screen; Miller was optimized for print. See the difference?
All system fonts are overexposed. Because these fonts are included with billions of computers, they’re used all the time. Not every typography project demands novelty. But if yours does, look elsewhere. For instance, please don’t adopt the slogan
“A Design Firm Unlike Any Other” and then set it in Helvetica.
If you’re limited to system fonts, consult this chart and choose wisely. For print, the A list is best. For screen display, like presentations and websites, the A and B lists are fine. They’re also suitable for sharing draft documents. Avoid the C list if you can. F list, kapu.
Fonts plausible for body text are marked with ★. Others are usable for special purposes (for instance, letterhead).
This chart includes all the common Windows and Mac system fonts, plus the Microsoft Office fonts. System configurations differ, so not every font will be on your computer.
These rankings represent a blend of practical and aesthetic considerations, not absolute merit. Some fonts on the F list aren’t bad. They’re just inapt for professional writing. Similarly, some fonts on the A list are not my favorites, but they’re reasonably useful.
The A list: Generally tolerable
Avenir ★
Bell MT ★
Book Antiqua ★
Californian FB ★
Calisto MT ★
Century Schoolbook ★
Charter ★
Franklin Gothic ★
Garamond ★
Gill Sans ★
Gill Sans MT ★
Goudy Old Style ★
Helvetica ★
Helvetica Neue ★
Hoefler Text ★
Iowan Old Style ★
Optima ★
Palatino ★
Seravek ★
Sitka ★
The B list: OK in limited doses
Big Caslon
Bodoni MT
ITC Bodoni 72
Calibri ★
Candara
Centaur
Constantia
Corbel
Futura ★
Geneva
Gloucester MT Extra Cond.
High Tower Text ★
Modern No. 20
Perpetua ★
Rockwell
Segoe UI ★
Tw Cen MT ★
The C list: Questionable
Baskerville ★
Berlin Sans FB
Bernard MT Condensed
Cambria ★
Castellar
Century Gothic
Cochin
Consolas
Cooper Black
Courier
Courier New
Didot
Elephant
Engravers MT
Eras ITC
Felix Titling
Georgia
Haettenschweiler
Impact
Lucida (all styles)
Maiandra GD
Menlo
Niagara Solid & Engraved
Onyx
Plantagenet Cherokee
Skia
Times New Roman ★
The F list: Fatal to your credibility
American Typewriter
Apple Casual
Apple Chancery
Arial (all styles)
Bauhaus 93
Blackadder
ITC Bradley Hand
ITC Britannic Bold
Broadway
Brush Script MT
Bookman Old Style
Century
Chalkboard
Chalkduster
Chiller
Colonna MT
Comic Sans MS
Copperplate
Curlz MT
Edwardian Script ITC
Footlight MT Light
Forte
Freestyle Script
French Script MT
Gabriola
Gigi
Goudy Stout
Harlow Solid Italic
Harrington
Herculanum
Imprint MT Shadow
Informal Roman
Jokerman
Juice ITC
Kristen ITC
Kunstler Script
Luminari
Magneto
Marker Felt
Matura MT Script Capitals
Mistral
Monaco
Monotype Corsiva
Noteworthy
OCR A Extended
Old English Text MT
Palace Script MT
Papyrus
Parchment
Playbill
Phosphate
Poor Richard
Pristina
Rage Italic
Ravie
Savoye
Script MT Bold
Segoe Print
Segoe Script
SignPainter
Snap ITC
Snell Round
Stencil
Showcard Gothic
Tahoma
Tempus Sans ITC
Trattatello
Trebuchet MS
Verdana
Viner Hand ITC
Vivaldi
Vladimir Script
Wide Latin
Zapfino
… and all others
“My PDF will probably be read on screen. Shouldn’t I use a screen-optimized system font?” No. In Windows, certain system fonts (e.g., Georgia, Calibri) have been optimized by Microsoft for user-interface purposes. This is accomplished withhinting , which is extra software code stored in the font itself. Windows relies on this hinting when it draws text on screen (e.g., in Microsoft Word, or in a web browser).Due to advances in display technology, the screen-legibility advantage of these particular system fonts is rapidly evaporating—see screen-reading considerations for why. Furthermore, any PDF could also end up being printed. Therefore, as a rule, you’re better off using print-optimized fonts for PDFs.
“But if I use a print-optimized professional font in my PDF instead of a system font, my readers probably won’t have the same font installed.” Right. But it doesn’t matter. When you generate a PDF, your fonts are embedded in the PDF to preserve the formatting.This is not true, however, on the web. Web browsers use the text rendering of the operating system. Thus, in Windows browsers, screen-optimized system fonts have traditionally held an advantage, because they look good and they’re already installed. (Indeed, the Microsoft fonts Georgia and Verdana were specifically created for web use.) But this advantage is rapidly fading with the advent of screen-optimized webfonts and the general shift toward higher-resolution screens. Still, for now, using professional fonts on a website requires a little more legwork than it does in PDF.
Yes, I dislike Arial more than Comic Sans. Though it’s the undisputed king of the goofy fonts, Comic Sans is at least honest about what it is. But Arial is merely a bland, zero-calorie Helvetica substitute.
For many, the two are indistinguishable. But for typographers, Arial contains none of the consistency and balance that makes Helvetica successful.
Still, the main issue is overuse. After decades as a system font, Arial has achieved a ubiquity that rivals Times New Roman. And like Times New Roman, Arial is permanently associated with the work of people who will never care about typography.
You’re not one of those people. So use Avenir. Use Franklin Gothic. Use Gill Sans. Use one of the fonts listed in Helvetica and Arial alternatives. Or use something completely different. But don’t use Arial. It’s the sans serif of last resort.