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Different fonts have different characters and purposes. This activity shows examples from some common style groups. How do you think they might be used?
Arial is a sans serif font used for body text. In general, sans serif fonts have no extra decoration, so each individual letter stands out clearly. Arial also has a high 'x' height, which means the body of each letter is comparatively large. Because of this, Arial is recommended as an accessible font, both for print and screen.
Comic Sans is a cartoon style font used for body text. Comic Sans is a purpose-designed screen font, originally intended for use with cartoon illustrations for children. While it has an informal feel, each letter is simple, clear and consistent. Because of this, Comic Sans is often used in information text for young people.
Bradley Hand is a script or calligraphic font. Calligraphic fonts are intended to imitate handwritten text (Bradley Hand uses samples from the designer's own handwriting). Like natural handwriting, letters tend to run together, and may be inconsistent in form. This helps give the style its character, which can be very effective for 'featured' text, like quotes.
Times Roman is a serif font used for body text. (The 'serifs' are the fine cross-lines at the ends of each stroke.) Times Roman was originally designed for print using traditional letterpress techniques. It has a small 'x' height as it was designed to fit as many words per legible page as possible. On screen however, and at larger sizes, Times Roman can be less easy to read than the simpler sans serif fonts.
Impact is a display font. Display fonts are designed for use at larger sizes, to be eye-catching and legible from a distance. They are used for the main titles on posters, book jackets, magazine covers, website banners. Because they are intended to stand out from other content and may be highly stylised, display fonts are less suitable for body text.
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