What font should I use for my paper?

[NSFL]

I've had enough of Times New Roman. It's been 4 years now, we're breaking up. So now I need a new font. What do you all suggest? I need something professional and is easy for profs to read. The less strain on their eyes, the better chance they'll be in a good mood to give me a good grade.

[evman150]

Guided by your criteria, I would suggest Times New Roman.

LOL, I dunno. I would recommend sucking it up and using TNR.

[4X4]

Bookman Old Style GMV

[icarus]

What course is it? If it is English, use Times New Roman. If it is science or engineering, use Arial as some science profs don't like the cute curly Q's when reading. I wouldn't use anything other than those two.

[Winsor_Pilates]

I would use Times New Roman, and Ariel if I needed it to be longer. One of the best Uni tricks around.
An 8 page paper in Times, is about a 10 in Ariel.

[iggypop]

I wouldnt risk losing marks over a measly font. Does Times New Roman really actually bother you? APP and MLA both require TNR so I dont see why you would risk possibly losing marks over something so minor.

[NSFL]

To be honest, the prof hasn't mentioned a single thing about it. It's just a very small paper. But TNR has started to look a bit double on me. Probably a trick of the eye. So I take it you all suggest I get back with TNR...I suppose I could write it in a different font and then change it back to TNR.

It's a history/political science course.

What makes TNR so special anyhow?

[getbak]

Based on the stuff I've read, serifed fonts are easier to read in print, but san serifs work better on screen. Verdana, for example, is a font that was designed for on-screen presentation (and doesn't work as well in printed form).

Times New Roman is a font that was designed to be easy to read in print (it, or some close variation, is very common in newspapers, books, and magazines). It got its name from the fact that it was designed and first used by the Times newspaper in England.

If you really want to get away from TNR, Garamond would be a good serif alternative.

If you want to go san serif, either Arial or Helvetica would be best.

[NSFL]

Now what is a serifed font? What gives it serif qualities?

[getbak]

Serifs are hard to describe, so I'll let Wikipedia do it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif

Basically, they're the little bits hanging off the end of letters on a font. In print, it's believed that serifs allow the eye to more easily follow the flow of the letter forms, which makes the text easier to read.

Times New Roman is a serif font

Arial is a sans-serif font

Look at the lower-case "i" in both lines. In a sans-serif font, it's just a simple straight line with a dot above it. In the serif font, it has pedestal on the bottom and a little hook on the top of the straight line, those extra flourishes are the serifs. They don't make the letter look more like an "i", but they can make it easier to read.

[NSFL]

That's very interesting, I always wondered why TNR got that special status as the default font.

[BlackArcher101]

I actually like the looks of the new font microsoft office 2007 defaults to. Been using it in my business documents quite a bit.

[Ayrahb]

I sometimes used Palatino (similar to Book Antiqua) in college, but that is as adventurous as I ever got. I don't teach, but I really dislike longer documents written in funky fonts.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by NSFL

To be honest, the prof hasn't mentioned a single thing about it. It's just a very small paper.

It's a history/political science course.

Check your course outline. The font expectation may be in there.

If not, see if the outline makes reference to a specific style guide. MLA is pretty standard, but some social sciences have their own style guides. The style guide will tell you what font to use.

If it is a small paper like you say I am sure it wouldn't really matter, but you never know. Some profs like to nitpick, especially if everyone in the class is relatively on par with one another. It might also annoy the marker if every paper is TNR and then the next one on the pile is a different font that spoils the flow of the marker.

[ricosuave]

garamond.

[wpgflamesfan]

I know one of my teachers this year asked for Courier New on one of our assignments and then went on to tell us about how it's the easiest to read.

[octothorp]

If you want to go with a traditional serif, I'll second the vote for Garamond. However, for something more modern, go with a slab-serif; better readability than a sans, and yet more modern-looking than a regular serif. Bodini-Egyptian is a good example of a slab serif.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_serif

[The Goon]

I second Garamond.

[Resolute 14]

http://www.fontriver.com/font/group_sex/



(NSFW, if your boss is offended by stick figures...)

[CaramonLS]

Courier New will increase the size of the paper by a good deal, and it wont look like it either.

I had no problems using that font with profs.