Love it or hate it, you see it everywhere on the internet.Along with the ubiquitous Verdana, bloggers the world over have succumbed to the charm of this late-bloomer font.
We're talking Georgia, okay?
Though the name might imply southern homestyle cooking, there's nothing homestyle about this sassy little font. Check out its sweet serifs, and the cool way it does numbers: especially 5, 2 and 3 (note the almost lyrical variation in the string 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
It reads nicely too, don't you think? So much nicer than this, or this. And infinitely nicer than this. (Do I hear even one dissenting voice on that last one?)
Georgia is a font born to be loved by computers. Created at the behest of a certain software company back in 1996, this font was a concession to the reality many of us live with: hours and hours each day behind a computer screen.
We need fonts that read well on the screen - because the screen is not the printed page. That was the charge given to a font designer in 1996: to come up with two sans serif fonts and one serif font for on-screen use. Matthew Carter, we thank thee.
For those who don't like it: relax. Go and bury your head in a book; at least you'll be safe from Georgia there.
5 comments:
Ah yes. I spend my days dealing between arial, verdana and georgia (trebuchet isn't bad for something different).
Its interesting how shortly after their introduction as screen fonts they were also widely used and accepted as fonts for print as well (at least in the home newsletter market).
Is that a sign of great design spanning mediums, or just the ingenuity of users?
That's an interesting question.
I've never seen Georgia or Verdana in serious quantities of print, so I can't really comment on how they read. What's your take on it?
I know how I feel about large slab printings of Arial, but for the sake of world peace I'll keep that one to myself.
For a font that's only 12 years' old, it seems that Georgia has already been through a death and resurrection; apparently its popularity has increased again in the last few years.
Y'know I LIKE times new roman! I always use it! Maybe I need to "get hip"!!!!
I actually wrote my (B Sc Hons) thesis in trebuchet back in 1997; I can't really look at it any more (neither the font nor the thesis, actually).
I don't mind Georgia, but I guess if I'm printing something at the moment, it's likely to be greek (and I'm not really a fan of any of the Greek fonts I've seen), or Helvetica Neue.
I had a sneaking suspicion that talking about fonts mind bring a lurker or two out of the woodwork.
It's a topic people feel very deeply about.
Erika - I would never have picked you for a Times person! You're right; you need to 'get hip'! Repent.
Dave - we all eagerly await the entry into the marketplace of the funky Phillips Greek font. Complete with gold chains.
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