#Is 4. lucida sans unicode a serif or sans serif windows
In any case, it’s a fairly simple design, and its prominence likely stems from its heavy use within various Windows applications. Arial is superficially similar to Helvetica, one of the most common sans-serif typefaces in use, although it actually has more in common with Univers. The most common sans-serif fonts online are Arial, Verdana and Trebuchet MS, available via Microsoft’s “Core fonts for the Web”. Sans-serif fonts for web headings and body copy And the third details the more specialist fonts that are available for various tasks, but that shouldn’t be used for body copy. The next talks about usage of serifs online. The first section deals with the most popular: sans-serif fonts. The following three sections explore the various fonts recommended for use online. See below for an example of a CSS font-stack.įont-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Lucida, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif
Although designers can specify “fall-back” fonts via a CSS font-stack, it’s pointless to use an esoteric and uncommon font as a first choice, since the vast majority of a site’s visitors will never see the type in the way the designer intended. Unlike in print, web designers cannot easily “inject” fonts into a design, and are therefore restricted the typefaces commonly installed across all platforms. Therefore, purely for reasons of legibility, sans-serif fonts are more popular online, although again designers should be wary of displaying even the boldest and most readable of sans-serif fonts at tiny sizes. Even with more modern PCs now able to anti-alias text, serif fonts can become indistinct if displayed at too small a size. Early PCs were not able to anti-alias text, leading to serifs at a small size becoming literally unreadable. Online, the low resolution of computer screens reduces the advantage of serifs. However, today’s print publications-especially in Europe-often use sans-serif fonts for body copy, due to their clean and modern appearance, despite potential usability issues. Typically, sans-serif fonts have been historically utilised for shorter blocks of text, such as headings, or other elements that need to be displayed in a bold manner, such as short passages on posters or adverts.
Flow is assisted by the serifs, making it easier to read a passage of text. Traditionally, serif fonts have been popular for body copy in printing, due to their readability. A comparison of sans-serif and serif characters can be seen in Figure 1.įigure 1: Left: sans-serif font Helvetica Neue right: serif font Baskerville. Sans-serif fonts (“sans-serif” literally translates as “without serif”) lack serifs. Serif fonts have serifs-non-structural details and elements on the ends of the strokes on some letters and symbols. Types of fontsįonts come in various styles, but most can be considered serif or sans-serif. This article looks at the fonts web designers have available to them, and also considers their suitability for various tasks.Īlong with exploring Microsoft’s “Core fonts for the Web” pack, which includes the most common online fonts, the article also looks at more recent typefaces that can work well online, along with briefly noting the new screen fonts created for Vista. Restrictions are still imposed however by the limited number of “common” fonts-those typefaces that are generally available cross-platform. Modern CSS provides web designers with an unprecedented level of control over online typography.