Fixedsys is actually the oldest font in Windows. The name means fixed system, although it is often pronounced "fixed size" because its glyphs are monospace or fixed-width. It was the system font in Windows 1.0 and 2.0. For Windows 3.x, the system font was changed to MS Sans Serif. In Windows 95, 98, and Windows [...]

Typography is a discipline that goes back many centuries. With the revolution of desktop publishing came a level of typography that was only known to a select few. Today, the use of type by graphic and web designers has developed into an art in itself. Now sophisticated software enables anyone to be a type expert! Communication [...]

Arial is everywhere. If you don’t know what it is, you don’t use a modern personal computer. Arial is a font that is familiar to anyone who uses Microsoft products, whether on a PC or a Mac. It has spread like a virus through the typographic landscape and illustrates the pervasiveness of Microsoft’s influence in [...]

The Futura font is a popular font that enjoyed its heyday during the 20th century. This simple geometric sans serif design was developed in the late 1920s by Paul Renner and is believed to have launched the beginning of the 20th century’s sans serif love affair. The unconventional letter shapes, strict geometric outlines and a lack [...]

Think of the 60’s era and its advertising. What comes to mind? Style? Slick designs? Clean lines? That’s due in large part to Max Miedinger and his Helvetica font design. Even today, this is one of the world’s most popular fonts. The sans serif style font was developed in 1957 by Max Miedinger. With its clean [...]

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Ye Olde Publication needs some help. An Old English font is the perfect choice for advertisements, invitations, newsletters, flyers, greeting cards and any publication that demands a formal, hand-lettered, or engraved look. No other font quite compares to the distinguished look of the Old English font. In fact, the historic charm of [...]

A font relies strictly on text to convey a message and the message can be literally what a design is all about. The shape of the letters combined with the meaning of the words must work together to convey a company’s image. Successful typography often depends on making the right font choice along with the [...]

Microsoft is shipping great new fonts with its new operating system Windows Vista. You can download the fonts for free and legally as part of the 2007 version of the PowerPoint Viewer available through Microsoft’s website (link below). Install PowerPoint Viewer 2007 and the fonts will be available in your Windows system.  

There’s an interesting article at the Wichite State University website that deals with how a font choice in your email can change your recipient’s perception of your email. A sample email message was presented in three fonts (Calibri, Comic Sans, and Gigi). The three chosen fonts represented a high, medium, and low level of congruency for email [...]

There are many reasons why Helvetica is so widespread. The most obvious being that a few weights have been bundled with the Mac OS for years. It is arguably the most respectable of the ‘default’ fonts. But it’s also used because it’s a safe, neutral choice. For many purposes, typography is more about content than [...]