If you have ever taken a calligraphy course, you have probably used these scripts. Every time I was hungry, I found myself immediately drawn to a Ratskeller or Biergarten (not because I like meat or drink beer-I don't) but because I love the old German Gothic and Fraktur typeface-an old German serif script with thick letters and thin strokes (See the image above). To illustrate the above point, in February of 2019, I spent time along Bavaria's (Germany) Romantic Road. As an online course designer, you can take a piece of online content and use different typefaces to give it a more appealing, professional and attractive look to keep eyes on your site (and do with little cost). This fact creates a good deal of design pressure, but also offers a lot of design flexibility. Conversely, users are far more likely to leave a webpage or website whose typeface they do not like (Wheildon, 2005). Essentially, online learners will engage more with content that is presented in a typeface that they like. That initial emotional reaction affects the learner’s direct engagement with content. Obviously then, since so much online course content uses text, the typefaces we use to present information affect the learner’s initial perceptions of that content. Typeface subliminally provokes emotional responses that affect how we perceive content-as clean, crisp, elegant, modern or cluttered, chaotic or outdated (BBC News, 2010). Typeface Influences Engagement And Attitudeįirst, typeface gives personality to a website or body of text. In fact, research suggests that typeface (fonts) have a powerful, though understated and not entirely understood, role in online learning. Online course designers are selling a learning experience, and our choice of fonts communicates something about that learning experience. Online course designers may not believe we face the same design pressures of commercial web developers who must carefully select fonts to encapsulate the essence of a product they want to sell. Interesting enough, you may think, but what does this have to do with online learning? Well, quite a bit, actually. Figure 2 explains the difference and shows the subtle differences among each.įigure 2: Typeface classifications (Serif and Sans Serif)Īll of this-types, structure, typeface, fonts-is part of “typography”-the art and technique of arranging type-that is, letters and characters (Leaning, 2014). There are two broad classifications of typeface-serif and sans serif fonts. To understand parts of the typeface, go here. Going back to Figure 1, if you were to click on the arrow to the right of the typeface names in that image, you’d see the various fonts associated with that typeface (normal, bold, italic, oblique).Īs you may know, if you have taken calligraphy, typography, or graphic design course, each typeface has a specific structure. So, essentially “fonts” are collections of all the characters of a typeface (the specific letterform design of an alphabet), including capital and lowercase letters, numerals and punctuation marks (BBC News, 2010). Let’s take Helvetica, the world’s most common typeface (and the subject of its own movie!). Alternatively-the font is what you use the typeface is what you see (Florendo, cited in Vartanian, 2010). The font is the delivery mechanism (Sherman, cited in Vartanian, 2010). In other words, the typeface is the creation.

Two analogies may help in understanding the difference. In our Digital Age, we now use “typeface” and “font” interchangeably. In fact, what we call “fonts” are actually “typeface.” For example, if you look at Figure 1, a normal list of “fonts” in Microsoft Word, what you see in fact is typeface (Abadi MT, Arial, etc.). But first, a quick overview of Fonts and Typeface 101. In this article, we discuss the power of fonts in online learning. We may not give them a lot of thought, but the modest little font is a powerful part of online learning and the overall online experience.

How Fonts Influence Learning And How To Find Your Typeĭo you have a favorite font? How about fonts you hate (Times New Roman, anyone)? Do you ever leave a webpage because you don’t like the fonts? (An estimated 75% of web users do!) Do you find yourself playing around with fonts to get the right look and feel for an online product.?

Romantic microsoft word fonts