My font dilemma
OK, I need your help on this one. When I was designing the iPrioritize logo (long before the site design was started), I chose the font Myriad Web Pro because I thought it looked best. So when I started working on the site, I again chose Myriad Web Pro for the site. From what I researched, it's an Adobe font (meaning you have to pay for it) that became popular when Apple started using it in their marketing and packaging in 2002.
So I think Myriad Web Pro is the PERFECT font for iPrioritize. Much like Apple and their products, I want the iPrioritize brand to convey simplicity and style. The problem is, however, that Myriad Web Pro does not come installed by default on Windows (it does come installed on Mac's). Here's a picture of what iPrioritize looks like with Myriad Web Pro.
As any site designer knows, you have the option to specify a backup font in case users don't have your primary font (which will obviously happen quite often with iPrioritize). The problem is that I can't find a font that everyone has that I feel makes iPrioritize consistently look close to as good as it does with Myriad.
My solution was NOT to specify a backup font. For most people, that means that they see the site in Times New Roman (a pretty ugly font in my opinion) BUT they have the option of changing it to whatever font they like in the settings for their browser. So if they like Arial or Verdana, it's just a matter of changing their preferences in their browser.
Now I ask you, would it be better for me to pick the second best font (in my opinion), which would probably be Arial Narrow, or should I continue to let most people see the site in Times New Roman (which is less than desired) knowing that they can change it if they want?
So I think Myriad Web Pro is the PERFECT font for iPrioritize. Much like Apple and their products, I want the iPrioritize brand to convey simplicity and style. The problem is, however, that Myriad Web Pro does not come installed by default on Windows (it does come installed on Mac's). Here's a picture of what iPrioritize looks like with Myriad Web Pro.
As any site designer knows, you have the option to specify a backup font in case users don't have your primary font (which will obviously happen quite often with iPrioritize). The problem is that I can't find a font that everyone has that I feel makes iPrioritize consistently look close to as good as it does with Myriad.
My solution was NOT to specify a backup font. For most people, that means that they see the site in Times New Roman (a pretty ugly font in my opinion) BUT they have the option of changing it to whatever font they like in the settings for their browser. So if they like Arial or Verdana, it's just a matter of changing their preferences in their browser.
Now I ask you, would it be better for me to pick the second best font (in my opinion), which would probably be Arial Narrow, or should I continue to let most people see the site in Times New Roman (which is less than desired) knowing that they can change it if they want?
5 Comments:
Hey, Adam.
I think it's best to leave it without a back-up font. As long as users know it's "customizable," it should be fine. Besides, people enjoy being able to tweak things themselves.
Thanks for the great feedback Tonya...that's the way I feel as well.
To: Adam McFarland
Dear Mr. McFarland,
Just started using iPrioritize an hour ago, but it looks like I'll be using it for a long time.
I ran into a problem so I happened upon your blog while I was looking for a fix to the problem. (more on the problem later.)
At your blog I read "My font dilemma", and here is my suggestion.
Take a look at the "Comic Sans MS" font. I have been using it for quite some time now as my primary font. I find it to be a simple,clean looking and easy to read font.
I hope you will check it out and consider it.
Now about the problem:
After typing in a new entry to add to my list, when I click on 'add' I get sent to that infamous page that says: "The page cannot be displayed".
When I hit the back button it returns me to the previous page and the new entry is entered properly.
This also happens with other functions of your program.
The question is, Is this normal behavior and if not what can I do to correct it?
I can work with it the way it is, but it is a bit of a pain.
Thanks for a very usefull program.
Best regards,
Howard
Howard,
Thank you very much for the font suggestion, I will look into that font.
As far as your other problem, that should definitely not be happening. I'm going to send you an email now and ask you a few questions to hopefully debug the issue, and I'll do a post about the solution if I think it's something that other users will benefit from.
I am a web/UI designer and I would strongly advise you to specify your second font.
Most people who use iPrioritize (like it or not, most of them will certainly be PC users) will assume Times New Roman is the font you have chosen - and, as you mentioned, it is not the prettiest font out there.
If they dislike the look and feel (the font) they will probably stop using your site before they ever think of changing their preferences.
The people who enjoy (or know how to, or care about) tweaking fonts in their browser preferences are less than 1% of your users - I guarantee you that.
As a rule of thumb, giving users too many options is not as great of an idea as it may sound at first. People who want to prioritize things don't have that kind of time. Let them focus on the tasks they use iPrioritize for, not on making them improve the application in any way. That's the developer's job.
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