Would you judge a book by it's FONT?

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Topcho
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Re: Would you judge a book by it's FONT?

Post by Topcho »

Mmm... I wouldn't say I'd judge it... but it may affect my experience with the book. Tho I would probably try not to reflect it with my rating. Usually I LOVE unique or weird fonts when used to make an emphasis. Sometimes, however, it goes too far. I had a book once, where they used some kind of gothic font for chapter titles, some charaters and in other places. After glancing on it, I was like "Wait, what is this? What language is this?"

Tiny letters can be a bother too. They slow me down, especially when I am tired and read late in the evening. But when the font is too big, it's no good either. Then I have the feeling the author just had the need to fll those pages... like I do when I'm writing a paper, lol.
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Post by originaloflaura »

I'm usually not particular about fonts if they aren't noticeably bad ones. COMIC SANS definitely springs to mind. As does that one that looks like it's trying to imitate ancient Egyptian... I think it's PAPYRUS? (HERCULANUM looks that way too.) Those are my biggest pet peeves, along with the unreadable "computer" fonts where you can't tell if the letter is a D or an O... that sort of thing. Otherwise, if it's readable, I'm not too bothered.

P.S. I just remembered some of those REALLY old fonts, from the 1800s and earlier, where the lower-case Fs look like Ss... yeah, not a fan of those, either. But those are usually only in really old printings, and sometimes get scanned wrong by places like Project Gutenberg, so they can be a real stumbling block when you're reading and trying to figure out what on earth gibberish this author wrote!
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Post by Christinar81 »

I guess I've never really paid attention to the fonts in my books. So I would say no different fonts don't bother me. The only thing that does is if it's too small. It makes me strain and that can distract me from the story. Now I'm going to pay more attention to the fonts. Guess I just figured they were all the same.
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Post by kimmyschemy06 »

Now that the question was asked I think yes. Some fonts are just too difficult to read like Edwardian Script, it looks pretty but too stressful for my eyes. I usually go for Times New Roman, Arial and Avant Garde.
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Post by Scerakor »

I thoroughly understand that there is such thing as a "incorrect" or "unprofessional" font, but to dislike that choice to the point where I cannot finish a book, nor appreciate its content: no. I have had the opposite effect where pleasing additions, modifications, or highlights have been made in attractive fonts, and that has ADDED something, but never taken away.
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Post by MrsCatInTheHat »

Not necessarily but if it's hard to read because of the font, I might skip it.
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Post by raeryn »

I generally judge books by their cover, since that's the first thing I notice, but I think I would only judge the font of a book if it is distracting and inessential to the book (since some books are in file/letter format). By the time I see the font, I'm probably already interested in reading the book.
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Post by Ajgird »

Sometimes I have trouble reading certain font, so i won't bother reading the book. I feel like I am quite picky with the fonts that I like to read in especially with E-books.
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Post by ifeoma obike »

Yes, books with tiny fonts or fonts without much spacing appears boring to me and even if it is interesting i still have hard a time reading it. I can't finish a book with such fonts in a sitting because it makes me watery-eyed and gives me headache sometimes. Most universities in my country uses Times New Roman as the standard font for project and thesis writing, any other font will automatically make your work to be rejected.
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Post by classicaltwist »

I do most of my reading on my Kindle nowadays, so thankfully the font and size are already set to my preference. But for physical books, I've never run into a book that's put me off by its font. It would be in a font that would be irritating to read for long periods of time, like Papyrus. I can't imagine any decent publisher allowing that, though.
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Post by KiMB00P »

Fonts don't matter to me at all. It seems that most books use a similar font family. And plus, I've only read Ebooks in the last 8 years so I can change it if I really wanted too.
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Post by Kitkat3 »

Yes, I will still read a book even if I don't like the font, but I certainly have a preference. I tend to prefer a small, typewriter style font instead of a larger font appearing "computer-made." I'm also more likely to buy/check out a book with pages that I like. You know how some books have really thin pages like most Bibles and others are thicker? Also, there are different colors. Some pages are super white, some grey, some yellowish. I tend to prefer thicker pages with a yellow cast. I'm not sure why I prefer that I just do. :roll2:
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Post by Lest92 »

I'm not too fond of sans serif, while Palatino Linotype is soft on the eye while being neat and readable. Times New Roman seems so unimaginative these days when there are so many font options.
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Post by Mickiee »

ALynnPowers wrote:I used to have a boss who was from a different English speaking country than me, and she would get irrationally angry if we wrote ANY document in a font outside of what she personally considered acceptable. There was only ONE that she deemed suitable... can't remember which one it was, but they looked exactly the same to me except for the lowercase t not being curled at the bottom. Obviously the font I am using right now would not be tolerated in her present. I might also mention that she is the biggest expletive in the history of the universe and she gives everyone from her country a bad name. 8)
OMG! This made me giggle! Just picturing you handing in something and just about wanting to use 'comic' font or something just to tick her off!

Having said that, I know several professors who are also a bit umm obsessed with uniformity with all thier student papers.

But as to the topic on hand, I enjoy different types of fonts. I find it brings out the spirit of the author and maybe a concept of the book,such as a journal type feel with a 'script' type font. But! Having said that, legibility is the biggest key factor no matter what they use. If it's hard on the eyes, it's not going to fly with me.
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Post by Henrytbab »

It matters to some extent. A very curly font would be bad for a book.
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