Font Size?
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- cubanhaze
What font size (in points) for body copy, using helvetica bold on a slightly bigger than A4 page would you recommend?
I'm using 10 and at the mom. and think it looks good, but is that too small? (I dont have time to print anything and the client doesnt have time to review... straight into production and its 4 tmr...)
Thanks!
- Amicus0
plenty big enough for a young audience, although a bold weight for body copy isn't all that friendly.
for a senior audience you might want to go a little larger.
- cubanhaze0
yeah im a fan of smaller text, but compensated with the bold .... maybe i should just go 11pt and regular...
- shitehawke0
Whats the end product, brochure, ad in a newspaper, ad in a magazine, handout/flyer type thingy?
10pt helvetica is plenty big for most things but without further info, its hard to say. And if you can, always do a print test, even if its just a shitty b&w, it'll eliminate a further headache down the line when they say 'its illegible/ too small/ i thought it was going to be comic sans, et etc.'
- ckentish0
How long is a piece of string!? Always print a draft first - even if a poor quality to check sizes - things look v.different on paper to on screen - you may have a nasty surprise...
- cubanhaze0
its for a 281mm(w)*388mm(h) mag ad
So you think 10 pt helvetica regular would be fine?
- I think it would be fine, but I also think Tom Cruise is an android. Also, buy a printer, even a little inkjet.shitehawke
- LOL yeah usually do motion stuff but I will choose to Trust the QBN™cubanhaze
- < oof. That last thought was a bad idea.luckyorphan
- cubanhaze0
i dont have a printer... :S
- cubanhaze0
Thank You !
- shitehawke0
I should also add a disclaimer than I am not liable for loss of earnings due to advice I give on here.
Find a cheap digital printer locally or even an internet cafe that'll let you print a pdf from a key or disk. It will help you till you get a printer.
Did I suggest buying a printer yet?
- mydo0
make a blank mock up of the magazine using paper, then photography it on your desk next to your computer and hand and a packet of cigarettes and a coin and a pen. then open that image in photoshop. then make copy of your design and paste that in to your fake magazine photo. then make that full screen remove all your tool bars and put your face close enough to the screen that it looks real. then you can judge without the need for a printer. this is the best way.
you do have a camera?
- jaylarson0
using helvetica for body copy, @ 10 pt especially, will look a bit off. helvetica is a display face, not made for body copy.
- that's not true at all...Helvetica makes a perfectly good copy typemonospaced
- Hence my suggestion to listen to QBN at your own risk.luckyorphan
- ...of course, don't listen to me on that.luckyorphan
- cubanhaze0
any suggestions jaylarson? thx
- jaylarson0
univers would work, and maybe even antique olive.
- monospaced0
jaylarson, I'm dumbfounded by your statement that Helvetica is "not made for body copy," but that Univers "would work."
First, who told you this? And, why would you suggest that Univers works when Helvetica doesn't? They're very similar, especially at body copy sizes.
- gramme0
Don't use Helvetica bold for copy. It's OK for highlights, but heavy-handed with too much color for a paragraph.
Helvetica has a large x-height, so IMO 10 pt is a bit large. I recommend 9 pt, 12 pt leading, 5 pt tracking. Done.
- gramme0
Use the Light (45) weight for copy, or maybe Regular (55) if you're reversing out of a solid.
- luckyorphan0
Maybe post a comp as-is for crit? Just with the typesetting?
- gramme0
BTW Jay, I'm not a very big fan of Helvetica in general (I prefer Gotham, National, Benton, or even Univers for grotesques on most occasions), but it's not a display face. It works perfectly fine for text. That said, it does get boorish if you try to set a lengthy brochure or book in Helvetica. It's too stripped-down. Same for Univers. More detailed grotesques or humanists look better for long distance reading, if one must use a sans.
- jaylarson0
live and learn, live and learn.