Some people (I say ‘some people’ – mainly writers) have a font that they prefer typing in. I’ve quite liked both Calibri and Century Gothic for a long time. There’s one client that asks for all copy to be set in Arial, and the rest of the time Helvetica will usually do.
The manner in which I type is about to change, as there’s a new font on the block. Words now appear on my laptop screen in newcomer Proxima Nova Regular.
You can’t see it in this sentence, as the Funny Women website uses something else. (Which I do like using.) But, for the curious, this is what Proxima Nova looks like:
My first impression was… sort of… neutral. I don’t hate it, for the record. I will never hate a font quite so vehemently as I hate Comic Sans. Shudder. That’s a very special kind of dislike.
But this new one feels just ‘comfortable’ to use. It doesn’t launch an all-out assault on the eyes. It isn’t squiggly or designed to look like a child’s crayon scrawl. It’s clean, and easy to read, and blends in. In that way, I guess it works perfectly.
Just like music has an effect on mood, I find that the typeface I’m using has a direct impact on how I write. Let’s face it, in Wingdings I could be writing pretty much anything and it wouldn’t make a difference. Times New Roman feels very formal, serious and straight-faced. Papyrus is the kind of font you’d use to create a ‘Car Boot Sale’ poster.
Proxima’s impact on my writing, so far, has been to tidy it up. I feel like my sentences in this piece have been shorter on average than usual. What do you reckon?
