So, just what is the best font for body copy, and, does it even exist? This is an important design matter, yet it doesn’t seem to enjoy the level of attention it deserves. Is it because body copy tends to be small and uniform? Or perhaps it’s because it seems to offer less interesting design tasks? Whatever the reason, it’s the same old story: poor old body copy does all the work, while the headline basks in the design’s glory.
The purpose of a headline is clear: grab the attention. Short, snappy groups of words, and maybe some nice linguistic wordplay, all wrapped up in big, visually arresting fonts that shout “look at me!” It’s easy to see why so much attention is devoted to headlines and their contribution to a design.
Body copy on the other hand, is a very different beast, as are the design factors to consider in dealing with it. Copy delivers the bulk of your message; if your headline grabbed a potential reader for a second, your copy has to keep them with you for the whole journey – so this is a time, arguably more than any other, where function absolutely outweighs form.
For me, the absolute priority in body type is the comfort of the audience. In a well set block, the reader should barely (if at all) be ‘aware’ of the physicality of the collection of symbols before them. Reading should be smooth, easy and logical. Leading should be lose enough to allow a comfortable gap between lines of text, allowing easy navigation & avoiding an off-putting, visually intense block. The amount of leading required can vary enormously from font to font, but faces with large x-heights or long ascenders & descenders will require extra breathing space.
Pay careful attention to the stroke widths and contrast in your fonts, as this aspect seriously affects reader comfort. For example; a bad choice for long passages of text would be Bodoni or Bauer Bodoni. The contrast between thick and thin strokes is extreme, and the transition between the two is sudden, so, although it is an attractive face (see the masthead for ‘Vogue’ magazine), it’s a harsh choice for long passages. There are of course two types of font, and, by and large, the serif faces will be easier to read than sans; the tiny slabs round off the stroke ends, helping a horizontal flow in the text.
Many digital serif fonts based on original designs from the old style and transitional period of type’s history (between the 16th and 18th centuries) remain the most suitable for body copy, including Baskerville, Plantin, Caslon, Palatino, Goudy Old Style and Century Schoolbook. Times New Roman – apparently the most successful digital font ever – remains incredibly popular, although personally, I find its stroke contrast a little harsh on the eye.
A famously attractive & easy to read face is Baskerville (particularly URW’s cut – BaskervilleT), but care must be taken when setting them as body; they tend to need both extra leading and a little positive tracking. A good choice though, if you have the space.
There are endless Sans fonts that can be used for body copy too, but, as with serifs, it is usually best to avoid a face with too much character. Many of the best sans faces have, like the serifs, been around for quite a while. Helvetica and its one time rival Univers are great choices, and have an extensive family of weights to add typographic texture. Both are borne of the Swiss era of clear, functional, grid aided design. Of the two, Univers is perhaps slightly less ‘cold’ in feel.
Early sans fonts from around the start of the 20th century such as Franklin and News Gothic perform well too, as does the familiar Arial, which is still shipped with all new computers.
Another popular sans choice is Futura. Designed around 1920, during the Bauhaus period, this highly geometric font with its straight lines and perfect circles has a striking style, but is not the most comfortable to read over a long passage.
A big personal favourite of mine is Fago; a relatively recent design with three widths, several weights and ‘propper’ italics rather than oblique versions of the roman face. This font balances the difficult tasks of bringing some character & style to the sans body face while remaining very legible.
If pressed to choose just one, I’d say my personal favourite body font has, over the years, been Plantin. It has a generous x-height, moderate stroke contrast, and a very gradual stroke transition with thick, softly bracketted serifs. As a result, it provides a smooth, easy read (although it is an old, ‘traditional’ face, which may be unsuitable in a very modern project).
Do you have any prefered body copy fonts? Perhaps I’ve missed out a classic (or insulted your favourite!) – let us know via our Facebook page or on Twitter. Who knows, maybe you could change our minds…