A well-chosen font can simplify difficult technical material into a digestible form, therefore decreasing the workload and improving understanding. On the other hand, a poorly chosen typeface can cause discomfort for the eyes, hide meaning, and perhaps result in critical mistakes. The best font is not a one-size-fits-all fix but rather a strategic option that calls for careful thought of several elements, including the target audience, the goal of the document, and the particular information being expressed.

The article explores the subtle aspects of font selection in technical documentation and investigates the main ideas guiding font choice, common mistakes to avoid, and best practices to guarantee that technical papers are not only useful but also visually attractive and easily navigable. Technical creators can improve their works to unprecedented levels by knowing how fonts affect readability, correctness, and general user experience, therefore promoting clarity, comprehension, and finally, the effective spread of technical knowledge.

How to use fonts as a technical writer

Knowing the basic elements of a font helps one to choose fonts for technical papers with accuracy. Often subtle but powerful, these components greatly help a document to be aesthetically pleasing and generally readable.

Traditional and formal fonts are typified by serifs, like Times New Roman or Georgia, for printed products and long text due to their apparent elegance and simplicity of reading. Sans-serif typefaces, on the other hand, give a cleaner and more modern look even if they lack these artistic strokes. Common sans-serif fonts used extensively in digital documents and screen-based reading because of their clarity and legibility are Helvetica, Arial, and Verdana.

Especially in smaller font sizes, the x-height, meaning that height of lowercase letters excluding ascenders and descenders, plays a crucial part in readability. Greater x-height improves the visual weight of lowercase letters, therefore increasing their clarity. On digital devices, fonts having a higher x-height, Verdana or Calibri, can increase readability.

A font’s apparent strength and visual impact depend on its weight, that is, its stroke thickness. To highlight certain material, establish a visual organization, and direct the reader’s attention, employ diverse weights, regular, bold, and italic. Understanding these basic elements helps technical writers choose fonts that best maximize the readability and general efficacy of their writings.

Things to keep up in mind when choosing fonts for technical documents

A consistent font choice throughout the entire manuscript is most important. When there are too many distinct fonts, it might cause the readers to lose flow and make it harder for them to grasp. The correct distance between letters and words is another significant factor that contributes to the improvement of reading and the reduction of eye strain.

Accuracy is yet another factor that is vital. Selecting a font that can accommodate the required character set is crucial, particularly when the document contains mathematical symbols, code snippets, or characters from a foreign language. It is of the utmost importance to check that the typeface accurately generates symbols, subscripts, and superscripts, which are all considered special characters. 

Focus and clarity can be achieved by choosing the right font. Format headings and subheadings in distinct, easy-to-read fonts to establish a hierarchical structure. People frequently select sans-serif fonts for headlines due to their bold and modern appearance. Fixed-width fonts, such as Courier New or Consolas, are ideal for displaying code snippets and syntax highlighting. This is because they maintain consistent spacing and enhance the readability of the code. It is possible to emphasize specific ideas or keywords by using bold, italics, or underlining. 

It is imperative that technical documents are easily accessible. When it comes to readers who have visual difficulties, following the recommended font sizes is helpful. Larger font sizes are more readily available. The background and text color should contrast enough to make reading easier. Typically, people prefer the combination of dark text on a light backdrop or vice versa. Additionally, the choice of typeface, serif or sans-serif, can influence accessibility. Despite the fact that some studies suggest that serif fonts may be better readable for printed texts, it is possible that sans-serif fonts are more suitable for use on digital devices.

Errors to avoid when writing a technical document

Technical documentation often falls victim to the overuse of fonts. Using several fonts inside one document could visually clutter it and divert the reader from the information. Using a restricted number of fonts for headings, body text, code, and other sections keeps a uniform font palette.

Inconsistent font size is another frequent error. Different font sizes in body text and headings could upset the visual equilibrium and make reading difficult. Keeping constant font sizes guarantees a clean, professional look, particularly inside the same level of heading or text.

Another major error in technical documentation is ignoring branding rules, which can also compromise an organization’s professional reputation. Should your company have certain branding rules, you must follow them exactly in font choice. Fonts that fit the visual identity of the brand support the brand’s image and help preserve consistency.

Technical writers have the ability to generate articles that are not only precise and helpful but also visually beautiful and simple to navigate. Carefully selecting and utilizing fonts accomplishes this. If you follow these criteria, you will be able to guarantee that the technical documents you create are excellent instruments for communication and the transfer of information.
And if you are unsure about the name of a font that is ideal for your technical materials that you discovered online, all you need to do is take a screenshot of the text that was entered using that font and then allow the advanced search algorithms of our website, WhatFontIs.com, to do the rest!

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You can guess why, this happened because of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Monotype Imaging, one of the most popular and important company from USA that owns many of the most popular fonts in the world like Arial, Helvetica, and Times New Roman, blocked access to its catalogue for users in Russia.

Guess what, Times New Roman is a standard font for official documentation in Russia.

“I regret saying that, considering the current circumstances of sanctions and international relations with Russia, we are unable at present to run any business relations with Russian companies or their subsidiaries. We will continue keeping an eye on the situation and updating our policy accordingly,” a company representative told TASS – Russia’s leading news agency since 1904.

30,000 fonts are banned in Russia

Monotypes Imaging is a huge name in the font industry, having over 30,000 fonts in their own library.

On their website, it is written:

“From the days of hot metal typesetting to cutting-edge Variable fonts, we’ve had a hand in some of the biggest developments throughout design history.

Along the way, we picked up our obsession with detail and our knack for out-of-the-box (sometimes slightly outrageous) ideas.

We know age is just a number, but it’s hard to deny the many years of knowledge and experience that come with our birthday.

Time has been on our side, giving us ample opportunity to perfect our typefaces. So, let’s take your brand beyond what you could have ever imagined, together.”

It is clear that they have huge experience in the font world, but since when?

Wikipedia comes with useful information:

“Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., founded as Lanston Monotype Machine Company in 1887

in Philadelphia by Tolbert Lanston, is an American (historically Anglo-American) company that specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design for use with consumer electronics devices.

Incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts, the company has been responsible for many developments in printing technology—in particular the Monotype machine.

The machine was a fully mechanical hot-metal typesetter, that produced texts automatically, all single type.

Monotype was involved in the design and production of many typefaces in the 20th century.

Monotype developed many of the most widely used typeface designs, including Times New Roman, Gill Sans, Arial, Bembo and Albertus.”

As a consequence, I bet that after this move, other font companies will proceed the same and block Russian users from using their fonts.

Russian war in Ukraine and the fonts

You might think what have fonts to do with the war in Ukraine?

They have a lot to do if you ask me.

And the same question goes for many other industries – food, cars, electronics, and the rest.

Let me explain.

Fonts will not stop Russia war in Ukraine, this is true.

Not to mention that not people that use fonts in Russia have something to do with the war.

Actually, they don’t agree with this war.

However we cannot stay indifferent to what is going on in Ukraine or other parts of the world.

In plus, by banning all its fonts in Russia, Monotype Imaging shows the world that they care about Ukraine.

And of course, they proved that they did something in this respect.

Conclusions

Monotype Imaging banned over 30,000 fonts in Russia, including their famous fonts Arial, Helvetica, and Times New Roman.

Hopefully Russia will stop the war in Ukraine soon.

And hopefully Ukraine will get back as it was before the war.

Above all, it is important for the world to come back to common sense and stop destroying the planet we live on.

Finally, we wish you all the best, stay safe.

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There are hundreds of thousands of fonts in the world but the English and Latin-based languages typically use mostly just three: Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica.

We can find these 3 fonts everywhere: on the books we read, on instruction manuals, on all kind of advertisements, on newspapers, and journals. These 3 options were the favorite fonts for decades, being the favorite choice of companies, industries, and computer operating systems.

Let’s find out why and how they became the most popular fonts in the world.

Serif vs Sans Serif Fonts

To fully understand why these 3 fonts are the most popular in the world, we need first to discuss a bit about serif and sans serif fonts.

Serif fonts use embellishments and flourishes in their characters, making them unique, special, and beautiful.  These fonts are on the market since the 18^th century.

Serif fonts were created for the printing press and because they are so old, they are considered more traditional fonts.

Sans (sans means without) serif fonts are fonts that use clean and simple lines. Your iPhone uses Sans serif fonts.

In the below picture, you can easily spot the differences.

Now let’s find out a brief history of these 3 fonts. It will help us respond to the article question.

More info about Times Roman, Arial, and Helvetica

This information is needed to find out why these 3 fonts are the most popular in the world.

Times New Roman

Times New Roman was created in 1932 by type designer Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent. They created the font at the request of the newspaper The Times.

Since the newspaper wanted to rebrand itself, a new font was needed. 

This font had to be highly efficient for the newspaper, meaning that it had to maximize the number of words that could fit in a line and on a page.

The Times had just 1 year exclusivity for Times New Roman and a few years later, the font was started to be used also by American publishers and companies from all over the world.

Helvetica

Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger together with Eduard Hoffmann designed Helvetica in 1957.

It was a commission for the Swiss Haas type foundry.

Max Miedinger designed the font to revitalize the company’s sans serif offerings with a much more modern design.

Arial

Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders created Arial in 1982 for Monotype Corporation, a popular company specialized in typefaces.

The font was designed for laser printing and personal computers (PCs).

It was among the first of its kind.

In summary, why are Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica the most popular fonts in the world?

Now comes the super interesting part.

Microsoft and Apple made Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica the most popular in the world.

These 2 companies made a cross-license agreement for font technology back in 1989. The mission of the agreement was to standardize fonts and printer software across the two operating systems. Their names were True Type and TrueImage.

Microsoft licensed their fonts from Monotype, and Apple from Linotype.

As a result, Microsoft core fonts were Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New, while Apple’s core fonts were Times Roman, Helvetica, and Courier.

Later, some changes took place, but we discuss about this later.

Why did both companies picked Times New Roman?

In essence, Microsoft and Apple picked Times New Roman because most documents were printed and Times New Roman was widely available and designed for print.

Their decision launched Times New Roman in the sky, making the font one of the most popular in the world.

Arial journey

Arial became super popular because Microsoft selected it as a core font for its operating system.

In a moment, it was the most accessible sans serif font available the most people with personal computers.

Generally speaking, Helvetica was a superior sans serif font for many but its licensing fee was too expensive for Microsoft strategy.

Arial was 17 years the default Windows default font for PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook, this is how it became the favorite choice of people from all over the world.

Helvetica’s “road to happiness”

Helvetica’s road was very different. Its creation timing was perfect, in post-war.

Back then, modernism influenced arts, architecture, and literature. The media world needed a versatile typeface that was easy to read and a font that could adapt to any need.

In plus, Apple made Helvetica its default font.

At this instant, Helvetica is the world’s most popular font. It is everywhere we look, no matter if we like it or not.

The world changes

Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica were the leading fonts for several decades.

But the world changes.

And eventually also the fonts we use daily.

As a result of these changes, Microsoft Word default fonts were changed from Times New Roman and Arial, to Calibri.

And books are no longer printed in Times New Roman.

Because of that, Times New Roman lost huge from its popularity.

At the present time, my guess is that Helvetica will remain the world’s most popular font for at least 10 years from now.

And as long as tons of new fonts are launched each year, we will for sure see some new winners.

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