Ideal font for white type on black background

[nicrose]

I need to put a white type on a black background. I don't have that much room for the font so it needs to be a narrow font, preferrably bold, but very legible at small sizes, such as 8pt or 6pt.
does anyone have any suggestions on what font to use? I don't want to have to spend any money buying a font--are there any free fonts that can work? If there are no good free fonts, what relatively cheap font should I use? This is for an ad in a newspaper. It has to look very good and professional.

Thanks a bunch.
Nicrose
MBP

 

[Lunja]

I'd look at Gill Sans - a bit simple but it can look quite effective in print, and you should have it already installed in Word.

You'll be better off going for a sans font I would have thought, because the serifs on some fonts can blur or become less defined at smaller sizes/poorer print qualities.

 

[murdock25]

Helvetica Bold Condensed. maybe play with the tracking a bit too.
Gill Sans is kind of a wide font. But yeah a Sans serif for sure.

 

[xfiftyfour]

You'll be better off going for a sans font I would have thought, because the serifs on some fonts can blur or become less defined at smaller sizes/poorer print qualities.

Actually I was always taught that serif fonts were easier for our eyes to read, especially at smaller sizes? The serifs help our brains differentiate letters (that's why books, newspapers, and textbooks use serif fonts as a standard).

 

[CanadaRAM]

Actually I was always taught that serif fonts were easier for our eyes to read, especially at smaller sizes? The serifs help our brains differentiate letters (that's why books, newspapers, and textbooks use serif fonts as a standard).

Yes that is true, where the visual resolution is sufficient to distinguish the serifs. In the case of very tiny type, signage (which when viewed from a distance is tiny and at the limit of legibility) and when there is a background, the serifs become hard to distinguish or are overwhelmed by the background, and their advantage is lost. So a bold Sans font is better in those situations.

How many books and newspapers do you set in a sans? How many highway signs do you see set in something with a fine serif?

To the OP: I am really hoping here that this is not proposed to set long blocks of text in white over black? Hopefully it is headline, caption or call-out items only? Dark text on a white background is much easier to read body copy - size for size. You have to go up in weight and/or size to make reversed out text as legible.

 

[heehee]

Actually I was always taught that serif fonts were easier for our eyes to read, especially at smaller sizes? The serifs help our brains differentiate letters (that's why books, newspapers, and textbooks use serif fonts as a standard).

IMO, sans-serif fonts are easier to read in small sizes. The reason why books and etc uses serif fonts because it's easier to flow from one word to the next.

 

[iMeowbot]

Actually I was always taught that serif fonts were easier for our eyes to read, especially at smaller sizes? The serifs help our brains differentiate letters (that's why books, newspapers, and textbooks use serif fonts as a standard).

With this case, white text in a newspaper, there are simple mechanical issues that throw all the nice theories about readability out the window. They're running thin, porous paper through high-speed presses, smears and bleeding happen. Fonts with thin lines and serifs will tend to get filled in and become illegible. For plain text, newspapers will typically recommend not going under 6 points, and a minimum of 8 or 9 for reverse text. Bump up a couple notches for color.

They don't all use the same equipment, so it's always a good idea to call up and ask (many papers now put this information on their Web sites if you're too busy or shy to call or something).

It's also not a bad idea to look at actual examples of other ads in the paper, to get an idea of what works and what doesn't work. You'll notice lots and lots of plain sans (Helvetica and the like) for reverse stuff; it's not just a lack of imagination, it survives the process and can still be read.

 

[DavidFDM]

I would use either Frutiger or Avenir, both wonderful sans serifs. Gill Sans would not be a good choice because of kerning issues. My two cents.

 

[Aniej]

gill sans is great as well as helvetica

 

[gnasher729]

Actually I was always taught that serif fonts were easier for our eyes to read, especially at smaller sizes? The serifs help our brains differentiate letters (that's why books, newspapers, and textbooks use serif fonts as a standard).

White type on black background. The printer will hate him anyway, but white serif on black background is a nightmare. Ink will just be bleeding in and wipe out all the detail. Big fat strong Helvetica is probably the least evil font you can find.

 

[macaddict23]

I would look at Myriad or Trade Gothic Condensed. Here's a screenshot from an article at www.bamagazine.com. These guys know their stuff.

 

[Stadsport]

I'm in love with Monaco right now. It's simplistic but still looks kind of stylized.
Also, you might want to do white on dark gray, or light gray on black. White on black is pretty hard on the eyes, especially with smaller text.

 

[nicrose]

font issue

Hi,thanks for the suggestions.
Any body know where to get these fonts for free?

n.
mbp