I am designing a booklet (8.5” x 7.0”) for a self-administered questionnaire survey, and wondering about the best alternative fonts to Times New Roman. Based on your experience, would you please suggest me the best sans serif typeface and font size for easier read?
Dear Nabin,
In APA:s instructions courrier was accepted as an alternative to Times New Roman in manuscripts. The recommended font size is always 12 points except for Figures (10 points)
Most people prefer Times New Roman but some like Garamond too.
Thanks Beatrice. Since I knew that Garamond saves at least 20% ink compared to TNR, I am in love with this font.
I've used TNR and Garamond in questionnaire surveys and they seem to do fine. I would also like to know the opinions of other scholars regarding their preference of fonts.
Nabin
Dear Nabin: It depends on the medium and on the subjects you are applying the questionnaire to. My recommendation is to use a typeface that is suitable to the user's context and reading habits first. And secondly to use one that is visually neutral to avoid distractions or influence.
That being said, Arial (on the computer screen) is a very robust and neutral font which people are really accustomed to read. People will probably "not see it"(and this is a good thing). Using it at 1 em (16px) with a 1,25 to 1,5 em leading (line height) with an average 55 characters line length columns will provide that much necessary legibility boost.
If you are planning for a more classical, long text / deep reading experience questionnaire (either on screen or paper) you should consider typefaces designed with that specific program in mind (like those designed for newspapers like Gerad Unger's Swift, DSType's Leitura, or the most recent Times typeface — the one designed in recent years for the newspaper and website, not the one on our font menus). If you do not have a budget to buy such typeface, you should consider using Eben Sorkin's Merriweather — it has been designed with a high editorial legibility in mind, for computer screens (either sans, or serif). I've found that it also holds its properties when printed. Garamond is a highly classical typeface. I am not disregarding it, nor TNR. These last are all excellent choices. But people will probably "see" your choice and be slightly distracted by it. And you'll have to tweak its leading and column width.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Pedro
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