Font names vary, but you can usually figure out synonymous fonts because
the alias names often closely resemble the official name, as in the classic
Palatino and the alias Palomino. If you’re unsure how closely two typefaces
match, look closely at the uppercase Q and the ampersand (&). These are
usually among the most distinctive characters in the typeface alphabet.
Fonts progress from the austere to the ornamental, with sans serif fonts at
the austere end of this spectrum, and then progressing to serif, italic serif,
and various “cursive” fonts (they imitate handwriting and are best left to
wedding invitations and French restaurant menus). At the far end of the spec-
trum you have the exotic fonts (also called ornamental or fantasy fonts). Alas,
they are almost never useful. Exotic fonts feature adorned letters (see Figure
5-1 and 5-5). They appeal to very few people over the age of 17, so try to
avoid them in most Web page designs. Because most of them are difficult to
read, limit their use, if any, to headlines rather than body text.
Perhaps if you’re designing a Halloween Web site, or an invitation to a costume
ball, you might want to resort to some of the exotic fonts illustrated in Figure
5-5, but for most purposes, they’re simply grotesque and to be avoided. For
example, the Gigi font might be good for a French-related site, the Magneto for
50s retro designs, Weltron for radiation warnings, and Chiller for horror movie
ads. You can visualize using some exotic fonts in specialized contexts; they’re
attractive in their way. But Baby Kruffy, Jokewood — where, on what kind of
Web page, could they ever be charming?
Avoiding monospace ...........................................................................
I’m also not spending much time on monospace fonts. These fonts — Courier
is the most famous — were used frequently until a generation ago. They were
Figure 5-5:
Most of
these fonts
should be
avoided, as
a way of
preserving
your
reputation
for good
judgment.
90 Part II: Looking Good with CSS
