As you know, I’m always looking to improve the blog. And by that I mean cosmetically. The content is what it is.
Today, quite by accident (I mean, after months of focus groups and detailed research) I used a larger font size. It has really caused quite a reaction. Many love it, some don’t, others (like me) didn’t even notice the difference.
But I might as well just ask: Do you like the larger font or not? I know – it’s not like you haven’t voted enough this week. Still, it would be good to know. Leave your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks.
73 comments :
I'm not a fan. If you were to use a font that size I'd need the width of the articles to be at least the width of the entire site.
Font size does matter - and I like the larger font.
At the same time I realize we could all adjust the size ourselves....
I'd be curious if it's just us older people who like the larger font . . .
I use google reader and with the previous smaller font I always came to your actual blog to read the posts. I can now easily read your posts from my google reader with this new larger font.
I vote "No" on the new font. I have Google Reader, too, and all of my blogs share the same size except for this one, now. I could read it just fine the way it was, thanks!
Love the site; love it even more with the bigger font now. How about more boobie pictures too while we're upgrading? :)
Count me among those who prefer the larger font...
Just to be sure, I don't mind having to come here to read the posts. In fact, sometimes I want to come here anyway to read the comments.
However, if font size is ever an issue, it's something that can be easily changed on firefox with Ctrl + "-" (to reduce) or "+" (to enlarge). The other browsers should be able to do this as well but I don't know how to.
You can do this on any website and whenever you return to it, it remembers what size you left it at.
I find the big font surprisingly difficult to read, probably because there are too few words per line.
I say the smaller the font the better. If the font is too small you can increase the magnification using the little magnifying glass found on the lower right hand corner of most browsers. Far too many people ignore that little feature and just jump directly to complaining about fonts being too small.
No thank you. Too few words per line.
The usual font size is a little too small. The font size from your last post is too large. The font size on this post seems about right.
For short articles such as this one, I love this large font size. When I've spent all day reading other blogs and resources on the web, these snippets are a great break from the routine.
For longer articles, the smaller font is preferable since there's less eye "travel" (more words per line, more lines per vertical inch).
Going forward, I'd go with the small font unless the entire blog post is short enough to fit into a tweet and/or can act as its own headline.
I follow via Google Reader as well, but I'm one of those young folks.
Too big - thanks.
Facebook's been futzing with their type size, too; making it smaller leaves more room for ad space (that's not exactly how they put it).
Windows users: hit control and + at the same time to increase; control minus to reduce it. With Macs, I believe it works with command + and command -
Thanks for asking. And yes, I like the larger font.
I like the larger sample better, not because of the font size but because the new font has more cues for the eye so I can read it faster. A capital I doesn't look like a lower case L, for instance. Whatever font you choose, it's the content that makes it worthwhile. Which it is.
It's not really the size that matters ( a computer can blow it up) but the font itself. I am not a fan of serif fonts. You didnt use them before, did you? Sans serif in my humble opinion is better readable. Ow, and what's most important is what's written and I have no complaints about the blog itself, keep on writing!
Wow. I can now read it without my reading glasses. Give us old farts a break and leave it large.
Ray
Love it... makes your insightful and informative prose just that much larger.. :-)
With a Mac I can simply re-size everything via the apple key and the plus sign key. Presto change-o, re-arrange-o. I assume most people have Windows-based computers - are you not able to do that with them?
Re-sizing doesn't change the words per line but I'd imagine we'll all get used to the difference fairly quickly and even not hold a grudge.
Is this change a harbinger of things to come? Are you scheming to develop what you do with your blog?
Don't like it, sorry.
I like the new font. It's easier to read. And your viewpoint seems more decisive but I don't exactly know why. I can live with whatever you decide but thanks for aiding my 55 yr old, bifocaled eyes ...
I like the larger font, but then my eyesight is degenerating as I hurtle towards decrepitude.
Can't these young whipper-snappers just reduce it a bit?
I do not care what font size you use because I read this blog through an RSS aggregator. I did not know anyone actually visited blogs anymore.
A larger than internet standard font size just makes in seem unprofessional. You wouldn't write a television script with a larger font just because some people think it looks better, would you?
I much prefer the original font size.
Thanks for letting us have a say though.
Long-time daily reader here; I read you on my Blackberry Bold well over half the time. So I prefer the larger fomt, because if I manually zoom to make it larger the text goes beyond the margins of the screen. There's a very short list of things more anoying than needing to continually scroll right and left while reading a paragraph of text! Another vote for "liking the larger font" here.
- 50 os the new 35
Sorry, but the larger font makes it much harder to read. (And I'm one of the "older people" and I wear glasses)
Sorry for the multiple typos and the anon tag on my previous post - tired eyes + a tiny B'berry screen are NOT a good mix!!
-50 is the new 35
I usually have my browser set to automatically resize all fonts to "20" (which is huge, and needed because I have an eye problem). This causes some websites to "break". Some very clever web designers are making efforts to design pages so that differently-abled readers who use assistive devices (like enlarging the font as I describe, or perhaps a speaking program) doesn't automatically "break" the web page. That is probably the more important issue than which size you actually choose.
I think, as another commenter noted, you should choose the size that 'professionally' is the standard (just as you would in a script), but keep in mind that some people will "embiggen" the font. Just do a quick check that a reader enlarging the font will not cause havoc on your web page.
I have never noticed a problem with your page with my font set to "20". An example of a site that does cause issues is Photobucket (drop-down menus, input areas, and 'enter' buttons are obscured by graphics, etc.).
If you are exclusively catering to an audience with visual issues (such as a geriatric blog, which I don't believe this is at all), then I could see that it might be worth using a huge font. If you're worried about alienating readers with a small font, I would think you could get some computer-savvy person to put a link somewhere on the page that will automatically enlarge the font, across browsers.
On the Macs with touch pads, you can enlarge the page in many programs by spreading two fingers to open (the opposite to reduce). Pretty handy.
I bet ya, us 50 + people love the larger font. The first thing I thought is this looks crisp.
I like the larger font.
No, no, no.
That font is not an improvement.
Ouch! Big font hurts and is uncomfortable to read. Not a huge deal, I just press "apple -" three times and it's smaller and I can read it, but the way it was before was perfect.
No.
STOP YELLING AT ME. The smaller font was much better.
Count me in as another 'no' vote. Meh.
I used to increase the font size myself on my Mac to read the blog. So, now I don't have to. I guess that means I like it. :-)
Been a reader of your blog for some time, but this is my first comment. Because it's that important to me ;)
My screen resolution already makes everything look smaller than they really are... but the larger font still looks way too big. Enough so that your last post was hard to read. Like others said, too few words per line. It disrupts readability and flow.
I vote for the larger font.
I love it. As long as the content's the same, it doesn't matter.
I don't like the larger font size. Not that you asked but I didn't enjoy the larger font of the post in question, and I also am not digging the Times New Roman-slightly larger font. For me, the more than fits on my screen at once, the better. Bigger fonts=more scrolling, and unnecessarily so, since the blog is totally legible in your previous font choice. Plus if readers want large fonts in general, there are settings for that both at the browser and OS level.
It's not the size of the font that matters -- it's what you do with it.
I have no problem with using a larger font, but I don't like the font family.
The Times New Roman font just doesn't look right with the design - maybe something smoother, like a Trebuchet would look better.
I like the font size in the 'Size' post but not the font in the 'Creative Consultant' post.
Big font is a bust...
I have perfectly working eyes that can read the smaller font. Don't know about the rest of your readers though...
But on a Mac it's very easy to change the font of the viewer page (sliding two fingers together on the key pad) so I say either is fine as long as it can be altered by the reader.
To me, it's more of a nuisance to have the big font because I have to continuously keep on scrolling up and down after I read a paragraph, whereas with a regular-sized font, I can see more at once.
I liked the smaller size better. This post has larger size and a different font. The different font might work fine at that smaller size.
Reminds me of writing papers back in school, when we only had to print them out. Increase the font size to 12.5, make the margins bigger, and make it double space plus a little more.
Facebook switched to a smaller font and I don't like the smaller font because I can't read it and also think Mark Zuckerberg stole the small print idea from Hertz car rental contracts.
Stick with big fonts. What's wrong with readable?
Size matters! I prefer the smaller font.
Go large font! It makes me feel welcome and loved.
This is the ONLY vote, for moi, in quite awhile, and here it is...
yes, moi digs the font.
Now, do you like moi's wee vid; it has a BIG comedy outro?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7iQRFP_e90
Stay on groovin' safari,
Tor
It feels like you're YELLING! Please, no!
Love the larger font. Much easier on my aging eyes.
No, it's visually tiring to have to move my eyes that much on a 22inch screen. Keep it simialar to other websites and if we want it bigger, we users can do a universal text size increase.
Please, please, please, go back to the smaller font. Because one please just isn't enough.
Hey, I'm just glad your blog isn't reverse screen (e.g., white type on dark background).
In this post you changed two things - the font (from a sans serif to a serif) AND the point size. The previous post was a bigger point size but still a sans font.
More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Fonts
In traditional print media, serif print was felt to be easier to read, say a 10-12 point Times New Roman.
But that's become flipped in the web world, and a sans like Arial, maybe pt. size 10, is standard.
I'm getting used to sans fonts but Arial pt. size 10 can be a bit small for me.
So to help my poor old eyes I now routinely pump up the "percentage" to 125 or 150 in my browsers (AND Word docs).
Just thought I'd poke my head in and say that I really, really prefer the old font size.
I like the smaller font, although I'm having trouble trying to figure out exactly why.
Use the old font size. If I need a larger font size I can make the adjust with my browser.
Too big for me because the
rhythm of reading is odd
because the sentences are
so short
Richard Y said...
I like the font size in the 'Size' post but not the font in the 'Creative Consultant' post.
I agree, but for me, it may have more to do with the type of fonr, rather than the size.
I always adjust the font size through my browser, so I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't said something, though, after contemplative reflection, the comments seem like they were written with a hypodermic needle in comparison.
NO! Please go back to the old font!
It's a little TOO large. Split the difference.
I almost always grow the font on the interwebs in general anyway [Command +] so doesn't make any difference to me what you do. Make your font whatever size you like... and each of us can very easily make your font whatever size WE like.
Web sites (like scripts) should use the industry-standard font size. Users who prefer larger - or smaller - typeface can make the adjustment via their browser.
In Firefox, Chrome and IE, press CTRL and + to increase text size ... CTRL and - to decrease the size.
Works with the symbol keys on the QWERTY row as well as those on the numeric keypad.
___
Wow! No more going blind on my Blackberry in the subway! As my girlfriend says, "Keep it big as long as you can!"
small, please
I prefer the smaller size - talking about the font here.
I definitely prefer this mid size font in this post.
It ain't broke...don't fix it.
I like the small and I adjust the size myself using CTRL+ (firefox) based on my eye strain du jour.
Like others have said - large font=too few words per line.
font size really matter. because professionally writing any thing should be look good. if someone uses very small font size some readers cannot read with too small font size .and if some one uses extra large font size it also will not look good.so the font size should be good and reasonable.
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