Thesis typesetting

[Function]

Hello everyone

 

I'm looking for some advice on font usage in my future thesis. I've got a template of my thesis, and I've 'perfectioned' it thusfar so that even when I'd put it in Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman, someone reading it will think "damn, he put some effort in the aesthetics of this piece", if I dare say so myself.

 

However, they stay Calibri, Arial and Times New Roman. Old overused fonts giving the chance to give that argument: "oh ... but he was too lazy to pick out an original font".

 

I'm looking for a font that both expresses professionalism as well as modernism. I've considered Futura, but lots of people find that it doesn't express enough professionalism. I've considered some serif fonts, including Adobe Caslon Pro, Minion Pro, Dolly, Chaparral Pro, Palatino Linotype, but the general problem I have with serif fonts is that they don't satisfy my needs for titles and the front page. As sans serif fonts I've already tried Futura, FF Quadraat Sans Pro, FF Scala Sans (which overall didn't seem fit for the job), Concourse (a font designed by some lawyer) but then I don't know if they express the professionalism needed for a thesis.

 

Can someone help me out on this one? If found better, I'm willing to pick a sans serif font for front page and titles, but then I'm left with the following matters of which I don't know if I should put them also in sans serif, or in serif:

• I have 2 pages in my thesis only holding a quote (one of the first pages [i.e. the very first page before the text], and the very last page): quotes in serif or sans serif on these pages?
• I have 1 other quote on a page which is otherwise filled with normal body text. Quote in serif or sans serif on this page?
• After the front page, there's another page displaying the title, author (me), (co)promoters (3) and en examination board, as well as a mentioning of funding and the department in which it was written; this information in (sans) serif?
• Table of contents?

So, I'd love to read some ideas: a full sans serif font option, a full serif font option, and perhaps a sans+serif combination option with a solution to the above questions.

 

Problem is that every time I find another font probably fitting my needs, I print a pdf and think: this is it. And then another font pops up. And then that one's it. And the previous one isn't. Few weeks later, the former is it again. It's driving me nuts and I don't know what to pick.

 

Generally, I'm looking for ideas expressing a tight, clean design expressing the necessary professionalism and absence of laziness in formatting.

Strong preference for extended fonts with lots of typesetting options (.ttf is the last I need, .otf is a standard), ligatures are necessary for serif and real italics are necessary for both serif as sans serif, preference goes to fonts with different weights (e.g. medium, semibold, ...) for title typesetting

 

Thanks everybody!

 

Cheers,

 

Function

Edited September 20, 2016 by Function

[CharonY]

Is your thesis in a creative field? If not I'd advise against getting too fancy. Advisers and the committee generally have little interest in the aesthetics of a thesis, first and foremost is being able to read and comprehend it fast (and figure out strength and weaknesses). There is usually a pile of them and similar work that are part of the work load and we prefer to be efficient with our time and appreciate it if people make it easy for us. I have never encountered a positive remark on some fonts, though plenty about students trying to make something fancy for the sake of it (such using different fonts for running title, title, sub title etc, resulting in one case in over half a dozen different fonts on a single page....).

 

As such, choosing the fonts and layout (unless it improves clarity) is therefore something you do primarily for yourself.

[John Cuthber]

Am I the only one who finds sans serif fonts annoying?

In any event, don't use comic sans.

[Klaynos]

I like computer modern.

 

There are some interesting things online on font readability that I've read in the past. You might want to try and find them. I would agree with CharonY examiners care more about the content, as long as it's not comic sans or wingdings....

[ajb]

First thing to be careful with are any formal rules at the university about this. Check carefully on fonts they allow and do not allow.

[imatfaal]

In my experience one screwed up footnote, one forgotten reference etc all will out-weigh the choice of font. Personally I used the formatting of the journal that my supervisors founded and were on the ed. board of - presuming that they might have had some input to the choices at some stage.

 

Just to annoy I think I will put this in comic sans - but I do love the idea of using wingdings

[Function]

Thanks everyone for your supportive inputs. This is exactly why I'm doing the formatting of my thesis long before I even begin writing the contents of it: so I won't have to worry about it anymore and I'll be able to fully focus on the contents of it. My university does not have specific standards regarding font choices and when I compare the template I've made with a doctoral thesis one of my professors has written, it is not as distracting as his, by far.

 

Right now, it looks like this, is it that distracting from content?

 

 

I'm not sure about the necessary amount of professionalism it expresses ...

[DrKrettin]

Am I the only one who finds sans serif fonts annoying?

 

I'm glad somebody else has said that. I find sans serif rather difficult, and just can't see the difference between the words "click" and the word formed when the "c" and the "l" form a "d". So when the computer screen says "click here" I think it's rather impertinent.

 

But for a thesis, readability is of prime importance. The serifs are there to make reading easy, so avoid sans serif. For a long read, I find TImes New Roman far easier than anything else. And bear in mind that what is important is not how it pleases you, but how it pleases the examiners, and they are likely to be old and conservative like me.

Edited September 21, 2016 by DrKrettin

[Strange]

I think serif fonts are preferable for technical writing because they distinguish more clearly between things like l and I for example. Unfortunately, I am never allowed to use them, because our documentation has to look "modern" (so we end up writing things like "lower case L" in brackets to explain what a symbol is). There are a few modern fonts which have a slightly serify feel that can distinguish these characters and I have, occasionally, managed to use those.

[swansont]

In my experience one screwed up footnote, one forgotten reference etc all will out-weigh the choice of font. Personally I used the formatting of the journal that my supervisors founded and were on the ed. board of - presuming that they might have had some input to the choices at some stage.

 

Just to annoy I think I will put this in comic sans - but I do love the idea of using wingdings

 

 

 

Double-spaced as well. I doff my cap to you!

I'm glad somebody else has said that. I find sans serif rather difficult, and just can't see the difference between the words "click" and the word formed when the "c" and the "l" form a "d". So when the computer screen says "click here" I think it's rather impertinent.

 

That's a kerning problem. (or a keming problem, if you want to be sarcastic or possibly ironic)

[imatfaal]

Academia Obscura tweeted this today --

 

[mp][/mp]Just realised with a sense of joy that some of our more callow readers will not recognize Clippy. There is progress after all

[Function]

Even I remember that old rusty fellow.

[CharonY]

The easiest is sticking with the same font throughout the body, as others I would also prefer serif (no one is going to be bothered by Times). If must be, use sans serif for e.g. figure legends to distinguish it better from the body. I think you have done it, but make sure to leave sufficient space at the edge for scribbled notes.