The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Tea Drinker]

I read several years ago that tests/surveys in the U.S. find that serif fonts are easier to read, and tests/surveys in Europe find that sans serif ones are easier. A lot of what makes fonts easy to read is familiarity, and Americans see more serif type, and Europeans see more sans serif.

Along similar lines, some people deliberately use Century Schoolbook in documents--handbooks, brochures, etc.--intended for teachers, again because of the familiarity.

[sunnygirl]

Do people genuinely get bent out of shape by other people's choice of font, or s it an internet joke I'm not getting?

Not "bent out of shape" precisely, but people who deal with fonts for a living gripe about font choices the way writers gripe about "50 Shades of Grey" or beer enthusiasts gripe about people who think they know a lot about beer but then rave about Bud Light.  There really are better and worse fonts for particular situations, but it's not always obvious to a layperson.

I deal with fonts for living and while there are fonts that are better suited for certain situations (the use of Copperplate in the most recent Bond movie was a bit baffling) the whole "Comic Sans was invented by the Anti-Christ" thing mostly seems like snobbery to me, in the style of beer snobs who can't let others enjoy their Bud Light. You probably shouldn't use Comic Sans on a grave stone but they seem more interested in just griping than from saving the world from it.

Funny you should mention that...

[VorFemme]

I got color typed by a friend of a friend - she was visiting Phoenix from Chicago and wanted a bit of extra spending money - I got typed and custom makeup for the military ball that year (Barry Goldwater was supposed to be the speaker - he'd run for President when I was in second grade, but was not elected - instead we had a retired pilot who ended up doing a lot more stuff to be famous for over the next twenty years before he passed away....naming no names....).  But it was a REALLY BIG DEAL event for me and I was happy to fork over some money for the only time I had my makeup professionally done.

I am a Winter - with pale skin, medium eyes, and dark hair - and I already knew that I looked better in black or white than I did in ivory (Mom talked me into an ivory wedding gown - fortunately at the time, my mess dress was black, white, and silver - I looked GOOD in those colors). 

I found that a dark auburn looked good - and I could go to a few of the darker autumn colors (DD is a natural red-blonde) - with her nearyby - me with "reddish" hair looked natural (I have red highlights, but my natural color is such a dark, dark auburn that they don't show much). 

I have found ONE shade of orange that looks good on me (and I haven't seen it in the stores in decades - it was an almost flourescent orange - with an almost blue undertone) - but it got me a lot of compliments when I wore that dress!

[Mental Magpie]

I never knew about the color thing until the latter part of high school (and only then had I heard about it briefly in passing), but I always knew that silver looks better on me as do deep greens and blues.  I also wear a lot (read: A LOT) of black...and it helped that those tended to be my favorite colors, too.  FWIW, I have olive skin, dark brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes.

Despite how weird/unusual this color thing sounds on the onset, I can say it makes a lot of sense.

[Ereine]

Do people genuinely get bent out of shape by other people's choice of font, or s it an internet joke I'm not getting?

Not "bent out of shape" precisely, but people who deal with fonts for a living gripe about font choices the way writers gripe about "50 Shades of Grey" or beer enthusiasts gripe about people who think they know a lot about beer but then rave about Bud Light.  There really are better and worse fonts for particular situations, but it's not always obvious to a layperson.

I deal with fonts for living and while there are fonts that are better suited for certain situations (the use of Copperplate in the most recent Bond movie was a bit baffling) the whole "Comic Sans was invented by the Anti-Christ" thing mostly seems like snobbery to me, in the style of beer snobs who can't let others enjoy their Bud Light. You probably shouldn't use Comic Sans on a grave stone but they seem more interested in just griping than from saving the world from it.

Funny you should mention that...

I got the grave stone example from the book Just My Type, maybe they were talking about that same one. It is an interesting book by the way, or at least the beginning is, I haven't made it farther yet. There's one chapter on Comic Sans and how it came to be. 

[KenveeB]

Maybe we could move the color tones to its own thread? There appears to be enough discussion on it to justify a spinoff.

[Snooks]

My watch keeps losing time, once I correct it it seems happy enough until the next day when it's lost time again.  Is it possible that the cold weather is causing the battery to stop working but once I put it on and it gets up to body temperature by being on my wrist the battery works perfectly well?

[Outdoor Girl]

Is it an analog watch (face rather than digital) and does it have a date function?  My Seiko developed an issue at about 25 years old where the function to move the date forward each day would get hung up as the watch clicked forward at midnight, which would stop the watch.  It would eventually click over and the watch would start again.  I would reset it in the morning and it would tick over just fine all day but then get hung up again as the date tried to change.

It was an expensive fix but worth it to me because of the sentimental value of the watch.

[Snooks]

Yes it's analogue but it doesn't have a date function.  I've had it for just over eleven years and whenever the battery has died previously it's stopped dead rather than being encouraged back to life.

[demarco]

I am a Winter - with pale skin, medium eyes, and dark hair - and I already knew that I looked better in black or white than I did in ivory (Mom talked me into an ivory wedding gown - fortunately at the time, my mess dress was black, white, and silver - I looked GOOD in those colors). 

I have found ONE shade of orange that looks good on me (and I haven't seen it in the stores in decades - it was an almost flourescent orange - with an almost blue undertone) - but it got me a lot of compliments when I wore that dress!

I am a winter, too, and I also found a shade  of orange that looks well on me. I think of it as a true Crayola orange.  I cannot wear melon, coral, apricot, or any other kind of red with a yellow undertone but I can wear my Crayola orange.  Last year, there was a lot of that color in the stores and I stocked up. 

[Giggity]

My post was about dressing in accord with your 'season'.  The only time I ever heard about this was when MIL brought it up. 

It's pointless, is what it is. I've been "consulted" many a time. I'm apparently all four seasons.

[Giggity]

Do people genuinely get bent out of shape by other people's choice of font, or s it an internet joke I'm not getting?

Not "bent out of shape" precisely, but people who deal with fonts for a living gripe about font choices the way writers gripe about "50 Shades of Grey" or beer enthusiasts gripe about people who think they know a lot about beer but then rave about Bud Light.  There really are better and worse fonts for particular situations, but it's not always obvious to a layperson.

I deal with fonts for living and while there are fonts that are better suited for certain situations (the use of Copperplate in the most recent Bond movie was a bit baffling) the whole "Comic Sans was invented by the Anti-Christ" thing mostly seems like snobbery to me, in the style of beer snobs who can't let others enjoy their Bud Light. You probably shouldn't use Comic Sans on a grave stone but they seem more interested in just griping than from saving the world from it.

I used to work with a woman who would delete any e-mail she received that was in Comic Sans. I wasn't brave enough to take that stand, but I applauded her for it.

[Mental Magpie]

Do people genuinely get bent out of shape by other people's choice of font, or s it an internet joke I'm not getting?

Not "bent out of shape" precisely, but people who deal with fonts for a living gripe about font choices the way writers gripe about "50 Shades of Grey" or beer enthusiasts gripe about people who think they know a lot about beer but then rave about Bud Light.  There really are better and worse fonts for particular situations, but it's not always obvious to a layperson.

I deal with fonts for living and while there are fonts that are better suited for certain situations (the use of Copperplate in the most recent Bond movie was a bit baffling) the whole "Comic Sans was invented by the Anti-Christ" thing mostly seems like snobbery to me, in the style of beer snobs who can't let others enjoy their Bud Light. You probably shouldn't use Comic Sans on a grave stone but they seem more interested in just griping than from saving the world from it.

I used to work with a woman who would delete any e-mail she received that was in Comic Sans. I wasn't brave enough to take that stand, but I applauded her for it.

Wow.  I can't even imagine risking missing something because I didn't like a font.

[Mental Magpie]

I have a BS in Criminal Justice (graduated in May, 2012).  I now want to pursue a BS in Chemistry or Biology.  When/if I go back to school, I won't have to do all of the electives again, will I?  I mean stuff like Public Speaking and Composition 1 that are not direct links to the major.  When/if I apply, it will ask if already have a degree and will take that into consideration, right?

[Slartibartfast]

I have a BS in Criminal Justice (graduated in May, 2012).  I now want to pursue a BS in Chemistry or Biology.  When/if I go back to school, I won't have to do all of the electives again, will I?  I mean stuff like Public Speaking and Composition 1 that are not direct links to the major.  When/if I apply, it will ask if already have a degree and will take that into consideration, right?

Depends on the school for how many of your classes count.  If you go to the same school you went before (or the same system, if it's a state school), you'll probably have to take fewer classes than if you go to a new, private school.