RE: General writing question

[Julia Land <scribejulia -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I, for one, don't want to go online when I have a question about a setting
on my new washing machine. There may be many reasons to create paper
documents.

Julia

On Jan 26, 2017 10:00 AM, "Wright, Lynne" <Lynne -dot- Wright -at- kronos -dot- com> wrote:

> Nevermind font preference... I'd be questioning why they are still using
> printed docs, instead of pdfs.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tammy Van Boening [mailto:tammyvb -at- spectrumwritingllc -dot- com]
> Sent: January-26-17 10:20 AM
> To: Wright, Lynne <Lynne -dot- Wright -at- Kronos -dot- com>;
> lonewriter-discuss -at- mailer -dot- stc -dot- org; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: General writing question
>
> Because these are PRINTED docs., and they want Sans Serif font for both
> headers and body and it makes the body text very hard to discern from the
> headers, especially since all the paragraph styles are In Column as well. I
> am trying to do something to enhance readability and keep the text from
> competing with bold headlines in sans serif typefaces.
>
> It's very, very hard to read as it is laid out right now.
>
> TVB
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wright, Lynne [mailto:Lynne -dot- Wright -at- Kronos -dot- com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2017 8:15 AM
> To: Tammy Van Boening; lonewriter-discuss -at- mailer -dot- stc -dot- org;
> techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: General writing question
>
> Speaking from the perspective of an ex-typesetter, using serif for text
> and sans serif for headings was never a standard for the publications we
> produced.
>
> If anything, over the 30 years since I was in the typography/publication
> production biz, the trend has been away from serif fonts. Sans serif is
> definitely the standard now; its considered more modern and easier to red,
> and the fine strokes in serif fonts used to be an issue in terms of display
> and readability on computer monitors.
>
> Look at pretty much any company's website or on-line documentation; I bet
> you'll be hard-pressed to find one that doesn't use a Helvetica-like sans
> serif.
>
> When I see a doc that uses Times or similar font, I actually get a bit
> annoyed. It seems so old-fashioned.
>
> Everyone is entitled to their preference, but I wouldn't say that fighting
> for Times is worth the effort. If your client wants sans serif, why on
> earth wouldn't you give them what they want?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Tammy Van Boening
> Sent: January-26-17 9:59 AM
> To: lonewriter-discuss -at- mailer -dot- stc -dot- org; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: General writing question
>
> All,
>
> Since the cows have come home, I have always, and I mean always, used
> Times or another serif font for body text and san serif for headings and I
> know that this is considered the "norm" or "standard" for tech. docs. That
> said, a new client is insistent on using sans serif fonts for both headings
> and text and it isn't pretty when you're trying to read this manual.
>
> Does anyone have any hard references/links to sites that you could point
> me to that stipulate why this is the norm/standard for writing manuals?
> Right now, my client considers everything that I offered as an explanation
> as simply anecdotal and not worthy of consideration.
>
> Yea, I am about to punt. . . .
>
> Thanks,
>
> TVB
>
>
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