TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
>Perhaps Times/TNR and Arial are appealing because they seem
>safe, like gray suits.
I don't know: that implies that people actually make a choice. I think
Times and Arial are used simply because they're available, and because
so many products default to them.
Which reminds me: many people who doesn't study typography claim that it
doesn't matter. For instance, at several companies, I've been told not
to worry about typography or layout: what the company needed was the
facts. Yet, in every case, when I (unable to resist the Demon Font)
spend a little time on some basic layout, the first response in my
reviews was how inviting the manuals looked,
Of course, writing is the core of the job. But everything I've seen
convinces me that people do notice decent layout - it's just that
they'll endure mediocre layout and are used to it..
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
(bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com) (604) 421-7189 or 687-2133 X. 269
www.outlawcommunications.com (updated 25 Jan 1998)
"Spider spins its heart out, fox goes home alone,
Wisdom is a snake waiting underneath a stone,
Refuge is in silence or in any stony place,
I will not share your pity, your laws, or your disgrace."
--Oyster Band
