[birdman]

I'm well aware that my boss isn't a fan of sans serif fonts -- but part of the reason for this disdain is that he seems to think every sans serif font is Arial or Helvetica. Well, I'll join him in despising those two clowns, but I'm not about to discredit every sans serif font in existence just because Helvetica is used for generic brand potato chip packaging.

The other day, I used Gill Sans in a project, and my boss said, "What's that, Arial?" Me: "No, Gill Sans." Boss: {pause... decides I'm not lying} "Sure is an ugly font." {walks away}

I happen to like Gill Sans specifically because it *doesn't* look like Arial or Helvetica, and I really like its condensed and italic forms. But, I've been known to be in the minority before when choosing fonts, so I'm here to ask the graphic design community: What do you think of Gill Sans? And if you don't like it, what sans serif fonts would you recommend instead?

-birdman

[Randman]

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I don't mind GS personally but it is a bit old school, imo. What kind of project?

[Phil Sherry]

Gill Sans has far more class than Arial, or Helvetica (although, I do like a few weights of the latter).

Could be worse; he could be forcing you to use Comic Sans.

[birdman]

I work for a music publisher, and this was an ad listing our new band publications for this year. Originally this list was in Times (which, incidentally, would be the only font on earth if my boss had his way), but since the ad I was designing had a dark blue background, I wanted to use a sans serif font, fearing the thin strokes of Times would get lost in the reverse (white text). Come to think of it, I might have been able to get away with Adobe Garamond, which my boss also likes, but as I said I didn't want the thin strokes to disappear since the text was so small (9 pt).

-birdman

[andi*pandi]

9 pt garamond reversed in newsprint is a bad idea, true.

gil is ok, myself I'm sick of it due to a previous job it being the favorite typeface of the owner and we used it on everything. A certain circa 1994 feel to it.

My current fave sans are Franklin Gothic, Trade Gothic, Scala Sans.

There are also like 50 versions of helvetica out there, if used nicely it can rise above generic potato chip packaging.

[Thorzdad]

Gill Sans is a handsome, classic face. Sounds to me that your boss is simply someone who has been convinced that sans-serif fonts are ugly. Sort of like a kneejerk response to modernism in general.

[birdman]

Thanks for the tip on Scala Sans -- I like it, again especially the italic and condensed forms. I think maybe he was turned off by the thickness of Gill Sans Bold; I'll admit it's somewhat bulky. Plus, Gill Sans looks much better in laser print than on screen in Freehand running in Classic.

-birdman

[KeriVit]

gill sans is alright- but it can look horsey in some of the heavier weights

[CaptainHaddock]

Most designers love Gill, but I don't really. A lot of the letters annoy me (like a and e). Gill italic is quite nice, though.

Your boss is a fool if he thinks every font looks like Helvetica.

There are plenty of other very nice sans-serif fonts. I currently love Gotham; it looks good everywhere I put it. Starbucks has been using Gotham in its branding, and it looks terrific there. I've also been using Zine Sans a lot, and Stone (which comes with OS X) is quite nice. Interstate is another trendy choice.

[Oisín]

Gill is all right, especially in all-caps where it can sometimes be downright beautiful.

I think my favourite sans-serif font is Myriad, though; there's something very soothing to it. For school papers, etc., I nearly always use Myriad for headings and headers/footers, and Minion for bulk text. I find the two compliment each other very well.

Stone, Rotis, and Lucida Grande (how original, eh?) are also among sans-serif fonts I find look good in most settings. Sometimes, in the right settings, even good ol' Verdana can look good. And, as andi*pandi said, used properly, Helvetica can be pretty neat as well.

[sheer]

Designers Republic have proved how good Helvetica (black) is.

Personally I like Myriad. Plently of weights to go at + works well in both body and header.

Gill Sans, yeah, I use that quite a bit. And Futura, dig those question marks. Frutiger is another oldie but goodie. Stone's nice in both sans and serif and I also like Palatino and Friz Quadrata.

[Simon X]

"Doesn't like Sans Serif" - What nonsense. Like saying I don't like blue. Sounds like he once heard that from someone and took it at face value.

I do like Gill Sans, and being a Londoner I prefer the prototype - Johnston Sans, aka Johnston Underground... the type face for the London Underground. I just love the lowercase g and the dots above the i and j and the full stop, plus the numerals. Of course not as versatile and design for quite a specific task.

Another sans serif I've always liked is Century Gothic.

[art_director]

Gill Sans is a well designed face that has many uses. Unfortunately too many designers have chosen to use it.

At one point last year I was working on three projects for three different clients who all had Gill Sans specified in their graphic standards. That was a long hard slog.

If anyone here was around the business in the 80s and 90s you know that Franklin Gothic was the face of choice. Every flippin' ad used it. Now I have a hard time with that face because it was abused during that period. Of course every face has a time and a place for its use.

[as2]

Originally Posted by art_director

Gill Sans is a well designed face that has many uses. Unfortunately too many designers have chosen to use it.

At one point last year I was working on three projects for three different clients who all had Gill Sans specified in their graphic standards. That was a long hard slog.

If anyone here was around the business in the 80s and 90s you know that Franklin Gothic was the face of choice. Every flippin' ad used it. Now I have a hard time with that face because it was abused during that period. Of course every face has a time and a place for its use.

I'd second that...

It seems that any designer that wants a sans-serif font, but not the usual Arial or Verdana, chooses Gill Sans.

[tpicco]

Yeah... Gill Sans IS drifting towards over use... but I love using it... it's one of the few fonts that can remain very readable at 7 point... And design wise, it's got a style all its own without overwhelming a design...

[art_director]

7 pt ??? So you feel it's appropriate for legal lines?

[lasher]

I think Gill can be a great typeface... as long as you don't forget to kern it... specifically "1"s and "A"s and "V"s and anything else that appears totally detached from its friends on either side of it.

Remember... the person who dies with the most fonts wins.

[BuonRotto]

Wonder what this boss would think of Frutiger or *gasp* Futura?!

[birdman]

Originally Posted by BuonRotto

Wonder what this boss would think of Frutiger or *gasp* Futura?!

Actually, a few months after I started working here I used Futura on a flyer we designed for a local Kiwanis event, and he didn't have a problem with it (and back then I most certainly would have had to change it if he didn't like it). Looking back at it, I personally don't like the flyer or my use of Futura, but the group seems to be fine with it and just has me update the dates and times every year. Oh well, it's not a portfolio piece.

-birdman

[yugyug]

hey what about trebuchet - gotta love those lowercase g's.

maybe you should teach your toddler boss a few baby steps with a semi-serif -- i love Agfa Rotis

[York911]

I like Gill but never was a fan of the Extra- or Ultra- weights. Since we're talkin' fonts, I LOVE the brand new Proxima Nova. Check it out:

http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/proximanova.html

::york

[tpicco]

Originally Posted by art_director

7 pt ??? So you feel it's appropriate for legal lines?

I think so...though are "legal lines" a specific definition or are you speaking generically...? Gill is great for what I call boilerplate...