Serif fonts in general are more formal (or "stately").
Serif fonts in general are more formal (or "stately"). That's because of the, well, serifs. Sans-serifs visually resemble/evoke handwriting because in handwriting we don't make serifs. Try writing with serifs for everyday stuff and it will quickly reveal to be visually and logistically annoying. The only question is which brand of formal do you want to evoke. TNR feels very straightforward and no-nonsense to me. So I wouldn't really object to associating it with bureaucratic memos and documents. For something more leisurely I'd go with either Garamond or Georgia. Georgia is my favorite but it's a bit too fancy for long texts. It's better suited for quotes. As an aside, I hate that Introduction to Algorithms [CORMEN] uses a TNR-like font. It makes it look like a Physics textbook. They could've stayed with default Computer Modern and strengthened my Pavlovian conditioning to it. Whenever I read something in Computer Modern, my heart palpitates a little in the way it did when I sat through my Data Structures exams.
Posted by JsonDemWitOster on Aug 13, 2026, 10:38 AM
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Raise real-world problems, find people facing the same issue, and discuss solutions.2,000 issues0 comments
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I wish there was something that could be done beyond feeling powerless.
NewI don’t hate taxes per se but I hate that the government will take tax dollars earmarked for one purpose, which is how they got the tax a...
NewI've never thought SF Symbols were beautiful.
New> conservatives don't like being told that their ideas, while legally allowed, are not welcome in polite company As long as there are a ...
NewYeah but this AI music is worse than any AI produced code.
I wish there was a way I could get educational-only youtube as an adult.
people say taste is the differentiator but I hate that because taste is personal, whereas culture is communal taste without curation for...
I've always enjoyed hacking on random projects and AI does that really well.
Serif fonts in general are more formal (or "stately").
Serif fonts in general are more formal (or "stately"). That's because of the, well, serifs. Sans-serifs visually resemble/evoke handwriting because in handwriting we don't make serifs. Try writing with serifs for everyday stuff and it will quickly reveal to be visually and logistically annoying. The only question is which brand of formal do you want to evoke. TNR feels very straightforward and no-nonsense to me. So I wouldn't really object to associating it with bureaucratic memos and documents. For something more leisurely I'd go with either Garamond or Georgia. Georgia is my favorite but it's a bit too fancy for long texts. It's better suited for quotes. As an aside, I hate that Introduction to Algorithms [CORMEN] uses a TNR-like font. It makes it look like a Physics textbook. They could've stayed with default Computer Modern and strengthened my Pavlovian conditioning to it. Whenever I read something in Computer Modern, my heart palpitates a little in the way it did when I sat through my Data Structures exams.
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