Typophile

Repost: Font combination suggestions for standard PC fonts (name badges)?

meanjean

I am trying to revamp a standard PC word template that is used for name badges. Currently, the font combination used is Times New Roman italic for participant titles and institutions (smaller type), while the name is in a larger Verdana bold. (Name legibility is the most important feature. Does anyone have any other classic font combinations that would be compatible with standard PC fonts? (It has to be standard PC fonts because the computers used are basic rentals every year, in a different city, and the template has to be accessible by all conference employees. It’s very limiting, but any suggestions would be helpful!

Thanks

Frode Bo Helland

Baskerville Old Face come bundled with Office 03 and 07 on a Windows PC (and Baskerville with OSX and Office 04 on a Mac). Perhaps matching it with Franklin Gothic Medium (Windows, Office 03 Win, Office 07 Win) could work? FG wouldn't be available on a Mac, but Office 04 has News Gothic which is very similar.

I have more suggestions, but as long as I don't know anything about the conference it's hard to know what might be suitable.

Frode Bo Helland

Btw, the bundled version of Baskerville Old Face does not have a true italic. Neither does Franklin Gothic.

meanjean

thanks...btw, i posted this on another forum, but here is a repost with more details:

Here are a couple versions of what I’m talking about:

—the original badge is the all-centered version with Times New Roman italics and the bold, larger name in Verdana.

—the left-justified version has been converted to a standard windows vista (i think) sans serif (in this case, Franklin Gothic—which does not match the interstate font used in logo, but just looks nicer than, say, arial). the logo has been reduced a bit, as it’s not necessary to have such a large logo on the badge. i think the left-justified version in all sans is easier to read.

by the way, the original file generator is a microsoft word badge insert template (3” x 4” badges). all the info is pulled from a general master list created in excel, through word’s data merge manager. this is the only efficient way to prepare the badges as participant lists are not finalized until perhaps the day before, and new badges have to be created on the spot by anyone on staff (thus, microsoft word, windows platform...)

the smaller type is 16 pt; the bold names are 22 pt.

the blue/color bar at the bottom of the badge is just an indicator of what level participant one is...it needs to be there for security/identification reasons.

what do you think? i’m now looking for a standard windows sans serif font that will match the logo font, which is interstate light. ideas? thanks!


Frode Bo Helland

The only other Neo Grotesque available is Arial, though the are not very similar.

See this list: http://webtypography.net/fontmatrix/

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