Text

Add content for discussion on **font, point size and textual content** of the atlas pages.

What fonts can we use? What point sizes? What about contextual content?

Personally, I like the Garamond font type. I think it is very readable and is not cliche' like Times or Ariel. [posted by mike freeman] I agree, I really like Garamond too. [posted by Abbey]

I like Garamond as well but think that if we are directing this atlas towards younger childern maybe we should consider something like Comic Sans MS. This particular font reminds me of when I was learning my ABC's, just a thought. Perhaps a point size a little larger then 12 would be appropiate since childerns books often instill this element. I'm unclear about contextual content, this element depends on the age group the atlas will be made for. [Nathan]

No boring fonts! While we shouldn't go too traditional, we need to also realize that people need to read the text without getting a headache. I think the font size should be large enough so that it is easy to read, but small enough so our audience doesn't think we're making this atlas for retards. No offense intended. (cole)

I agree with Nathan and that we should go with Comic Sans MS since it is easy to ready, adds style and is not the normal text type usually seen on maps. (mfindley)

I agree with Cole that we can't have boring, standard fonts. If our target audience is a younger age group though, we also shouldn't choose a font that may be hard to read for younger kids. An easy to read but interesting font will help make kids want to read the Atlas. [Kevin Marino]

For this age group, I and probably everyone would agree that text, though present should be minimal. The more that pictures and symbols tell the story on each page the better. Again text is importand but should be larger than a standard atlas and be easy to read. We have to be careful that our word choice is appropriate for this age group. (Robg)

Ok so these are the two fonts that have been discussed so far. I think that Comic would be good for titles and such, I am not so sure we would want to use it for a whole paragraph, depends on how long the text is going to be and what point size. Generally I think for the age group that we are working with, point size for the main body of the text would be about 14 or 16, depending on the font and the layout.[Astfgl]

For a couple other options I am adding the fonts Tempus, Kirstin, Georgia, and Gill. Tempus and Kirstin are similiar to Comic, Geogria is very similiar to Garamond just a littel heavier so it might contrast better with some backgrounds, an Gill is a new one altogether. Just so we have some more options to play with. Most of the fonts I looked at were either just too plain or too complicated for kids to read easily. [Astfgl]

The Geography Standards and Age Groups Back to the The Atlas Pages