Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Should I use Arial/Helvetica for my resume?

Helvetica Mug.
Photo via http://blog.wearebuild.com/

Sans serif fonts have made a serious comeback. And who better to lead this resurgence than the original, I'm talking about Helvetica. For those looking for a thorough overview of the history of this font be sure to check out the Helvetica documentary by Gary Hustwit. Not only is it an impeccably imaginative documentary, but I'm sure it has single handedly been responsible for inspiring fledgling designers like myself. So it is fitting to start this blog with a shout out to a font that is itself an institution. As fun as it is to play with Helvetica and other sans serif fonts while designing, however, how practical are they for more mundane projects like resumes? So now that I've given my props, let's trash talk.

The girlfriend asked for advice regarding which font to use for her resume. Even with my limited experience, I've become sort of the defacto graphic design consultant in our household. After giving her a short lecture about my newly acquired knowledge of the history of this font thanks to said documentary, I advised against the use of either Helvetica or Arial for her resume. Helvetica and most sans-serif fonts (sans-serif means "without" serif, the serif being the little added flecks that jut out from the ends of serif fonts) do not have enough inherent variety in word form to aid legibility. This is why the default font for most newspapers and reading intensive media have serifs, such as Times New Roman or Georgia (the one you're reading). A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that serifs make words readable, because like most things in life, variety attracts engagement. Thus, when deciding on a font for your resume stick to those that are easy to read.