We can change the font system-wide to what it was before, which was Sans Serif with Arial as alternate. You see what you have now in the browser, Arial is on the left, Sans Serif (taken from the old forum) is on the right (as a photo so you can look side-by-side - click the thumbnail to get the full size)
The new font is a bit thin in weight in the default settings. Something a little more weighty, but not necessarily true bold or larger point, would be helpful.
Yes I think the earlier or a bolder font would be better. I do think I/we will get used to the new one eventually – changes like this always feel jarring at first, but then become the new preferred normal.
Actually, it appears to be Sans Serif that used to be our default font - here’s a side-by-side of Arial (left) and Sans Serif (right, from the old forum - again, click it for full size)
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Loved Arial but then after looking at it via the test forum for a bit, I figured it wasn’t what it was before, then seeing Sans Serif, which is easiest to read. The current font is nice but harder to read - almost cursive-like
I don’t see it so much as pining for the “old look”, rather, the current thin weight font combined with a tinted background creates a general contrast issue. You could use any font with a little more weight (except comic sans!) and achieve a little more contrast and readability. Light typefaces for body text is a basic no-no.
Good point - this new style (called Allan, we voted on it, months ago) doesn’t have the tinted background by default. It was added to keep some uniformity for the users, and the font doesn’t look as good on that tinted background
Point size is just as an important consideration as font, especially for our rising-AARP and AARP cohort
Sans serif fonts have been shown again and again to improve online engagement.
Todd, I’d think about keeping it as simple as possible for body copy and then having a bit of fun with the larger display copy, e.g. headers, headlines, etc. That way it’s not totally monochromatic visually.