Fonts and formats
The Brunel fonts have been chosen for their modernity and their legibility. They also complement the University logo.
Print fonts
Fonts used in centrally produced and corporate publicity materials are:
Frutiger
Frutiger - if unavailable, substitute Arial or Helvetica.
Futura
Futura - if unavailable, substitute Arial or Helvetica
Garamond
Garamond - if unavailable, substitute Times New Roman
Web fonts
Arial - if unavailable, substitute Helvetica or Tahoma
Spacing
The tendency in typesetting is to squeeze too much text into too little space, making it difficult to read. One way to avoid this is to increase the space between the lines (the leading) in proportion to the line length.
The longer the line, the more space you need between the lines to improve legibility. A short line requires less inter-line space.
As a guideline, try to limit line length to around 80 characters.
Justified or ragged margins
Justified margins tend to convey a sense of formality and rigidity and can cause problems with hyphenated line-endings or uncomfortable gaps between words, particularly if using a short line length. Justified margins are particularly discouraged on web pages.
A ragged right margin is less formal and, for most corporate marketing, recruitment and communications publications, we favour this option. It is also useful in technical text where long words may result in excessive hyphenation if a justified format is used.
| Justified margin |
Ragged margin |
|
|---|---|---|
| Each of Brunel’s three ships represented a major step forward in naval architecture, but his brilliance and energy were applied to every branch of civil engineering. Other works included docks, buildings and the remarkable prefabricated hospital, with its air-conditioning and drainage systems, which he designed for use in the Crimean War. |
Between the request from the War Office in February 1855 and the end of that same year, the prefabricated Scutari Hospital was designed, shipped out, assembled on site and had a full quota of 1,000 beds. Prior to its erection, Florence Nightingale reported that three men were dying from disease for every man dying in battle. The structure of self-contained wards and trunk drainage ensured that only 50 out of 1,500 sick and wounded died at the new hospital. |
