Fonts

[pauland]

I'm in the latter stages of building a new flash website for a small business. This is a redesign of an old site that I originally made some years ago for them and most certainly it didn't fit their need, even though it was what they wanted.

The difference between the old site and the new site is that the old site said a lot about the specifics and technicalities of their business but was as dull as dishwater. It was only good for insomniacs.

This time around I've switched the emphasis towards the target client, more particularly the aspirations of the target client.

The client runs a financial service business and are really selling their expertise in the market.

Most of their clients are from the general public. To that end, the site is really all about getting someone to call the client and the pages are really more akin to single page advertising appealing to the aspirations of the target market.

To soften the site I looked for a less formal font and just went ahead with Comic Sans which makes the pages very informal.

Besides the general public, one part of the site targets businesses and for that part (a single page) a less formal style seems appropriate and something like arial suits very well.

So, I have this tension between appealing to the public with a less formal font, yet not alienating businesses by looking less professional.

The site pages have more similarity with billboard adverts than most web pages - with a photographic background with overlaid text.

Any suggestions?

Paul

[iamtheblues]

There is a huge groundswell of opinion against the use of Comic Sans for anything whatsoever.
There are plenty of free casual or comic fonts out there to choose from, depending on whether
they are used for display or body text.

Edit: Re-reading your post, it looks like body text isn't an issue, so you could be more flamboyant than those attached.
Of course putting text on a photo background raises the issue of legibility, so an outline or drop shadow may be required.
Saludos,
Bob.

[pauland]

Conservative but friendly is really what I'm after.

Paul (hypnotised by the Avatar)

[iamtheblues]

Friendly-in-a-conservative-sort-of-way-fonts (garamond).
Saludos,
Bob.

[pauland]

LOL - almost as subtle as the Avatar..

Could be just the job.

Good suggestion Bob, thank you.