The two primary font styles
The two main types of font to consider for your email content are serif and sans serif. Serif font designs include a small serif or tail at the end of each character. The most frequently used different fonts of this type are Times New Roman and Georgia. Sans-serif fonts do not have tails on their characters. The most common fonts of this type in use today are Arial and Helvetica.
8 email-friendly fonts for use in email
8 typefaces that are email-safe for use in all of the leading email provider services today include the following:
- Arial
- Helvetica
- Times New Roman
- Georgia
- Tahoma
- Verdana
- Courier New
- Trebuchet MS
Arial font advantages
Arial font gives your email messages a look of classy, yet simple elegance. The soft curves of its design keep your message from appearing stiff or formal. This font is easy to read in multiple sizes, and it complements many styles of graphic design.
As an appealing and easy-to-read contemporary font, Arial is email-friendly. Its streamlined modern appearance makes it an ideal choice for email body content. This sans-serif font is also recommended for use in major headings, charts, and visual designs for your messages.
Benefits of Helvetica font
As an attractive sans-serif font, Helvetica is commonly used in email messages. It is especially appealing for creating attention-getting titles and phrases. Yet, the letters in this font are closely spaced. This feature can make medium-length and long email text somewhat difficult to read.
Helvetica is used frequently across all types of digital content. Although popular today for email text, it does not give your copy a dynamic or unique look. Yet, it is an email-safe font. You can count on it to render well in all of the major email provider systems.
Qualities of Times New Roman font
Many web users choose Times New Roman as their default font. This email-safe font belongs to the serif font family and is one of the best-known typefaces in use. However, its narrow letter design makes Times New Roman best for use in your major email headings. Using this font in the body of your message can make the content a slow read.
For a casual or artsy look, you can try mixing this font with a more trendy style. This familiar typeface has actually been in use for nearly a century. It requires less page space than multiple fonts. Yet, the narrow characters can make scanning content tiring for the eyes.
Features of Georgia font
Georgia is an ideal font for email content. As a serif typeface, it lends a professional, credible appearance to your messages. For this reason, Georgia font is often used in books, newspapers, and other printed materials. It provides easy reading of emails due to its widely spaced characters.
Especially for long email text, this Microsoft font offers easy reading free of eye strain. The classic design of this font is preferred by many businesses, both established firms and startups. You can also mix Georgia font with more creative typefaces for a fresh, updated look.
Advantages of Tahoma font
Tahoma is part of the sans-serif font family and is ideal for use in email content. It was originally designed for on-screen text. A major feature of this typeface is the equal length of the upper and lower-case characters.
Tahoma has similarities to Verdana, although Tahoma features slimmer letters that are more closely spaced. Introduced by Microsoft, this font is helpful when creating text boxes or text within graphic designs. It is ideal for fitting text into small spaces without creating a cramped visual effect.
Benefits of Verdana font
Verdana is a sans-serif font that was created for low-resolution screens. It has upper and lower-case characters that are wide and easy to read in email copy. The space between letters is also helpful for creating long emails that are easy to scan quickly. It is also a bold, attractive font to use for your business email name.
Verdana is popular with web users, especially for designing email messages. Its simple, bold lines make this font extremely legible, earning it praise and frequent use as a leading email typeface. The name “Verdana” was formed by the font designer for his daughter by combining the word “verdant” with her name, “Ana.”
Courier New font qualities
Courier New is an excellent typeface to use in the email content. It is from the font family of slab-serif, a type of serif font. It looks similar to a traditional typewriter font and is often used for manuscripts and detailed reports.
This very legible font is used on many web pages and in online sales catalogs. Many people who were once accustomed to the Courier typewriter fonts feel at home now using Courier New as a digital font. It is quite email-safe as well.
Characteristics of Trebuchet MS
This simple serif font was developed by Microsoft and is known for its clean and modern appearance. Originally deemed a "good web design font" for its ease of scanning at small sizes, it's become a suitable choice for titles and headings. This typeface is also slightly condensed and available in a range of weights to fit your specific application.
Trebuchet MS has a friendly and informal style, making you appear more approachable in your emails. This font is a commonly used as an alternative to Arial and Verdana and is popular in both print and digital media.
Best font size for email
Your email font should not be extremely large or too small. There are no standard recommended font sizes for headlines or body text. However, your chosen email typeface should be no less than 10 points and no greater than 16 points. A very large font size dominates email content and may appear distorted or out of place in some email provider platforms.
If your message typeface is too small, your clients or prospective customers typically skip reading it. This can create problems, especially in transactional emails. Take time to send yourself test emails to ensure their good quality and readability before sending to a group. This is especially helpful if you are launching a marketing campaign or sending large numbers of sales announcements. This testing process will help you determine the best font size for email.
