Font styles

Font styles can be useful for calling attention to parts of a document. Italics, boldface, underlining, and capitalization can provide emphasis in different ways. Be consistent throughout a document in the ways you use these styles.

Italics is used in certain situations:

• For book, film, or software titles: Wuthering Heights, Apocalypse Now.
• For foreign words: “My Lithuanian grandmother makes my favorite dish, kugelis (‘potato cake’).”
• For words mentioned as themselves: “We overused the word navigate in our user manual.”

In technical and business writing, terms are sometimes italicized at their first mention in a document or a chapter: “AIDS patients monitor their levels of helper T-cells because these cells detect antigens in the body and activate other cells to fight the antigens.”

Bold is best used

• to emphasize important words or information
• to format headings

Underlining is best used

• to signal a hyperlink on the Web
• to format titles of some published works when using italics is not possible or when a style guideline requires it

CAPITAL LETTERS are best used

• to begin sentences and signal proper nouns
• to format headings

small caps are best used

• to create distinct headings
• to set off your name and address at the top of a résumé or letterhead

Large fonts

Sometimes you may need to use a large font for signs, posters, or visuals for oral presentations (such as PowerPoint slides). In such cases, check if your text is easy to read by standing back from your document at the distance of your intended readers. A presentation slide might use fonts in the range of 24 points to 48 points. A scientific poster might use display fonts up to 96 points.

Cautions on font styles

• Avoid using too many different styles within one document. Too many font differences can result in busy-looking pages.
• Avoid typing extended text in italics. Long passages in italics are difficult to read.
• Avoid typing long passages in all capital letters. USING ALL CAPS IS PERCEIVED AS SHOUTING. IT ALSO MAKES TEXT DIFFICULT TO READ.
• Use boldface sparingly. Too much boldface dilutes the impact of what you want to emphasize and makes your document difficult to read. In academic and business writing, your readers expect you to choose emphatic words, not to rely on boldface for emphasis. In general, reserve boldface primarily for headings.
• Avoid nonconventional styling, such as all lowercase or a lot of mixed upper and lower. Although some writers leave out capital letters in e-mails and instant messages, this habit makes a message difficult to read and can reflect poorly on the writer. When you send an e-mail to your boss or your professor, write sentences with conventional capitalization and punctuation.

Sample text using font styles and colors

Sample business card using different fonts

Symbols and special characters

You may need special characters or symbols for words in a language that uses accent marks or for non-English characters. You might need Greek characters, math symbols, or icons of various sorts. You can find them in Word in the Insert menu by clicking on Symbol.

The Symbol window gives you access to special characters. You select a font and a subset of symbols. You can then select and insert a character by double-clicking on it.