Graphics Standards at Fermilab

Fonts

Typefaces play an important role in identifying the Fermilab brand. For in-house communication, we recommend the use of one of the following typeface combinations:

• Helvetica (sans serif) and Palatino (serif)
• Arial (sans serif) and Times New Roman (serif)

Consider these font choices as guidelines and suggestions rather than as restrictions. Substituting fonts is acceptable in internal communications if the recommended typefaces are not available. When choosing your font, the overall goal should be consistency, legibility and readability.

For print and electronic communication products created by graphic designers, the recommended typefaces are Helvetica Neue and Adobe Garamond in the weights described below. Substitutions are only permitted with prior approval from Visual Media Services.

For questions or comments regarding the font selection, guideline, or if design assistance is needed, please contact Creative Services at creativeservices@fnal.gov.

Fonts for Fermilab staff

These font sets are intended for day-to-day use—correspondence, memos and all in-house communication. Recommended are the following typeface combinations:

• Helvetica (sans serif) and Palatino (serif)
• Arial (sans serif) and Times New Roman (serif)

Helvetica and Palatino are the primary recommendations and should be used if you have access to the Helvetica font family on your computer. If not, Arial and Times New Roman are the alternate choices. Although not shown in the example below, italic in both bold and regular weights can be used sparingly when needed for emphasis.

Sans serif
Helvetica/Arial are recommended for use on displays, posters, headlines, titles, chart figures, signage, letterheads and memos. When appropriate, use Helvetica Regular/Arial regular for body text.

Serif
Palatino/Times New Roman are recommended for body text. These fonts complement Helvetica/Arial and enhance readability.

Fonts for graphic designers

This set of fonts is intended for use by graphic designers when typesetting external and key internal publications. Substitutions are only permitted with prior approval from Visual Media Services. For design assistance, please contact Creative Services at creativeservices@fnal.gov.

Adobe Garamond is recommended for use in lengthy publication text settings.

Helvetica Neue 55 Roman can also be used for body text. Italic in both bold and regular weights can be used sparingly for emphasis only.

Adobe Garamond Bold can also be used for headlines, subheads and titles, when appropriate.

Typography examples for in-house communication

These are a few examples of how the serif and sans serif typefaces can be used with example type sizes. When choosing your font combinations, the overall goal should be consistency, legibility and readability. Avoid using many different typefaces in your communication materials.

Recommended type combinations

Other possible type combinations

Combinations to avoid

We discourage using a combination of sans serif typefaces, for example Helvetica for the headline with Arial as body text, and the combination of serif typefaces, for example Palatino for the headline and Times New Roman for the body text.