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Just asking out of curiosity, and this is probably nothing.

  1. Who decides what font to use for a particular community?
    I'm assuming, an SE employee.

  2. Why was Georgia, a serif font, chosen for our site over, say, a sans-serif like Arial?
    I'm assuming ELUers are avid readers and most books use serifs.

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    I think the question English site design answers this: (1) a designer (2) "It should feature beautiful typography and invoke a vintage/warm feeling." – Andrew Leach♦ Feb 23 '17 at 9:56
  • @AndrewLeach thanks. As an aside, I feel like I agree with nohat's answer that our "old-timey" looks are not really welcoming to new users. That brings me to my next curiosity, "Should we change our fonts to look more modern?" I should probably ask a different question for this. Maybe another time. – NVZ Feb 23 '17 at 10:06
  • Don't forget that ELU is for "linguists, etymologists, and (serious) English language enthusiasts." ELL [which didn't exist in 2010] does indeed use a sans font. – Andrew Leach♦ Feb 23 '17 at 10:24
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If you are seriously suggesting we abandon our site’s signature look, one deliberately reminiscent of “a book tastefully set in a serifed face and proper text figures”, then you may be shocked at how passionately people can feel about matters of aesthetics.

On top of that, recommending Arial betrays so stunning an insensitivity to typesetting that little short of a change to Comic Sans might risk leaving us more open to derision and scorn.

I recommend the Graphic Design SE site, which has several questions related to this one.

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  • Nope. This is a fitting answer to my other question probably. Should we change our fonts to look more modern? – NVZ Feb 23 '17 at 13:49
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    And I am not seriously suggesting anything. I am not recommending Arial. I am only asking out of curiosity. I personally use whatever font or theme I like by tinkering with CSS and stuff. :) – NVZ Feb 23 '17 at 13:51
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    So you're suggesting an elegant choice like Papyrus? – Mitch Feb 23 '17 at 15:25

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