Serif fonts as alternatives for Times New Roman, and sans serif fonts as alternatives for Arial

I’ve recently had the occasion to recommend a font for a policy document that I’ve been working on, in connection with a consultation project.

That is, what font would be a good substitute for Times New Roman, in the event a person is tired of Times New Roman?

I did a browser search for “serif fonts for people who don’t like Times New Roman,” checked out some of the resulting links, and (after some discussion) it appears that in this case the Georgia font is a leading contender as a substitute text font.

I also did a browser search for “alternative fonts for Arial.” My first choice was Futura but that was not available on one of the computers that’s being used for the project in question. For that reason, for now we’ve  tentatively chosen Calibri Light (in Bold) for headings, for a particular document.

What strikes me is how both Times New Roman and Arial do indeed have a stodgy, tired quality about them. That may because of the inherent qualities of these fonts or it may be the result of us just seeing these fonts for so many years, to the point they just seem a little tired.

What also trikes me about Georgia and Calibri Light is that each appears to have a quality of friendliness and liveliness about them.

In the meantime, so far as I can tell, the font that I use at this website is Times New Roman. Is it time for a change? I will give this matter some thought and then in time I will decide.