Honestly speaking for myself I think roboto and Calibri are excellent fonts.
Readable and aesthetically pleasing, what's the general opinion on these default fonts in the typography world?
Readable and aesthetically pleasing, what's the general opinion on these default fonts in the typography world?
Roboto is (or: has become, its beginnings were somewhat rough) a great screen font, but for printed applications, it tends to look a little dull. This has to do with ubiquity, but also with the simplicity that is inherent to most screen fonts.
For a sans serif, default font, I like Palatino. Classic, nice open counters.
I suggest that on any occasion when you're inclined to use Palatino for substantial quantities of text (as opposed to titles, posters, book covers, etc.) you would do better to use Aldus instead.
(Aldus is a companion face to Palatino; Zapf's intention was that Palatino is for "display" use -- titles, posters, etc. -- and Aldus is for body-text.)