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In my Master thesis, I used this:

\begin{itemize}[label=\ding{167}]
\item Access Windows XM from Ubuntu Server
\item List the directories contents of Windows XP
\end{itemize}

The output is:
Sample
My question: must I avoid the use of such beautiful things when writing my thesis or is it a normal thing to do ?

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  • 9
    The answer to this question surely depends upon your local regulations. – Dave Clarke Jun 3 '14 at 7:56
  • So each university has its own rules when it comes to writing a thesis ? no standards for that ? – user16019 Jun 3 '14 at 7:58
  • 9
    There are no international standards for masters theses. – Dave Clarke Jun 3 '14 at 7:59
  • 6
    Even if not disallowed, it may be inadvisable, see: Is use of unconventional design elements or layout something frowned upon in academic context? – ff524♦ Jun 3 '14 at 8:01
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    Adding to ff524’s comment: While there usually is nothing wrong with changing the itemize bullets in general, I would consider your choice a rather bad one, as the bullet points are far too complex (and thus distracting from the text) and playful (and thus not fitting the unemotional style your master thesis should have). You can roughly compare those to using this font throughout your thesis or appearing to your thesis defense like this or this. – Wrzlprmft♦ Jun 3 '14 at 8:35
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Are they allowed to use in a master thesis?

I would think it improbable that such things are specifically disallowed, because it's just not something that people typically try to do. Overall, the effect is unattractive and does not follow good typographical practice. If your university policy does not object, your supervisor probably would (and should).

One or two unobtrusive ornamental flourishes may be appropriate on the title page, but certainly not in the main text.

If you are struggling for ideas on the typographical style of your thesis, I would highly recommend looking at the classicthesis and memoir packages. Of course you still must obey any official policy on the formatting, but these styles can at least provide a good start that's a little less sterile looking than vanilla LaTeX.

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