type - lesson 6
DESCRIPTION
learning font sizes and leadingTRANSCRIPT
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and visually
satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader. Even distri-
bution with a minimum of distractions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity
and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-
fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all
have differing characteristics and requirements. For historic material, established text
typefaces are frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a
long process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed “text ro-
mans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day design arts, which are
closely based on traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo
(a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond.
With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact,
tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexi-
bility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for
introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A current fashion is to
pair sans serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching
style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with white space of
the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to the
subject matter. With printed media typographers are also concerned with binding mar-
gins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word fre-
quencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography also is
subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is customary to insert
a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English
it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of the typeface
design and readability with the design of the printed page. Designers aim to achieve ex-
cellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without effort. Some-
times legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is a matter of
typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are
more legible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or ab-
stracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor setting and
placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readable through good de-
sign.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type size and type
design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type, line
length, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, justifi-
cation, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but the overall
finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust, and that significant dif-
ferences are hard to find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justi-
fied vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the argument over which is best.[citation
needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehension scores
used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read). For example,
Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a
speed of reading test that required participants to spot incongruous words as an effec-
tiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the testing of
specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are developed). Examples
of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) for people with visual impair-
ment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other conditions where legibility may
make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — various factors
were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the different factors are in-
terdependent), but many tests were carried out in the absence of a model of reading or
visual perception. Some typographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is
very important in readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is ei-
ther wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise recognition
with regard to how people actually recognize words when they read, have favored par-
allel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[cita-
tion needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or leading that is
too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous vertical space separates lines
of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or previous
line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result
in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications, especially
newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an attractive, dis-
tinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publication, and in some cases for
dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical standardizes on a relatively
small collection of typefaces, each used for specific elements within the publication,
and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital letters,
colors, and other typographic features. Some publications, such as The Guardian and
The Economist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create bespoke (custom
tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their typography,
to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and
comparatively modern style through their use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type
sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on a colored background. In
contrast, the New York Times use a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less
typeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, headlines are
often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and are placed near the mast-
head.
7.5 on 1.5
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and vi-
sually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader.
Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anomalies are aimed at pro-
ducing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction,
non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial
writing all have differing characteristics and requirements. For historic material,
established text typefaces are frequently chosen according to a scheme of histori-
cal genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap be-
tween historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed “text
romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day design arts,
which are closely based on traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jenson,
Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), and
Claude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and
magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the
task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space.
Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and
whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings with a
high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with white
space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or “reso-
nance” to the subject matter. With printed media typographers are also concerned
with binding margins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word
frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography
also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is cus-
tomary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sen-
tence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of the
typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page. Designers aim
to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without effort.
Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is a
matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic
letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded,
embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor setting
and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readable through
good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type size
and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs.
roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand edge
(for example, justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether
text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but the
overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust, and that
significant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans
serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the argument over
which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehension
scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read). For
example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s to the
1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot incongruous
words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the testing
of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are developed).
Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) for people with
visual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other conditions where
legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — various fac-
tors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the different fac-
tors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in the absence of a
model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers believe that the overall
word shape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and that the theory of paral-
lel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise recog-
nition with regard to how people actually recognize words when they read, have
favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive
psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or leading
that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous vertical space sep-
arates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish one line from the
next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or
loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications, espe-
cially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an at-
tractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publication, and
in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical stan-
dardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, each used for specific ele-
ments within the publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic,
boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typographic features.
Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to
commission a type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for
their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their typog-
raphy, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a bold,
colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a variety of type-
faces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on a
colored background. In contrast, the New York Times use a more traditional ap-
proach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, headlines are
often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and are placed near the
masthead.
8 on 14.1
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent,and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness ofthe reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anomaliesare aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prosefiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual andcommercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements. Forhistoric material, established text typefaces are frequently chosen accordingto a scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accretion, withconsiderable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed“text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day de-sign arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those ofNicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model forAldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized re-quirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted textromans specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibility,readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are oftenused for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. Acurrent fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-perfor-mance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text withwhite space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typographersare also concerned with binding margins, paper selection and printing meth-ods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures,word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Ty-pography also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, inFrench it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) orsemicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of thetypeface design and readability with the design of the printed page. Design-ers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without ef-fort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, how-ever, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that aretrue to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have beencondensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor set-ting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readablethrough good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including typesize and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italictype vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design ofright-hand edge (for example, justification, straight right hand edge) vs.ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but theoverall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust, and
that significant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies of ser-iffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settlethe argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehensionscores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read).For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930sto the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot in-congruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or thetesting of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are de-veloped). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) forpeople with visual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for otherconditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — variousfactors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the dif-ferent factors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in the ab-sence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers believethat the overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and thatthe theory of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less important,or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwiserecognition with regard to how people actually recognize words when theyread, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely acceptedby cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or lead-ing that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous verticalspace separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish oneline from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that aretoo tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications, es-pecially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achievean attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publica-tion, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, aperiodical standardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, eachused for specific elements within the publication, and makes consistent useof type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and othertypographic features. Some publications, such as The Guardian and TheEconomist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create bespoke(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their ty-pography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday usesa bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a vari-ety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’sname is placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New York Timesuse a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation,and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, head-lines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and areplaced near the masthead.
8.5 on 13.6
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coher-ent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distrac-tions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific,spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristics and re-quirements. For historic material, established text typefaces are fre-quently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by along process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historicalperiods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art ser-iffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing pres-ent-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional models suchas those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who createdthe model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their morespecialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact,tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the task, which offermaximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sansserif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental textand whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type forheadings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for thetext of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text withwhite space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typogra-phers are also concerned with binding margins, paper selection andprinting methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word struc-tures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguisticsyntax. Typography also is subject to specific cultural conventions. Forexample, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space beforea colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality ofthe typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page.Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read withouteffort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often,however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefacesthat are true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces thathave been condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poorsetting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made morereadable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors includingtype size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans seriftype, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast,the design of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straight righthand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on,but the overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably
robust, and that significant differences are hard to find. So comparativestudies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type,have failed to settle the argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with compre-hension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed orcareless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerousstudies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-quired participants to spot incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, orthe testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new type-faces are developed). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (alsocalled fonts) for people with visual impairment, and typefaces for high-way signs, or for other conditions where legibility may make a key dif-ference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical —various factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so,as the different factors are interdependent), but many tests were carriedout in the absence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some ty-pographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very impor-tant in readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise recognition iseither wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letter-wise recognition with regard to how people actually recognize wordswhen they read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which iswidely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, orleading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generousvertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to dis-tinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fontsand those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legi-bility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications,especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements toachieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigatingthe publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating astyle guide, a periodical standardizes on a relatively small collection oftypefaces, each used for specific elements within the publication, andmakes consistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capi-tal letters, colors, and other typographic features. Some publications,such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to commission atype designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their ex-clusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, includingtheir typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, US-AToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style throughtheir use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, andthe newspaper’s name is placed on a colored background. In contrast, theNew York Times use a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, lesstypeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, andare placed near the masthead.
9 on 13.1
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and vi-
sually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader.
Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anomalies are aimed at pro-
ducing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction,
non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial
writing all have differing characteristics and requirements. For historic material,
established text typefaces are frequently chosen according to a scheme of histori-
cal genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap be-
tween historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed “text
romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day design arts,
which are closely based on traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jenson,
Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), and
Claude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and
magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the
task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space.
Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text
and whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings
with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with white
space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or “reso-
nance” to the subject matter. With printed media typographers are also concerned
with binding margins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word
frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography
also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is cus-
tomary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sen-
tence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of the type-
face design and readability with the design of the printed page. Designers aim to
achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without effort.
Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is a
matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic
letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded,
embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor setting
and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readable through
good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type size and
type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs. roman
type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for ex-
ample, justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is
hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but the
overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust, and that
significant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans
serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the argument over
which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehension
scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read). For
example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s to the
1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot incongruous
words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the testing of
specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are developed). Exam-
ples of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) for people with visual im-
pairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other conditions where legibility
may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — various fac-
tors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the different fac-
tors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in the absence of a
model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers believe that the overall
word shape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and that the theory of paral-
lel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise recogni-
tion with regard to how people actually recognize words when they read, have fa-
vored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive
psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or leading that
is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous vertical space separates
lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or
previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted
can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications, espe-
cially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an attrac-
tive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publication, and in
some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical stan-
dardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, each used for specific ele-
ments within the publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic,
boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typographic features.
Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to com-
mission a type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their ex-
clusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their typog-
raphy, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a bold,
colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a variety of type-
faces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on a
colored background. In contrast, the New York Times use a more traditional ap-
proach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, headlines are
often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and are placed near the
masthead.
7.5 on 14.1
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent,
and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of
the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anomalies
are aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose
fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and
commercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements. For
historic material, established text typefaces are frequently chosen according
to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with
considerable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed
“text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day de-
sign arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those of Nico-
las Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for
Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized re-
quirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text
romans specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibility,
readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used
for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A cur-
rent fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-performance
seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with
white space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a
“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typogra-
phers are also concerned with binding margins, paper selection and printing
methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures,
word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Ty-
pography also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in
French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or
semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of the
typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page. Design-
ers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without ef-
fort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, how-
ever, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that are
true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been
condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor set-
ting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readable
through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type size
and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type
vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-
hand edge (for example, justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged
left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but
the overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust,
and that significant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies of
seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to set-
tle the argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehension
scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read).
For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s
to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot
incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the
testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are de-
veloped). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) for
people with visual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other
conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — various
factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the dif-
ferent factors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in the ab-
sence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers believe
that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and
that the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less impor-
tant, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise
recognition with regard to how people actually recognize words when they
read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted
by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or lead-
ing that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous vertical
space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish one
line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are
too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications, es-
pecially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an
attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publica-
tion, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a
periodical standardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, each used
for specific elements within the publication, and makes consistent use of type
sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typo-
graphic features. Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Econo-
mist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create bespoke (custom
tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their ty-
pography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses
a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a vari-
ety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name
is placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New York Times use a
more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and
more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, head-
lines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and are
placed near the masthead.
8 on 13.6
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coher-ent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distrac-tions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spir-itual and commercial writing all have differing characteristics andrequirements. For historic material, established text typefaces are fre-quently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by along process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historicalperiods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art ser-iffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing pres-ent-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional models suchas those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who createdthe model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their morespecialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact,tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the task, which offermaximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sansserif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidentaltext and whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif typefor headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style forthe text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text withwhite space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typog-raphers are also concerned with binding margins, paper selection andprinting methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word struc-tures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguisticsyntax. Typography also is subject to specific cultural conventions. Forexample, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space beforea colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality ofthe typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page.Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read withouteffort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often,however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefacesthat are true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces thathave been condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poorsetting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made morereadable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors includingtype size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans seriftype, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast,the design of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straight righthand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on,but the overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably
robust, and that significant differences are hard to find. So comparativestudies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type,have failed to settle the argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with compre-hension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed orcareless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerousstudies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-quired participants to spot incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or thetesting of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces aredeveloped). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also calledfonts) for people with visual impairment, and typefaces for highwaysigns, or for other conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical —various factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so,as the different factors are interdependent), but many tests were carriedout in the absence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some ty-pographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very impor-tant in readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise recognitionis either wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letter-wise recognition with regard to how people actually recognize wordswhen they read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which iswidely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, orleading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generousvertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to dis-tinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fontsand those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legi-bility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publica-tions, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elementsto achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navi-gating the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formu-lating a style guide, a periodical standardizes on a relatively smallcollection of typefaces, each used for specific elements within the publi-cation, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large andsmall capital letters, colors, and other typographic features. Some publi-cations, such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to com-mission a type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces fortheir exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, includingtheir typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, US-AToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style throughtheir use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, andthe newspaper’s name is placed on a colored background. In contrast,the New York Times use a more traditional approach, with fewer colors,less typeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention,and are placed near the masthead.
8.5 on 13.1
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, co-herent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, withoutthe awareness of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum ofdistractions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity and trans-parency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific,spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristicsand requirements. For historic material, established text typefacesare frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre ac-quired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap be-tween historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-artseriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoingpresent-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional mod-els such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutterwho created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond.With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and maga-zines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designedfor the task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and effi-cient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for intro-ductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. Acurrent fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of textwith white space of the page and other graphic elements combine toimpart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printedmedia typographers are also concerned with binding margins, paperselection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, wordstructures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs andlinguistic syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cultural con-ventions. For example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, whilein English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the qual-ity of the typeface design and readability with the design of theprinted page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be readwithout effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size;more often, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generallyspeaking, typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are morelegible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded, embel-lished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable throughpoor setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can bemade more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors includingtype size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans seriftype, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color con-trast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, justification,straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphen-ated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth centuryon, but the overall finding has been that the reading process is re-
markably robust, and that significant differences are hard to find.So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs.unjustified type, have failed to settle the argument over which isbest.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with com-prehension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not arushed or careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who publishednumerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of read-ing test that required participants to spot incongruous words as aneffectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues,or the testing of specific design solutions (for example, when newtypefaces are developed). Examples of critical issues include type-faces (also called fonts) for people with visual impairment, and type-faces for highway signs, or for other conditions where legibility maymake a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical —various factors were tested individually or in combination (in-evitably so, as the different factors are interdependent), but manytests were carried out in the absence of a model of reading or visualperception. Some typographers believe that the overall word shape(Bouma) is very important in readability, and that the theory of par-allel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less important, or not theentire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel let-terwise recognition with regard to how people actually recognizewords when they read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition,which is widely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing,or leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved whengenerous vertical space separates lines of text, making it easier forthe eye to distinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorlydesigned fonts and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can alsoresult in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publica-tions, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical ele-ments to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readersin navigating the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect.By formulating a style guide, a periodical standardizes on a rela-tively small collection of typefaces, each used for specific elementswithin the publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic,boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typo-graphic features. Some publications, such as The Guardian and TheEconomist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create be-spoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, includingtheir typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example,USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern stylethrough their use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes varywidely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on a colored back-ground. In contrast, the New York Times use a more traditional ap-proach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and morecolumns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract atten-tion, and are placed near the masthead.
9 on 12.3
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and
visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the
reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anomalies are
aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fic-
tion, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and com-
mercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements. For historic
material, established text typefaces are frequently chosen according to a
scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with con-
siderable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed “text
romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day design arts,
which are closely based on traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jenson,
Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces),
and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements, newspapers
and magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designed
for the task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of
page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, in-
cidental text and whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type
for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text
of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with white
space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or
“resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typographers are also
concerned with binding margins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word
frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography
also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is cus-
tomary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a
sentence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of the
typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page. Designers
aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without effort.
Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is a
matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that are true to the
basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been condensed,
expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor set-
ting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more readable
through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type size
and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs.
roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand
edge (for example, justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and
whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but the
overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust, and that
significant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs.
sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the argu-
ment over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehension
scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read).
For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s to
the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot incon-
gruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the test-
ing of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are devel-
oped). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) for
people with visual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other
conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — various
factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the different
factors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in the absence of
a model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers believe that the
overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and that the theory
of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less important, or not the entire
picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise
recognition with regard to how people actually recognize words when they
read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted by
cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or leading
that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous vertical space
separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish one line from
the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or
loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications, espe-
cially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an
attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publication,
and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical
standardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, each used for specific
elements within the publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic,
boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typographic features.
Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to
commission a type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for
their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their typog-
raphy, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a
bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a variety of
typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is
placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New York Times use a more
traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more
columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, headlines
are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and are placed near
the masthead.
7.5 on 13.8
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent,
and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of
the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anomalies
are aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose
fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and
commercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements. For
historic material, established text typefaces are frequently chosen accord-
ing to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accre-
tion, with considerable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed
“text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing present-day
design arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those
of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model
for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized
requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted
text romans specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibil-
ity, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts are
often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short ar-
ticles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-
performance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with
white space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a
“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typogra-
phers are also concerned with binding margins, paper selection and print-
ing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures,
word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax.
Typography also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For example,
in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:)
or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of the
typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page. De-
signers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without
effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often,
however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces
that are true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that
have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor
setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more
readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type
size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type,
italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the de-
sign of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straight right hand
edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but
the overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably robust,
and that significant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies of
seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to
settle the argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehen-
sion scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or care-
less read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies
from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required
participants to spot incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the
testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are
developed). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called
fonts) for people with visual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs,
or for other conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — vari-
ous factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the
different factors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in
the absence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some typogra-
phers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in
readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is either
wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise
recognition with regard to how people actually recognize words when they
read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely ac-
cepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or
leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous
vertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distin-
guish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and
those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications,
especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to
achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating
the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a
style guide, a periodical standardizes on a relatively small collection of
typefaces, each used for specific elements within the publication, and
makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital
letters, colors, and other typographic features. Some publications, such as
The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to commission a type de-
signer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive
use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their
typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday
uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of
a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspa-
per’s name is placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New York
Times use a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface
variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,
headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and
are placed near the masthead.8 on 13.6
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, co-herent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distrac-tions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific,spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristics andrequirements. For historic material, established text typefaces are fre-quently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired bya long process of accretion, with considerable overlap between histor-ical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-artseriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoingpresent-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional mod-els such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutterwho created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond.With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and maga-zines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designed forthe task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient useof page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductoryparagraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A current fashionis to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffedfont of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of textwith white space of the page and other graphic elements combine toimpart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printedmedia typographers are also concerned with binding margins, paperselection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word struc-tures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguis-tic syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cultural conventions.For example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking spacebefore a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it isnot..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the qualityof the typeface design and readability with the design of the printedpage. Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read with-out effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; moreoften, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking,typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are more legible thantypefaces that have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or ab-stracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable throughpoor setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can bemade more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors includingtype size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans seriftype, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color con-trast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straightright hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on,but the overall finding has been that the reading process is remark-
ably robust, and that significant differences are hard to find. So com-parative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjusti-fied type, have failed to settle the argument over which isbest.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with compre-hension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushedor careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published numer-ous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading testthat required participants to spot incongruous words as an effective-ness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, orthe testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new type-faces are developed). Examples of critical issues include typefaces(also called fonts) for people with visual impairment, and typefaces forhighway signs, or for other conditions where legibility may make a keydifference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical —various factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitablyso, as the different factors are interdependent), but many tests werecarried out in the absence of a model of reading or visual perception.Some typographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) isvery important in readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwiserecognition is either wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letter-wise recognition with regard to how people actually recognize wordswhen they read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which iswidely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, orleading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when gener-ous vertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eyeto distinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designedfonts and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result inpoor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publica-tions, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical ele-ments to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readersin navigating the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect.By formulating a style guide, a periodical standardizes on a relativelysmall collection of typefaces, each used for specific elements withinthe publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, bold-face, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typographic fea-tures. Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Economist,go so far as to commission a type designer to create bespoke (cus-tom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, includingtheir typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example,USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern stylethrough their use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes varywidely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on a colored back-ground. In contrast, the New York Times use a more traditional ap-proach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention,and are placed near the masthead.
8.5 on 12.7
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable,coherent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, withoutthe awareness of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum ofdistractions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity andtransparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typogra-phy—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious,scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all have differing char-acteristics and requirements. For historic material, establishedtext typefaces are frequently chosen according to a scheme ofhistorical genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with con-siderable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-artseriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echo-ing present-day design arts, which are closely based on traditionalmodels such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (apunchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), andClaude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements,newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text ro-mans specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexi-bility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif textfonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental textand whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans seriftype for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of match-ing style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay oftext with white space of the page and other graphic elementscombine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter.With printed media typographers are also concerned with bindingmargins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, wordstructures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructsand linguistic syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cul-tural conventions. For example, in French it is customary to inserta non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sen-tence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the qual-ity of the typeface design and readability with the design of theprinted page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be readwithout effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size;more often, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generallyspeaking, typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are morelegible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded, em-bellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadablethrough poor setting and placement, just as a less legible type-face can be made more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors includ-ing type size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs.sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing,color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, justifi-cation, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether textis hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth centuryon, but the overall finding has been that the reading process is re-markably robust, and that significant differences are hard to find.
So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justifiedvs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the argument over whichis best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with com-prehension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not arushed or careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who pub-lished numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used aspeed of reading test that required participants to spot incongru-ous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical is-sues, or the testing of specific design solutions (for example,when new typefaces are developed). Examples of critical issuesinclude typefaces (also called fonts) for people with visual impair-ment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other conditionswhere legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical— various factors were tested individually or in combination (in-evitably so, as the different factors are interdependent), but manytests were carried out in the absence of a model of reading or vi-sual perception. Some typographers believe that the overall wordshape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and that the theoryof parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less important, ornot the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallelletterwise recognition with regard to how people actually recog-nize words when they read, have favored parallel letterwiserecognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive psycholo-gists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spac-ing, or leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improvedwhen generous vertical space separates lines of text, making iteasier for the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or previousline. Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or looselyfitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publi-cations, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographicalelements to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aidreaders in navigating the publication, and in some cases for dra-matic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical standard-izes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, each used forspecific elements within the publication, and makes consistentuse of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital letters,colors, and other typographic features. Some publications, suchas The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to commissiona type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces fortheir exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, includ-ing their typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For ex-ample, USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparativelymodern style through their use of a variety of typefaces and col-ors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is placedon a colored background. In contrast, the New York Times use amore traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface varia-tion, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine cov-ers, headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attractattention, and are placed near the masthead.
9 on 11.9
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent,
and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness
of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and anom-
alies are aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose
fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual
and commercial writing all have differing characteristics and require-
ments. For historic material, established text typefaces are frequently
chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a long
process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historical peri-
ods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art ser-
iffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoing pres-
ent-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional models such
as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created
the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more
specialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact,
tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the task, which offer max-
imum flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif
text fonts are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and
whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type for head-
ings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text
of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with
white space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a
“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typogra-
phers are also concerned with binding margins, paper selection and
printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word struc-
tures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic
syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cultural conventions. For
example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before
a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the quality of
the typeface design and readability with the design of the printed page.
Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be read without
effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often,
however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces
that are true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that
have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor
setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more
readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors including type
size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type,
italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the de-
sign of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straight right hand
edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth century on, but
the overall finding has been that the reading process is remarkably ro-
bust, and that significant differences are hard to find. So comparative
studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type,
have failed to settle the argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehen-
sion scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or care-
less read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies
from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required
participants to spot incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the
testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are
developed). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called
fonts) for people with visual impairment, and typefaces for highway
signs, or for other conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical — vari-
ous factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as
the different factors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out
in the absence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some typogra-
phers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in
readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is either
wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise
recognition with regard to how people actually recognize words when
they read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely ac-
cepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing, or
leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous
vertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to dis-
tinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts
and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legi-
bility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications,
especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to
achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating
the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a
style guide, a periodical standardizes on a relatively small collection of
typefaces, each used for specific elements within the publication, and
makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capi-
tal letters, colors, and other typographic features. Some publications,
such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to commission a
type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their ex-
clusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their
typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USAToday
uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use
of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the news-
paper’s name is placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New
York Times use a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less type-
face variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,
headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and
are placed near the masthead.
7.5 on 13.1
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, co-herent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum of dis-tractions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity and trans-parency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific,spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristicsand requirements. For historic material, established text typefacesare frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre ac-quired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap be-tween historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-artseriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design values echoingpresent-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional mod-els such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutterwho created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond.With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and maga-zines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designedfor the task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficientuse of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for introduc-tory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A currentfashion is to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-perfor-mance seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of textwith white space of the page and other graphic elements combine toimpart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printedmedia typographers are also concerned with binding margins, paperselection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, wordstructures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs andlinguistic syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cultural con-ventions. For example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence,while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is the qualityof the typeface design and readability with the design of the printedpage. Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be readwithout effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size;more often, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Generallyspeaking, typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are morelegible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded, embel-lished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable throughpoor setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can bemade more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors includingtype size and type design. For example, comparing serif vs. sansserif type, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, colorcontrast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, justification,straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphen-ated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth centuryon, but the overall finding has been that the reading process is re-
markably robust, and that significant differences are hard to find. Socomparative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. un-justified type, have failed to settle the argument over which isbest.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with com-prehension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not arushed or careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who publishednumerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of read-ing test that required participants to spot incongruous words as aneffectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues,or the testing of specific design solutions (for example, when newtypefaces are developed). Examples of critical issues include type-faces (also called fonts) for people with visual impairment, and type-faces for highway signs, or for other conditions where legibility maymake a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical —various factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitablyso, as the different factors are interdependent), but many tests werecarried out in the absence of a model of reading or visual perception.Some typographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) isvery important in readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwiserecognition is either wrong, less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel let-terwise recognition with regard to how people actually recognizewords when they read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition,which is widely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citationneeded]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spacing,or leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when gen-erous vertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for theeye to distinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly de-signed fonts and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can alsoresult in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publica-tions, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical ele-ments to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readersin navigating the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect.By formulating a style guide, a periodical standardizes on a relativelysmall collection of typefaces, each used for specific elements withinthe publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, bold-face, large and small capital letters, colors, and other typographicfeatures. Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Econo-mist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create bespoke(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, includingtheir typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example,USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern stylethrough their use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizesvary widely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on a colored back-ground. In contrast, the New York Times use a more traditional ap-proach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and morecolumns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers,headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to attract atten-tion, and are placed near the masthead.
8 on 12.3
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable,coherent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, with-out the awareness of the reader. Even distribution with a mini-mum of distractions and anomalies are aimed at producingclarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typogra-phy—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious,scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all have differingcharacteristics and requirements. For historic material, estab-lished text typefaces are frequently chosen according to ascheme of historical genre acquired by a long process of accre-tion, with considerable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with design valuesechoing present-day design arts, which are closely based on tra-ditional models such as those of Nicolas Jenson, FrancescoGriffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine type-faces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized re-quirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact,tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the task, whichoffer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use of pagespace. Sans serif text fonts are often used for introductory para-graphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A current fash-ion is to pair sans serif type for headings with ahigh-performance seriffed font of matching style for the text ofan article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay oftext with white space of the page and other graphic elementscombine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter.With printed media typographers are also concerned with bind-ing margins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, wordstructures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructsand linguistic syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cul-tural conventions. For example, in French it is customary to in-sert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in asentence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is thequality of the typeface design and readability with the design ofthe printed page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should be readwithout effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of typesize; more often, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Gen-erally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic letterformsare more legible than typefaces that have been condensed, ex-panded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadablethrough poor setting and placement, just as a less legible type-face can be made more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors in-cluding type size and type design. For example, comparing serifvs. sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type, line length, linespacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for exam-ple, justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, andwhether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenth cen-tury on, but the overall finding has been that the reading process
is remarkably robust, and that significant differences are hard tofind. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, orjustified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the argumentover which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, withcomprehension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is,not a rushed or careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, whopublished numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used aspeed of reading test that required participants to spot incongru-ous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical is-sues, or the testing of specific design solutions (for example,when new typefaces are developed). Examples of critical issuesinclude typefaces (also called fonts) for people with visual im-pairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for other condi-tions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoreti-cal — various factors were tested individually or in combination(inevitably so, as the different factors are interdependent), butmany tests were carried out in the absence of a model of readingor visual perception. Some typographers believe that the overallword shape (Bouma) is very important in readability, and that thetheory of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less im-portant, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallelletterwise recognition with regard to how people actually recog-nize words when they read, have favored parallel letterwiserecognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive psycholo-gists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, word spac-ing, or leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improvedwhen generous vertical space separates lines of text, making iteasier for the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or previ-ous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly orloosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publi-cations, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographi-cal elements to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, toaid readers in navigating the publication, and in some cases fordramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical stan-dardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces, each usedfor specific elements within the publication, and makes consis-tent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital let-ters, colors, and other typographic features. Some publications,such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to com-mission a type designer to create bespoke (custom tailored)typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, in-cluding their typography, to achieve a particular tone or style.For example, USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and comparativelymodern style through their use of a variety of typefaces and col-ors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is placedon a colored background. In contrast, the New York Times use amore traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface varia-tion, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazinecovers, headlines are often set in larger display typefaces to at-tract attention, and are placed near the masthead.
8.5 on 11.9
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a read-able, coherent, and visually satisfying whole that works invis-ibly, without the awareness of the reader. Even distributionwith a minimum of distractions and anomalies are aimed atproducing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text typog-raphy—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, reli-gious, scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all havediffering characteristics and requirements. For historic mate-rial, established text typefaces are frequently chosen accord-ing to a scheme of historical genre acquired by a longprocess of accretion, with considerable overlap between his-torical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with designvalues echoing present-day design arts, which are closelybased on traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jen-son, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the modelfor Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their morespecialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely oncompact, tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for thetask, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficientuse of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for in-troductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short arti-cles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type for headingswith a high-performance seriffed font of matching style forthe text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplayof text with white space of the page and other graphic ele-ments combine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to the sub-ject matter. With printed media typographers are alsoconcerned with binding margins, paper selection and print-ing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics,word structures, word frequencies, morphology, phoneticconstructs and linguistic syntax. Typography also is subjectto specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it iscustomary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:)or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility is thequality of the typeface design and readability with the designof the printed page. Designers aim to achieve excellence inboth.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should beread without effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter oftype size; more often, however, it is a matter of typeface de-sign. Generally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basicletterforms are more legible than typefaces that have beencondensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadablethrough poor setting and placement, just as a less legibletypeface can be made more readable through good de-sign.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of factors in-cluding type size and type design. For example, comparingserif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type, linelength, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-handedge (for example, justification, straight right hand edge) vs.ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nineteenthcentury on, but the overall finding has been that the reading
process is remarkably robust, and that significant differencesare hard to find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sansserif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settlethe argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, withcomprehension scores used to check for effectiveness (thatis, not a rushed or careless read). For example, Miles Tinker,who published numerous studies from the 1930s to the1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participantsto spot incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to criticalissues, or the testing of specific design solutions (for exam-ple, when new typefaces are developed). Examples of criticalissues include typefaces (also called fonts) for people withvisual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or forother conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheo-retical — various factors were tested individually or in combi-nation (inevitably so, as the different factors areinterdependent), but many tests were carried out in the ab-sence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some ty-pographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) isvery important in readability, and that the theory of parallelletterwise recognition is either wrong, less important, or notthe entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and par-allel letterwise recognition with regard to how people actuallyrecognize words when they read, have favored parallel letter-wise recognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive psy-chologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing, wordspacing, or leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be im-proved when generous vertical space separates lines of text,making it easier for the eye to distinguish one line from thenext, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those thatare too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legibil-ity.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodicalpublications, especially newspapers and magazines, use ty-pographical elements to achieve an attractive, distinctive ap-pearance, to aid readers in navigating the publication, and insome cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide,a periodical standardizes on a relatively small collection oftypefaces, each used for specific elements within the publi-cation, and makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, bold-face, large and small capital letters, colors, and othertypographic features. Some publications, such as TheGuardian and The Economist, go so far as to commission atype designer to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefacesfor their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, in-cluding their typography, to achieve a particular tone or style.For example, USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and compara-tively modern style through their use of a variety of typefacesand colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’sname is placed on a colored background. In contrast, theNew York Times use a more traditional approach, with fewercolors, less typeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazinecovers, headlines are often set in larger display typefaces toattract attention, and are placed near the masthead.
9 on 11.2
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a
readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole that
works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader.
Even distribution with a minimum of distractions and
anomalies are aimed at producing clarity and trans-
parency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text
typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educa-
tional, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial
writing all have differing characteristics and require-
ments. For historic material, established text typefaces
are frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical
genre acquired by a long process of accretion, with con-
siderable overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-
of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or “book romans” with
design values echoing present-day design arts, which are
closely based on traditional models such as those of
Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who
created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude
Garamond. With their more specialized requirements,
newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly-fit-
ted text romans specially designed for the task, which
offer maximum flexibility, readability and efficient use
of page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for in-
troductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short
articles. A current fashion is to pair sans serif type for
headings with a high-performance seriffed font of
matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the inter-
play of text with white space of the page and other
graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or “reso-
nance” to the subject matter. With printed media typog-
raphers are also concerned with binding margins, paper
selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics,
word structures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic
constructs and linguistic syntax. Typography also is sub-
ject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in
French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space be-
fore a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in
English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legibility
is the quality of the typeface design and readability with
the design of the printed page. Designers aim to achieve
excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it should
be read without effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a
matter of type size; more often, however, it is a matter of
typeface design. Generally speaking, typefaces that are
true to the basic letterforms are more legible than type-
faces that have been condensed, expanded, embellished,
or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unread-
able through poor setting and placement, just as a less
legible typeface can be made more readable through
good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of fac-
tors including type size and type design. For example,
comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs. roman
type, line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design
of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straight
right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is hy-
phenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nine-
teenth century on, but the overall finding has been that
the reading process is remarkably robust, and that signif-
icant differences are hard to find. So comparative studies
of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified
type, have failed to settle the argument over which is
best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading,
with comprehension scores used to check for effective-
ness (that is, not a rushed or careless read). For example,
Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the
1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-
quired participants to spot incongruous words as an ef-
fectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to crit-
ical issues, or the testing of specific design solutions (for
example, when new typefaces are developed). Examples
of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts) for
people with visual impairment, and typefaces for high-
way signs, or for other conditions where legibility may
make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat
atheoretical — various factors were tested individually
or in combination (inevitably so, as the different factors
are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in
the absence of a model of reading or visual perception.
Some typographers believe that the overall word shape
(Bouma) is very important in readability, and that the
theory of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong,
less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and
parallel letterwise recognition with regard to how people
actually recognize words when they read, have favored
parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted
by cognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing,
word spacing, or leading that is too tight or too loose. It
can be improved when generous vertical space separates
lines of text, making it easier for the eye to distinguish
one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed
fonts and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can
also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Period-
ical publications, especially newspapers and magazines,
use typographical elements to achieve an attractive, dis-
tinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the pub-
lication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By
formulating a style guide, a periodical standardizes on a
relatively small collection of typefaces, each used for
specific elements within the publication, and makes con-
sistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small
capital letters, colors, and other typographic features.
Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Econ-
omist, go so far as to commission a type designer to cre-
ate bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their
exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publica-
tions, including their typography, to achieve a particular
tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a bold, color-
ful, and comparatively modern style through their use of
a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely,
and the newspaper’s name is placed on a colored back-
ground. In contrast, the New York Times use a more tra-
ditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface
variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on maga-
zine covers, headlines are often set in larger display
typefaces to attract attention, and are placed near the
masthead.
7.5 on 15.8
In traditional typography, text is composed to create
a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole
that works invisibly, without the awareness of the
reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distrac-
tions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity
and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of
text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial,
educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and com-
mercial writing all have differing characteristics and
requirements. For historic material, established text
typefaces are frequently chosen according to a
scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process
of accretion, with considerable overlap between his-
torical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with
state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or “book ro-
mans” with design values echoing present-day design
arts, which are closely based on traditional models
such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a
punchcutter who created the model for Aldine type-
faces), and Claude Garamond. With their more spe-
cialized requirements, newspapers and magazines
rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially
designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibil-
ity, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans
serif text fonts are often used for introductory para-
graphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A
current fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings
with a high-performance seriffed font of matching
style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the
interplay of text with white space of the page and
other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or
“resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media
typographers are also concerned with binding mar-
gins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and lin-
guistics, word structures, word frequencies, morphol-
ogy, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax.
Typography also is subject to specific cultural con-
ventions. For example, in French it is customary to
insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or
semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legi-
bility is the quality of the typeface design and read-
ability with the design of the printed page. Designers
aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it
should be read without effort. Sometimes legibility is
simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it
is a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking,
typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are
more legible than typefaces that have been con-
densed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become un-
readable through poor setting and placement, just as
a less legible typeface can be made more readable
through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of
factors including type size and type design. For ex-
ample, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type
vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color con-
trast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, jus-
tification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left,
and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nine-
teenth century on, but the overall finding has been
that the reading process is remarkably robust, and
that significant differences are hard to find. So com-
parative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or jus-
tified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the
argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of read-
ing, with comprehension scores used to check for ef-
fectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read).
For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous
studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of
reading test that required participants to spot incon-
gruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to
critical issues, or the testing of specific design solu-
tions (for example, when new typefaces are devel-
oped). Examples of critical issues include typefaces
(also called fonts) for people with visual impairment,
and typefaces for highway signs, or for other condi-
tions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat
atheoretical — various factors were tested individu-
ally or in combination (inevitably so, as the different
factors are interdependent), but many tests were car-
ried out in the absence of a model of reading or vi-
sual perception. Some typographers believe that the
overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in
readability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise
recognition is either wrong, less important, or not the
entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition
and parallel letterwise recognition with regard to how
people actually recognize words when they read,
have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is
widely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation
needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing,
word spacing, or leading that is too tight or too loose.
It can be improved when generous vertical space sep-
arates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to dis-
tinguish one line from the next, or previous line.
Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or
loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Pe-
riodical publications, especially newspapers and
magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an
attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in
navigating the publication, and in some cases for dra-
matic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodi-
cal standardizes on a relatively small collection of
typefaces, each used for specific elements within the
publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes,
italic, boldface, large and small capital letters, colors,
and other typographic features. Some publications,
such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far
as to commission a type designer to create bespoke
(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publi-
cations, including their typography, to achieve a par-
ticular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a
bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style
through their use of a variety of typefaces and colors;
type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is
placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New
York Times use a more traditional approach, with
fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more
columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on
magazine covers, headlines are often set in larger dis-
play typefaces to attract attention, and are placed
near the masthead.
8 on 15.2
In traditional typography, text is composed to cre-
ate a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying
whole that works invisibly, without the awareness
of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum
of distractions and anomalies are aimed at produc-
ing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of
text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, edito-
rial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and
commercial writing all have differing characteris-
tics and requirements. For historic material, estab-
lished text typefaces are frequently chosen
according to a scheme of historical genre acquired
by a long process of accretion, with considerable
overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set
with state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or
“book romans” with design values echoing pres-
ent-day design arts, which are closely based on
traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jen-
son, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created
the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Gara-
mond. With their more specialized requirements,
newspapers and magazines rely on compact,
tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for
the task, which offer maximum flexibility, read-
ability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif
text fonts are often used for introductory para-
graphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A
current fashion is to pair sans serif type for head-
ings with a high-performance seriffed font of
matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and
the interplay of text with white space of the page
and other graphic elements combine to impart a
“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With
printed media typographers are also concerned
with binding margins, paper selection and printing
methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and lin-
guistics, word structures, word frequencies, mor-
phology, phonetic constructs and linguistic
syntax. Typography also is subject to specific cul-
tural conventions. For example, in French it is
customary to insert a non-breaking space before a
colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in
English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused.
“Legibility is the quality of the typeface design
and readability with the design of the printed
page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in
both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it
should be read without effort. Sometimes legibil-
ity is simply a matter of type size; more often,
however, it is a matter of typeface design. Gener-
ally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic
letterforms are more legible than typefaces that
have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or
abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become
unreadable through poor setting and placement,
just as a less legible typeface can be made more
readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range
of factors including type size and type design. For
example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic
type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing,
color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for
example, justification, straight right hand edge)
vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late
nineteenth century on, but the overall finding has
been that the reading process is remarkably ro-
bust, and that significant differences are hard to
find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans
serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have
failed to settle the argument over which is
best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of
reading, with comprehension scores used to check
for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless
read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published
numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s,
used a speed of reading test that required partici-
pants to spot incongruous words as an effective-
ness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited
to critical issues, or the testing of specific design
solutions (for example, when new typefaces are
developed). Examples of critical issues include
typefaces (also called fonts) for people with visual
impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or
for other conditions where legibility may make a
key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is some-
what atheoretical — various factors were tested
individually or in combination (inevitably so, as
the different factors are interdependent), but many
tests were carried out in the absence of a model of
reading or visual perception. Some typographers
believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is
very important in readability, and that the theory
of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong,
less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recogni-
tion and parallel letterwise recognition with re-
gard to how people actually recognize words
when they read, have favored parallel letterwise
recognition, which is widely accepted by cogni-
tive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspac-
ing, word spacing, or leading that is too tight or
too loose. It can be improved when generous ver-
tical space separates lines of text, making it easier
for the eye to distinguish one line from the next,
or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those
that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result
in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material.
Periodical publications, especially newspapers
and magazines, use typographical elements to
achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to
aid readers in navigating the publication, and in
some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a
style guide, a periodical standardizes on a rela-
tively small collection of typefaces, each used for
specific elements within the publication, and
makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, bold-
face, large and small capital letters, colors, and
other typographic features. Some publications,
such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so
far as to commission a type designer to create be-
spoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their exclu-
sive use.
Different periodical publications design their pub-
lications, including their typography, to achieve a
particular tone or style. For example, USAToday
uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern
style through their use of a variety of typefaces
and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the news-
paper’s name is placed on a colored background.
In contrast, the New York Times use a more tradi-
tional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface
variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on
magazine covers, headlines are often set in larger
display typefaces to attract attention, and are
placed near the masthead.
8.5 on 14.1
In traditional typography, text is composed tocreate a readable, coherent, and visually satis-fying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distribution witha minimum of distractions and anomalies areaimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspectof text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction,editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spir-itual and commercial writing all have differingcharacteristics and requirements. For historicmaterial, established text typefaces are fre-quently chosen according to a scheme of his-torical genre acquired by a long process ofaccretion, with considerable overlap betweenhistorical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be setwith state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or“book romans” with design values echoingpresent-day design arts, which are closelybased on traditional models such as those ofNicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcut-ter who created the model for Aldine type-faces), and Claude Garamond. With their morespecialized requirements, newspapers and mag-azines rely on compact, tightly-fitted text ro-mans specially designed for the task, whichoffer maximum flexibility, readability and effi-cient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts areoften used for introductory paragraphs, inci-dental text and whole short articles. A currentfashion is to pair sans serif type for headingswith a high-performance seriffed font ofmatching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, andthe interplay of text with white space of thepage and other graphic elements combine toimpart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subjectmatter. With printed media typographers arealso concerned with binding margins, paper se-lection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography andlinguistics, word structures, word frequencies,morphology, phonetic constructs and linguisticsyntax. Typography also is subject to specificcultural conventions. For example, in French itis customary to insert a non-breaking space be-fore a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence,while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused.“Legibility is the quality of the typeface designand readability with the design of the printedpage. Designers aim to achieve excellence in
both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is,it should be read without effort. Sometimeslegibility is simply a matter of type size; moreoften, however, it is a matter of typeface de-sign. Generally speaking, typefaces that aretrue to the basic letterforms are more legiblethan typefaces that have been condensed, ex-panded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can becomeunreadable through poor setting and placement,just as a less legible typeface can be mademore readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size and typedesign. For example, comparing serif vs. sansserif type, italic type vs. roman type, linelength, line spacing, color contrast, the designof right-hand edge (for example, justification,straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, andwhether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the latenineteenth century on, but the overall findinghas been that the reading process is remarkablyrobust, and that significant differences are hardto find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs.sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type,have failed to settle the argument over which isbest.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed ofreading, with comprehension scores used tocheck for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed orcareless read). For example, Miles Tinker, whopublished numerous studies from the 1930s tothe 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-quired participants to spot incongruous wordsas an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be lim-ited to critical issues, or the testing of specificdesign solutions (for example, when new type-faces are developed). Examples of critical is-sues include typefaces (also called fonts) forpeople with visual impairment, and typefacesfor highway signs, or for other conditionswhere legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factors weretested individually or in combination (in-evitably so, as the different factors are interde-pendent), but many tests were carried out in theabsence of a model of reading or visual percep-
tion. Some typographers believe that the over-all word shape (Bouma) is very important inreadability, and that the theory of parallel let-terwise recognition is either wrong, less impor-tant, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recog-nition and parallel letterwise recognition withregard to how people actually recognize wordswhen they read, have favored parallel letter-wise recognition, which is widely accepted bycognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading that is tootight or too loose. It can be improved whengenerous vertical space separates lines of text,making it easier for the eye to distinguish oneline from the next, or previous line. Poorly de-signed fonts and those that are too tightly orloosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed mate-rial. Periodical publications, especially newspa-pers and magazines, use typographicalelements to achieve an attractive, distinctiveappearance, to aid readers in navigating thepublication, and in some cases for dramatic ef-fect. By formulating a style guide, a periodicalstandardizes on a relatively small collection oftypefaces, each used for specific elementswithin the publication, and makes consistentuse of type sizes, italic, boldface, large andsmall capital letters, colors, and other typo-graphic features. Some publications, such asThe Guardian and The Economist, go so far asto commission a type designer to create be-spoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their ex-clusive use.
Different periodical publications design theirpublications, including their typography, toachieve a particular tone or style. For example,USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and compara-tively modern style through their use of a vari-ety of typefaces and colors; type sizes varywidely, and the newspaper’s name is placed ona colored background. In contrast, the NewYork Times use a more traditional approach,with fewer colors, less typeface variation, andmore columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers andon magazine covers, headlines are often set inlarger display typefaces to attract attention, andare placed near the masthead.
9 on 13.6
In traditional typography, text is composed to create
a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole
that works invisibly, without the awareness of the
reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distrac-
tions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity
and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of text
typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, edu-
cational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commer-
cial writing all have differing characteristics and
requirements. For historic material, established text
typefaces are frequently chosen according to a
scheme of historical genre acquired by a long process
of accretion, with considerable overlap between his-
torical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with
state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or “book ro-
mans” with design values echoing present-day design
arts, which are closely based on traditional models
such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a
punchcutter who created the model for Aldine type-
faces), and Claude Garamond. With their more spe-
cialized requirements, newspapers and magazines
rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially
designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibil-
ity, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans
serif text fonts are often used for introductory para-
graphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A
current fashion is to pair sans serif type for headings
with a high-performance seriffed font of matching
style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the
interplay of text with white space of the page and
other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel” or
“resonance” to the subject matter. With printed
media typographers are also concerned with binding
margins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and lin-
guistics, word structures, word frequencies, morphol-
ogy, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax.
Typography also is subject to specific cultural con-
ventions. For example, in French it is customary to
insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or
semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legi-
bility is the quality of the typeface design and read-
ability with the design of the printed page. Designers
aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it
should be read without effort. Sometimes legibility is
simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is
a matter of typeface design. Generally speaking, type-
faces that are true to the basic letterforms are more
legible than typefaces that have been condensed, ex-
panded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become un-
readable through poor setting and placement, just as
a less legible typeface can be made more readable
through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of
factors including type size and type design. For exam-
ple, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic type vs.
roman type, line length, line spacing, color contrast,
the design of right-hand edge (for example, justifica-
tion, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and
whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late nine-
teenth century on, but the overall finding has been
that the reading process is remarkably robust, and
that significant differences are hard to find. So com-
parative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justi-
fied vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle the
argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of read-
ing, with comprehension scores used to check for ef-
fectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read). For
example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous
studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of
reading test that required participants to spot incon-
gruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to
critical issues, or the testing of specific design solu-
tions (for example, when new typefaces are devel-
oped). Examples of critical issues include typefaces
(also called fonts) for people with visual impairment,
and typefaces for highway signs, or for other condi-
tions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat
atheoretical — various factors were tested individu-
ally or in combination (inevitably so, as the different
factors are interdependent), but many tests were car-
ried out in the absence of a model of reading or visual
perception. Some typographers believe that the over-
all word shape (Bouma) is very important in read-
ability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise
recognition is either wrong, less important, or not the
entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition
and parallel letterwise recognition with regard to
how people actually recognize words when they read,
have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is
widely accepted by cognitive psychologists.[citation
needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspacing,
word spacing, or leading that is too tight or too loose.
It can be improved when generous vertical space sep-
arates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to dis-
tinguish one line from the next, or previous line.
Poorly designed fonts and those that are too tightly or
loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Pe-
riodical publications, especially newspapers and mag-
azines, use typographical elements to achieve an
attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in
navigating the publication, and in some cases for dra-
matic effect. By formulating a style guide, a periodi-
cal standardizes on a relatively small collection of
typefaces, each used for specific elements within the
publication, and makes consistent use of type sizes,
italic, boldface, large and small capital letters, colors,
and other typographic features. Some publications,
such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far
as to commission a type designer to create bespoke
(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publica-
tions, including their typography, to achieve a partic-
ular tone or style. For example, USAToday uses a
bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style
through their use of a variety of typefaces and colors;
type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s name is
placed on a colored background. In contrast, the New
York Times use a more traditional approach, with
fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more
columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on
magazine covers, headlines are often set in larger dis-
play typefaces to attract attention, and are placed
near the masthead.
7.5 on 15.2
In traditional typography, text is composed to cre-
ate a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying
whole that works invisibly, without the awareness
of the reader. Even distribution with a minimum
of distractions and anomalies are aimed at pro-
ducing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of
text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, edito-
rial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and
commercial writing all have differing characteris-
tics and requirements. For historic material, es-
tablished text typefaces are frequently chosen
according to a scheme of historical genre acquired
by a long process of accretion, with considerable
overlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set
with state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or
“book romans” with design values echoing pres-
ent-day design arts, which are closely based on
traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jen-
son, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created
the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Gara-
mond. With their more specialized requirements,
newspapers and magazines rely on compact,
tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for
the task, which offer maximum flexibility, read-
ability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif
text fonts are often used for introductory para-
graphs, incidental text and whole short articles. A
current fashion is to pair sans serif type for head-
ings with a high-performance seriffed font of
matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and
the interplay of text with white space of the page
and other graphic elements combine to impart a
“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With
printed media typographers are also concerned
with binding margins, paper selection and print-
ing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and lin-
guistics, word structures, word frequencies, mor-
phology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax.
Typography also is subject to specific cultural
conventions. For example, in French it is custom-
ary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon
(:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English
it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused.
“Legibility is the quality of the typeface design
and readability with the design of the printed
page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it
should be read without effort. Sometimes legibil-
ity is simply a matter of type size; more often,
however, it is a matter of typeface design. Gener-
ally speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic
letterforms are more legible than typefaces that
have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or
abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become un-
readable through poor setting and placement, just
as a less legible typeface can be made more read-
able through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range
of factors including type size and type design. For
example, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic
type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing,
color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for
example, justification, straight right hand edge)
vs. ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late
nineteenth century on, but the overall finding has
been that the reading process is remarkably ro-
bust, and that significant differences are hard to
find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans
serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type, have
failed to settle the argument over which is best.[ci-
tation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of
reading, with comprehension scores used to check
for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless
read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published
numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s,
used a speed of reading test that required partici-
pants to spot incongruous words as an effective-
ness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited
to critical issues, or the testing of specific design
solutions (for example, when new typefaces are
developed). Examples of critical issues include
typefaces (also called fonts) for people with visual
impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or
for other conditions where legibility may make a
key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is some-
what atheoretical — various factors were tested
individually or in combination (inevitably so, as
the different factors are interdependent), but
many tests were carried out in the absence of a
model of reading or visual perception. Some ty-
pographers believe that the overall word shape
(Bouma) is very important in readability, and that
the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is ei-
ther wrong, less important, or not the entire pic-
ture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition
and parallel letterwise recognition with regard to
how people actually recognize words when they
read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition,
which is widely accepted by cognitive psycholo-
gists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspac-
ing, word spacing, or leading that is too tight or
too loose. It can be improved when generous verti-
cal space separates lines of text, making it easier
for the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or
previous line. Poorly designed fonts and those that
are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in
poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material.
Periodical publications, especially newspapers
and magazines, use typographical elements to
achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to
aid readers in navigating the publication, and in
some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a
style guide, a periodical standardizes on a rela-
tively small collection of typefaces, each used for
specific elements within the publication, and
makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface,
large and small capital letters, colors, and other
typographic features. Some publications, such as
The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to
commission a type designer to create bespoke
(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their pub-
lications, including their typography, to achieve a
particular tone or style. For example, USAToday
uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern
style through their use of a variety of typefaces
and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the news-
paper’s name is placed on a colored background.
In contrast, the New York Times use a more tradi-
tional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface
variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on
magazine covers, headlines are often set in larger
display typefaces to attract attention, and are
placed near the masthead.8 on 14.4
In traditional typography, text is composed tocreate a readable, coherent, and visually satis-fying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distribution witha minimum of distractions and anomalies areaimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspectof text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction,editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiri-tual and commercial writing all have differingcharacteristics and requirements. For historicmaterial, established text typefaces are fre-quently chosen according to a scheme of histor-ical genre acquired by a long process ofaccretion, with considerable overlap betweenhistorical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be setwith state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or“book romans” with design values echoingpresent-day design arts, which are closelybased on traditional models such as those ofNicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcut-ter who created the model for Aldine type-faces), and Claude Garamond. With their morespecialized requirements, newspapers andmagazines rely on compact, tightly-fitted textromans specially designed for the task, whichoffer maximum flexibility, readability and effi-cient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts areoften used for introductory paragraphs, inci-dental text and whole short articles. A currentfashion is to pair sans serif type for headingswith a high-performance seriffed font ofmatching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, andthe interplay of text with white space of thepage and other graphic elements combine toimpart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subjectmatter. With printed media typographers arealso concerned with binding margins, paper se-lection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography andlinguistics, word structures, word frequencies,morphology, phonetic constructs and linguisticsyntax. Typography also is subject to specificcultural conventions. For example, in French itis customary to insert a non-breaking space be-fore a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence,while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused.“Legibility is the quality of the typeface designand readability with the design of the printedpage. Designers aim to achieve excellence in
both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is,it should be read without effort. Sometimes leg-ibility is simply a matter of type size; moreoften, however, it is a matter of typeface design.Generally speaking, typefaces that are true tothe basic letterforms are more legible thantypefaces that have been condensed, expanded,embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can becomeunreadable through poor setting and place-ment, just as a less legible typeface can bemade more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size and typedesign. For example, comparing serif vs. sansserif type, italic type vs. roman type, linelength, line spacing, color contrast, the designof right-hand edge (for example, justification,straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, andwhether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the latenineteenth century on, but the overall findinghas been that the reading process is remark-ably robust, and that significant differences arehard to find. So comparative studies of seriffedvs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustifiedtype, have failed to settle the argument overwhich is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed ofreading, with comprehension scores used tocheck for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed orcareless read). For example, Miles Tinker, whopublished numerous studies from the 1930s tothe 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-quired participants to spot incongruous wordsas an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be lim-ited to critical issues, or the testing of specificdesign solutions (for example, when new type-faces are developed). Examples of critical is-sues include typefaces (also called fonts) forpeople with visual impairment, and typefacesfor highway signs, or for other conditionswhere legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factors weretested individually or in combination (in-evitably so, as the different factors are interde-pendent), but many tests were carried out inthe absence of a model of reading or visual per-
ception. Some typographers believe that theoverall word shape (Bouma) is very importantin readability, and that the theory of parallelletterwise recognition is either wrong, less im-portant, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recogni-tion and parallel letterwise recognition with re-gard to how people actually recognize wordswhen they read, have favored parallel letter-wise recognition, which is widely accepted bycognitive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading that is tootight or too loose. It can be improved whengenerous vertical space separates lines of text,making it easier for the eye to distinguish oneline from the next, or previous line. Poorly de-signed fonts and those that are too tightly orloosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed mate-rial. Periodical publications, especially newspa-pers and magazines, use typographicalelements to achieve an attractive, distinctiveappearance, to aid readers in navigating thepublication, and in some cases for dramatic ef-fect. By formulating a style guide, a periodicalstandardizes on a relatively small collection oftypefaces, each used for specific elementswithin the publication, and makes consistentuse of type sizes, italic, boldface, large andsmall capital letters, colors, and other typo-graphic features. Some publications, such asThe Guardian and The Economist, go so far asto commission a type designer to create be-spoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their ex-clusive use.
Different periodical publications design theirpublications, including their typography, toachieve a particular tone or style. For example,USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and compara-tively modern style through their use of a vari-ety of typefaces and colors; type sizes varywidely, and the newspaper’s name is placed ona colored background. In contrast, the NewYork Times use a more traditional approach,with fewer colors, less typeface variation, andmore columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers andon magazine covers, headlines are often set inlarger display typefaces to attract attention,and are placed near the masthead.
8.5 on 13.6
In traditional typography, text is composedto create a readable, coherent, and visuallysatisfying whole that works invisibly, with-out the awareness of the reader. Even distri-bution with a minimum of distractions andanomalies are aimed at producing clarityand transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary as-pect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious,scientific, spiritual and commercial writingall have differing characteristics and re-quirements. For historic material, estab-lished text typefaces are frequently chosenaccording to a scheme of historical genre ac-quired by a long process of accretion, withconsiderable overlap between historical pe-riods.
Contemporary books are more likely to beset with state-of-the-art seriffed “text ro-mans” or “book romans” with design valuesechoing present-day design arts, which areclosely based on traditional models such asthose of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (apunchcutter who created the model for Al-dine typefaces), and Claude Garamond.With their more specialized requirements,newspapers and magazines rely on compact,tightly-fitted text romans specially designedfor the task, which offer maximum flexibil-ity, readability and efficient use of pagespace. Sans serif text fonts are often used forintroductory paragraphs, incidental text andwhole short articles. A current fashion is topair sans serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching stylefor the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter,and the interplay of text with white space ofthe page and other graphic elements com-bine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to thesubject matter. With printed media typogra-phers are also concerned with binding mar-gins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthographyand linguistics, word structures, word fre-quencies, morphology, phonetic constructsand linguistic syntax. Typography also issubject to specific cultural conventions. Forexample, in French it is customary to inserta non-breaking space before a colon (:) orsemicolon (;) in a sentence, while in Englishit is not..Readability and legibility are often confused.“Legibility is the quality of the typeface de-sign and readability with the design of theprinted page. Designers aim to achieve ex-
cellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, thatis, it should be read without effort. Some-times legibility is simply a matter of typesize; more often, however, it is a matter oftypeface design. Generally speaking, type-faces that are true to the basic letterformsare more legible than typefaces that havebeen condensed, expanded, embellished, orabstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can be-come unreadable through poor setting andplacement, just as a less legible typeface canbe made more readable through good de-sign.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size and typedesign. For example, comparing serif vs.sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type,line length, line spacing, color contrast, thedesign of right-hand edge (for example, jus-tification, straight right hand edge) vs.ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from thelate nineteenth century on, but the overallfinding has been that the reading process isremarkably robust, and that significant dif-ferences are hard to find. So comparativestudies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justi-fied vs. unjustified type, have failed to settlethe argument over which is best.[citationneeded]
Legibility is usually measured through speedof reading, with comprehension scores usedto check for effectiveness (that is, not arushed or careless read). For example, MilesTinker, who published numerous studiesfrom the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed ofreading test that required participants tospot incongruous words as an effectivenessfilter.
These days, legibility research tends to belimited to critical issues, or the testing ofspecific design solutions (for example, whennew typefaces are developed). Examples ofcritical issues include typefaces (also calledfonts) for people with visual impairment,and typefaces for highway signs, or for otherconditions where legibility may make a keydifference.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factorswere tested individually or in combination(inevitably so, as the different factors are in-terdependent), but many tests were carried
out in the absence of a model of reading orvisual perception. Some typographers be-lieve that the overall word shape (Bouma) isvery important in readability, and that thetheory of parallel letterwise recognition is ei-ther wrong, less important, or not the entirepicture.
Studies distinguishing between Boumarecognition and parallel letterwise recogni-tion with regard to how people actually rec-ognize words when they read, have favoredparallel letterwise recognition, which iswidely accepted by cognitive psycholo-gists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading that istoo tight or too loose. It can be improvedwhen generous vertical space separates linesof text, making it easier for the eye to distin-guish one line from the next, or previousline. Poorly designed fonts and those thatare too tightly or loosely fitted can also re-sult in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed ma-terial. Periodical publications, especiallynewspapers and magazines, use typographi-cal elements to achieve an attractive, distinc-tive appearance, to aid readers in navigatingthe publication, and in some cases for dra-matic effect. By formulating a style guide, aperiodical standardizes on a relatively smallcollection of typefaces, each used for specificelements within the publication, and makesconsistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface,large and small capital letters, colors, andother typographic features. Some publica-tions, such as The Guardian and The Econo-mist, go so far as to commission a typedesigner to create bespoke (custom tailored)typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications designtheir publications, including their typogra-phy, to achieve a particular tone or style.For example, USAToday uses a bold, color-ful, and comparatively modern style throughtheir use of a variety of typefaces and colors;type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’sname is placed on a colored background. Incontrast, the New York Times use a moretraditional approach, with fewer colors, lesstypeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapersand on magazine covers, headlines are oftenset in larger display typefaces to attract at-tention, and are placed near the masthead.
9 on 12.7
In traditional typography, text is composed to create
a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole
that works invisibly, without the awareness of the
reader. Even distribution with a minimum of distrac-
tions and anomalies are aimed at producing clarity
and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect of
text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial,
educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and com-
mercial writing all have differing characteristics and
requirements. For historic material, established text
typefaces are frequently chosen according to a
scheme of historical genre acquired by a long
process of accretion, with considerable overlap be-
tween historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with
state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or “book ro-
mans” with design values echoing present-day de-
sign arts, which are closely based on traditional
models such as those of Nicolas Jenson,
Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the
model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Gara-
mond. With their more specialized requirements,
newspapers and magazines rely on compact,
tightly-fitted text romans specially designed for the
task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability and
efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts
are often used for introductory paragraphs, inciden-
tal text and whole short articles. A current fashion is
to pair sans serif type for headings with a high-per-
formance seriffed font of matching style for the text
of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the
interplay of text with white space of the page and
other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel”
or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed
media typographers are also concerned with bind-
ing margins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and lin-
guistics, word structures, word frequencies, mor-
phology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax.
Typography also is subject to specific cultural con-
ventions. For example, in French it is customary to
insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or
semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is
not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused. “Legi-
bility is the quality of the typeface design and read-
ability with the design of the printed page.
Designers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is, it
should be read without effort. Sometimes legibility
is simply a matter of type size; more often, how-
ever, it is a matter of typeface design. Generally
speaking, typefaces that are true to the basic letter-
forms are more legible than typefaces that have
been condensed, expanded, embellished, or ab-
stracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become un-
readable through poor setting and placement, just
as a less legible typeface can be made more read-
able through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range of
factors including type size and type design. For ex-
ample, comparing serif vs. sans serif type, italic
type vs. roman type, line length, line spacing, color
contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for exam-
ple, justification, straight right hand edge) vs.
ranged left, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late
nineteenth century on, but the overall finding has
been that the reading process is remarkably robust,
and that significant differences are hard to find. So
comparative studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type,
or justified vs. unjustified type, have failed to settle
the argument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of
reading, with comprehension scores used to check
for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless
read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published
numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s,
used a speed of reading test that required partici-
pants to spot incongruous words as an effective-
ness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be limited
to critical issues, or the testing of specific design
solutions (for example, when new typefaces are de-
veloped). Examples of critical issues include type-
faces (also called fonts) for people with visual
impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for
other conditions where legibility may make a key
difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is some-
what atheoretical — various factors were tested in-
dividually or in combination (inevitably so, as the
different factors are interdependent), but many
tests were carried out in the absence of a model of
reading or visual perception. Some typographers
believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very
important in readability, and that the theory of paral-
lel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less impor-
tant, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition
and parallel letterwise recognition with regard to
how people actually recognize words when they
read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition,
which is widely accepted by cognitive psycholo-
gists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by letterspac-
ing, word spacing, or leading that is too tight or too
loose. It can be improved when generous vertical
space separates lines of text, making it easier for
the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or pre-
vious line. Poorly designed fonts and those that are
too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor
legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material.
Periodical publications, especially newspapers and
magazines, use typographical elements to achieve
an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers
in navigating the publication, and in some cases for
dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a peri-
odical standardizes on a relatively small collection
of typefaces, each used for specific elements within
the publication, and makes consistent use of type
sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital let-
ters, colors, and other typographic features. Some
publications, such as The Guardian and The Econ-
omist, go so far as to commission a type designer
to create bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for
their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publi-
cations, including their typography, to achieve a
particular tone or style. For example, USAToday
uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern
style through their use of a variety of typefaces and
colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s
name is placed on a colored background. In con-
trast, the New York Times use a more traditional
approach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation,
and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on
magazine covers, headlines are often set in larger
display typefaces to attract attention, and are
placed near the masthead.
7.5 on 14.5
In traditional typography, text is composed to
create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfy-
ing whole that works invisibly, without the aware-
ness of the reader. Even distribution with a
minimum of distractions and anomalies are
aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect
of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction,
editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiri-
tual and commercial writing all have differing
characteristics and requirements. For historic
material, established text typefaces are fre-
quently chosen according to a scheme of histori-
cal genre acquired by a long process of
accretion, with considerable overlap between
historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set
with state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or
“book romans” with design values echoing pres-
ent-day design arts, which are closely based on
traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jen-
son, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who cre-
ated the model for Aldine typefaces), and
Claude Garamond. With their more specialized
requirements, newspapers and magazines rely
on compact, tightly-fitted text romans specially
designed for the task, which offer maximum flex-
ibility, readability and efficient use of page
space. Sans serif text fonts are often used for
introductory paragraphs, incidental text and
whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair
sans serif type for headings with a high-perfor-
mance seriffed font of matching style for the text
of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and
the interplay of text with white space of the page
and other graphic elements combine to impart a
“feel” or “resonance” to the subject matter. With
printed media typographers are also concerned
with binding margins, paper selection and print-
ing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and
linguistics, word structures, word frequencies,
morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic
syntax. Typography also is subject to specific
cultural conventions. For example, in French it is
customary to insert a non-breaking space before
a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while
in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused.
“Legibility is the quality of the typeface design
and readability with the design of the printed
page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in
both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is,
it should be read without effort. Sometimes legi-
bility is simply a matter of type size; more often,
however, it is a matter of typeface design. Gen-
erally speaking, typefaces that are true to the
basic letterforms are more legible than type-
faces that have been condensed, expanded,
embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become
unreadable through poor setting and placement,
just as a less legible typeface can be made
more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide range
of factors including type size and type design.
For example, comparing serif vs. sans serif
type, italic type vs. roman type, line length, line
spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand
edge (for example, justification, straight right
hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is
hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late
nineteenth century on, but the overall finding
has been that the reading process is remarkably
robust, and that significant differences are hard
to find. So comparative studies of seriffed vs.
sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified type,
have failed to settle the argument over which is
best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of
reading, with comprehension scores used to
check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or
careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who
published numerous studies from the 1930s to
the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-
quired participants to spot incongruous words as
an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be lim-
ited to critical issues, or the testing of specific
design solutions (for example, when new type-
faces are developed). Examples of critical is-
sues include typefaces (also called fonts) for
people with visual impairment, and typefaces for
highway signs, or for other conditions where leg-
ibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is some-
what atheoretical — various factors were tested
individually or in combination (inevitably so, as
the different factors are interdependent), but
many tests were carried out in the absence of a
model of reading or visual perception. Some ty-
pographers believe that the overall word shape
(Bouma) is very important in readability, and that
the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is ei-
ther wrong, less important, or not the entire pic-
ture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recogni-
tion and parallel letterwise recognition with re-
gard to how people actually recognize words
when they read, have favored parallel letterwise
recognition, which is widely accepted by cogni-
tive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-
terspacing, word spacing, or leading that is too
tight or too loose. It can be improved when gen-
erous vertical space separates lines of text,
making it easier for the eye to distinguish one
line from the next, or previous line. Poorly de-
signed fonts and those that are too tightly or
loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material.
Periodical publications, especially newspapers
and magazines, use typographical elements to
achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to
aid readers in navigating the publication, and in
some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a
style guide, a periodical standardizes on a rela-
tively small collection of typefaces, each used
for specific elements within the publication, and
makes consistent use of type sizes, italic, bold-
face, large and small capital letters, colors, and
other typographic features. Some publications,
such as The Guardian and The Economist, go
so far as to commission a type designer to cre-
ate bespoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their
exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their
publications, including their typography, to
achieve a particular tone or style. For example,
USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and compara-
tively modern style through their use of a variety
of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely,
and the newspaper’s name is placed on a col-
ored background. In contrast, the New York
Times use a more traditional approach, with
fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more
columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and
on magazine covers, headlines are often set in
larger display typefaces to attract attention, and
are placed near the masthead.
8 on 13.8
In traditional typography, text is composed tocreate a readable, coherent, and visually sat-isfying whole that works invisibly, without theawareness of the reader. Even distributionwith a minimum of distractions and anomaliesare aimed at producing clarity and trans-parency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary as-pect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious,scientific, spiritual and commercial writing allhave differing characteristics and require-ments. For historic material, established texttypefaces are frequently chosen according toa scheme of historical genre acquired by along process of accretion, with considerableoverlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be setwith state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or“book romans” with design values echoingpresent-day design arts, which are closelybased on traditional models such as those ofNicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punch-cutter who created the model for Aldine type-faces), and Claude Garamond. With theirmore specialized requirements, newspapersand magazines rely on compact, tightly-fittedtext romans specially designed for the task,which offer maximum flexibility, readabilityand efficient use of page space. Sans seriftext fonts are often used for introductoryparagraphs, incidental text and whole shortarticles. A current fashion is to pair sans seriftype for headings with a high-performanceseriffed font of matching style for the text ofan article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter,and the interplay of text with white space ofthe page and other graphic elements com-bine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to thesubject matter. With printed media typogra-phers are also concerned with binding mar-gins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography andlinguistics, word structures, word frequencies,morphology, phonetic constructs and linguis-tic syntax. Typography also is subject to spe-cific cultural conventions. For example, inFrench it is customary to insert a non-break-ing space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;)in a sentence, while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often confused.“Legibility is the quality of the typeface designand readability with the design of the printedpage. Designers aim to achieve excellence in
both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, thatis, it should be read without effort. Sometimeslegibility is simply a matter of type size; moreoften, however, it is a matter of typeface de-sign. Generally speaking, typefaces that aretrue to the basic letterforms are more legiblethan typefaces that have been condensed,expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can be-come unreadable through poor setting andplacement, just as a less legible typeface canbe made more readable through good de-sign.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size and typedesign. For example, comparing serif vs.sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type, linelength, line spacing, color contrast, the de-sign of right-hand edge (for example, justifi-cation, straight right hand edge) vs. rangedleft, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from thelate nineteenth century on, but the overallfinding has been that the reading process isremarkably robust, and that significant differ-ences are hard to find. So comparative stud-ies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or justifiedvs. unjustified type, have failed to settle theargument over which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speedof reading, with comprehension scores usedto check for effectiveness (that is, not arushed or careless read). For example, MilesTinker, who published numerous studies fromthe 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed ofreading test that required participants to spotincongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to belimited to critical issues, or the testing of spe-cific design solutions (for example, when newtypefaces are developed). Examples of criti-cal issues include typefaces (also calledfonts) for people with visual impairment, andtypefaces for highway signs, or for other con-ditions where legibility may make a key differ-ence.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factorswere tested individually or in combination (in-evitably so, as the different factors are inter-dependent), but many tests were carried outin the absence of a model of reading or visual
perception. Some typographers believe thatthe overall word shape (Bouma) is very im-portant in readability, and that the theory ofparallel letterwise recognition is either wrong,less important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Boumarecognition and parallel letterwise recognitionwith regard to how people actually recognizewords when they read, have favored parallelletterwise recognition, which is widely ac-cepted by cognitive psychologists.[citationneeded]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading that istoo tight or too loose. It can be improvedwhen generous vertical space separateslines of text, making it easier for the eye todistinguish one line from the next, or previousline. Poorly designed fonts and those that aretoo tightly or loosely fitted can also result inpoor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed mate-rial. Periodical publications, especially news-papers and magazines, use typographicalelements to achieve an attractive, distinctiveappearance, to aid readers in navigating thepublication, and in some cases for dramaticeffect. By formulating a style guide, a periodi-cal standardizes on a relatively small collec-tion of typefaces, each used for specificelements within the publication, and makesconsistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface,large and small capital letters, colors, andother typographic features. Some publica-tions, such as The Guardian and The Econo-mist, go so far as to commission a typedesigner to create bespoke (custom tailored)typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design theirpublications, including their typography, toachieve a particular tone or style. For exam-ple, USAToday uses a bold, colorful, andcomparatively modern style through their useof a variety of typefaces and colors; typesizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s nameis placed on a colored background. In con-trast, the New York Times use a more tradi-tional approach, with fewer colors, lesstypeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapersand on magazine covers, headlines are oftenset in larger display typefaces to attract atten-tion, and are placed near the masthead.
8.5 on 13.1
In traditional typography, text is composedto create a readable, coherent, and visu-ally satisfying whole that works invisibly,without the awareness of the reader. Evendistribution with a minimum of distractionsand anomalies are aimed at producingclarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primaryaspect of text typography—prose fiction,non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious,scientific, spiritual and commercial writingall have differing characteristics and re-quirements. For historic material, estab-lished text typefaces are frequently chosenaccording to a scheme of historical genreacquired by a long process of accretion,with considerable overlap between histori-cal periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to beset with state-of-the-art seriffed “text ro-mans” or “book romans” with design val-ues echoing present-day design arts,which are closely based on traditionalmodels such as those of Nicolas Jenson,Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who cre-ated the model for Aldine typefaces), andClaude Garamond. With their more spe-cialized requirements, newspapers andmagazines rely on compact, tightly-fittedtext romans specially designed for thetask, which offer maximum flexibility, read-ability and efficient use of page space.Sans serif text fonts are often used for in-troductory paragraphs, incidental text andwhole short articles. A current fashion is topair sans serif type for headings with ahigh-performance seriffed font of matchingstyle for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter,and the interplay of text with white spaceof the page and other graphic elementscombine to impart a “feel” or “resonance”to the subject matter. With printed mediatypographers are also concerned withbinding margins, paper selection and print-ing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthographyand linguistics, word structures, word fre-quencies, morphology, phonetic constructsand linguistic syntax. Typography also issubject to specific cultural conventions. Forexample, in French it is customary to inserta non-breaking space before a colon (:) orsemicolon (;) in a sentence, while in Eng-lish it is not..Readability and legibility are often con-fused. “Legibility is the quality of the type-face design and readability with the designof the printed page. Designers aim to
achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible,that is, it should be read without effort.Sometimes legibility is simply a matter oftype size; more often, however, it is a mat-ter of typeface design. Generally speaking,typefaces that are true to the basic letter-forms are more legible than typefaces thathave been condensed, expanded, embel-lished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can be-come unreadable through poor setting andplacement, just as a less legible typefacecan be made more readable through gooddesign.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size andtype design. For example, comparing serifvs. sans serif type, italic type vs. romantype, line length, line spacing, color con-trast, the design of right-hand edge (for ex-ample, justification, straight right handedge) vs. ranged left, and whether text ishyphenated.
Legibility research was published from thelate nineteenth century on, but the overallfinding has been that the reading processis remarkably robust, and that significantdifferences are hard to find. So compara-tive studies of seriffed vs. sans serif type,or justified vs. unjustified type, have failedto settle the argument over which isbest.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured throughspeed of reading, with comprehensionscores used to check for effectiveness(that is, not a rushed or careless read). Forexample, Miles Tinker, who published nu-merous studies from the 1930s to the1960s, used a speed of reading test thatrequired participants to spot incongruouswords as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to belimited to critical issues, or the testing ofspecific design solutions (for example,when new typefaces are developed). Ex-amples of critical issues include typefaces(also called fonts) for people with visualimpairment, and typefaces for highwaysigns, or for other conditions where legibil-ity may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factorswere tested individually or in combination(inevitably so, as the different factors areinterdependent), but many tests were car-ried out in the absence of a model of read-
ing or visual perception. Some typogra-phers believe that the overall word shape(Bouma) is very important in readability,and that the theory of parallel letterwiserecognition is either wrong, less important,or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Boumarecognition and parallel letterwise recogni-tion with regard to how people actually rec-ognize words when they read, havefavored parallel letterwise recognition,which is widely accepted by cognitive psy-chologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading that istoo tight or too loose. It can be improvedwhen generous vertical space separateslines of text, making it easier for the eye todistinguish one line from the next, or previ-ous line. Poorly designed fonts and thosethat are too tightly or loosely fitted can alsoresult in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printedmaterial. Periodical publications, especiallynewspapers and magazines, use typo-graphical elements to achieve an attrac-tive, distinctive appearance, to aid readersin navigating the publication, and in somecases for dramatic effect. By formulating astyle guide, a periodical standardizes on arelatively small collection of typefaces,each used for specific elements within thepublication, and makes consistent use oftype sizes, italic, boldface, large and smallcapital letters, colors, and other typo-graphic features. Some publications, suchas The Guardian and The Economist, goso far as to commission a type designer tocreate bespoke (custom tailored) type-faces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications designtheir publications, including their typogra-phy, to achieve a particular tone or style.For example, USAToday uses a bold, col-orful, and comparatively modern stylethrough their use of a variety of typefacesand colors; type sizes vary widely, and thenewspaper’s name is placed on a coloredbackground. In contrast, the New YorkTimes use a more traditional approach,with fewer colors, less typeface variation,and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspa-pers and on magazine covers, headlinesare often set in larger display typefaces toattract attention, and are placed near themasthead.
9 on 12.3
In traditional typography, text is composed to
create a readable, coherent, and visually satis-
fying whole that works invisibly, without the
awareness of the reader. Even distribution with
a minimum of distractions and anomalies are
aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary aspect
of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction,
editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiri-
tual and commercial writing all have differing
characteristics and requirements. For historic
material, established text typefaces are fre-
quently chosen according to a scheme of his-
torical genre acquired by a long process of
accretion, with considerable overlap between
historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set
with state-of-the-art seriffed “text romans” or
“book romans” with design values echoing
present-day design arts, which are closely
based on traditional models such as those of
Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcut-
ter who created the model for Aldine typefaces),
and Claude Garamond. With their more special-
ized requirements, newspapers and magazines
rely on compact, tightly-fitted text romans spe-
cially designed for the task, which offer maxi-
mum flexibility, readability and efficient use of
page space. Sans serif text fonts are often used
for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and
whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair
sans serif type for headings with a high-perfor-
mance seriffed font of matching style for the
text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter, and
the interplay of text with white space of the
page and other graphic elements combine to
impart a “feel” or “resonance” to the subject
matter. With printed media typographers are
also concerned with binding margins, paper se-
lection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthography and
linguistics, word structures, word frequencies,
morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic
syntax. Typography also is subject to specific
cultural conventions. For example, in French it
is customary to insert a non-breaking space be-
fore a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence,
while in English it is not.
.
Readability and legibility are often confused.
“Legibility is the quality of the typeface design
and readability with the design of the printed
page. Designers aim to achieve excellence in
both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, that is,
it should be read without effort. Sometimes legi-
bility is simply a matter of type size; more often,
however, it is a matter of typeface design. Gen-
erally speaking, typefaces that are true to the
basic letterforms are more legible than type-
faces that have been condensed, expanded,
embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become
unreadable through poor setting and place-
ment, just as a less legible typeface can be
made more readable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a wide
range of factors including type size and type
design. For example, comparing serif vs. sans
serif type, italic type vs. roman type, line length,
line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-
hand edge (for example, justification, straight
right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether
text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from the late
nineteenth century on, but the overall finding
has been that the reading process is remark-
ably robust, and that significant differences are
hard to find. So comparative studies of seriffed
vs. sans serif type, or justified vs. unjustified
type, have failed to settle the argument over
which is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured through speed of
reading, with comprehension scores used to
check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or
careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who
published numerous studies from the 1930s to
the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that re-
quired participants to spot incongruous words
as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to be lim-
ited to critical issues, or the testing of specific
design solutions (for example, when new type-
faces are developed). Examples of critical is-
sues include typefaces (also called fonts) for
people with visual impairment, and typefaces
for highway signs, or for other conditions
where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is
somewhat atheoretical — various factors were
tested individually or in combination (inevitably
so, as the different factors are interdependent),
but many tests were carried out in the absence
of a model of reading or visual perception.
Some typographers believe that the overall
word shape (Bouma) is very important in read-
ability, and that the theory of parallel letterwise
recognition is either wrong, less important, or
not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recogni-
tion and parallel letterwise recognition with re-
gard to how people actually recognize words
when they read, have favored parallel letterwise
recognition, which is widely accepted by cogni-
tive psychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-
terspacing, word spacing, or leading that is too
tight or too loose. It can be improved when gen-
erous vertical space separates lines of text,
making it easier for the eye to distinguish one
line from the next, or previous line. Poorly de-
signed fonts and those that are too tightly or
loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed mate-
rial. Periodical publications, especially newspa-
pers and magazines, use typographical
elements to achieve an attractive, distinctive
appearance, to aid readers in navigating the
publication, and in some cases for dramatic ef-
fect. By formulating a style guide, a periodical
standardizes on a relatively small collection of
typefaces, each used for specific elements
within the publication, and makes consistent
use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and
small capital letters, colors, and other typo-
graphic features. Some publications, such as
The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as
to commission a type designer to create be-
spoke (custom tailored) typefaces for their ex-
clusive use.
Different periodical publications design their
publications, including their typography, to
achieve a particular tone or style. For example,
USAToday uses a bold, colorful, and compara-
tively modern style through their use of a vari-
ety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary
widely, and the newspaper’s name is placed on
a colored background. In contrast, the New York
Times use a more traditional approach, with
fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more
columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and
on magazine covers, headlines are often set in
larger display typefaces to attract attention, and
are placed near the masthead.
7.5 on 13.6
In traditional typography, text is composedto create a readable, coherent, and visuallysatisfying whole that works invisibly, withoutthe awareness of the reader. Even distribu-tion with a minimum of distractions andanomalies are aimed at producing clarity andtransparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primary as-pect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious,scientific, spiritual and commercial writingall have differing characteristics and require-ments. For historic material, established texttypefaces are frequently chosen accordingto a scheme of historical genre acquired by along process of accretion, with considerableoverlap between historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to beset with state-of-the-art seriffed “text ro-mans” or “book romans” with design valuesechoing present-day design arts, which areclosely based on traditional models such asthose of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (apunchcutter who created the model for Al-dine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. Withtheir more specialized requirements, news-papers and magazines rely on compact,tightly-fitted text romans specially designedfor the task, which offer maximum flexibility,readability and efficient use of page space.Sans serif text fonts are often used for intro-ductory paragraphs, incidental text andwhole short articles. A current fashion is topair sans serif type for headings with a high-performance seriffed font of matching stylefor the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter,and the interplay of text with white space ofthe page and other graphic elements com-bine to impart a “feel” or “resonance” to thesubject matter. With printed media typogra-phers are also concerned with binding mar-gins, paper selection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthographyand linguistics, word structures, word fre-quencies, morphology, phonetic constructsand linguistic syntax. Typography also issubject to specific cultural conventions. Forexample, in French it is customary to insert anon-breaking space before a colon (:) orsemicolon (;) in a sentence, while in Englishit is not..Readability and legibility are often confused.“Legibility is the quality of the typeface de-sign and readability with the design of theprinted page. Designers aim to achieve ex-
cellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible, thatis, it should be read without effort. Some-times legibility is simply a matter of typesize; more often, however, it is a matter oftypeface design. Generally speaking, type-faces that are true to the basic letterformsare more legible than typefaces that havebeen condensed, expanded, embellished, orabstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can be-come unreadable through poor setting andplacement, just as a less legible typefacecan be made more readable through gooddesign.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size and typedesign. For example, comparing serif vs.sans serif type, italic type vs. roman type,line length, line spacing, color contrast, thedesign of right-hand edge (for example, justi-fication, straight right hand edge) vs. rangedleft, and whether text is hyphenated.
Legibility research was published from thelate nineteenth century on, but the overallfinding has been that the reading process isremarkably robust, and that significant dif-ferences are hard to find. So comparativestudies of seriffed vs. sans serif type, or jus-tified vs. unjustified type, have failed to set-tle the argument over which is best.[citationneeded]
Legibility is usually measured through speedof reading, with comprehension scores usedto check for effectiveness (that is, not arushed or careless read). For example, MilesTinker, who published numerous studiesfrom the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed ofreading test that required participants tospot incongruous words as an effectivenessfilter.
These days, legibility research tends to belimited to critical issues, or the testing ofspecific design solutions (for example, whennew typefaces are developed). Examples ofcritical issues include typefaces (also calledfonts) for people with visual impairment, andtypefaces for highway signs, or for otherconditions where legibility may make a keydifference.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factorswere tested individually or in combination(inevitably so, as the different factors are in-
terdependent), but many tests were carriedout in the absence of a model of reading orvisual perception. Some typographers be-lieve that the overall word shape (Bouma) isvery important in readability, and that thetheory of parallel letterwise recognition is ei-ther wrong, less important, or not the entirepicture.
Studies distinguishing between Boumarecognition and parallel letterwise recogni-tion with regard to how people actually rec-ognize words when they read, have favoredparallel letterwise recognition, which iswidely accepted by cognitive psycholo-gists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading that istoo tight or too loose. It can be improvedwhen generous vertical space separateslines of text, making it easier for the eye todistinguish one line from the next, or previ-ous line. Poorly designed fonts and thosethat are too tightly or loosely fitted can alsoresult in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed mate-rial. Periodical publications, especially news-papers and magazines, use typographicalelements to achieve an attractive, distinctiveappearance, to aid readers in navigating thepublication, and in some cases for dramaticeffect. By formulating a style guide, a period-ical standardizes on a relatively small collec-tion of typefaces, each used for specificelements within the publication, and makesconsistent use of type sizes, italic, boldface,large and small capital letters, colors, andother typographic features. Some publica-tions, such as The Guardian and The Econo-mist, go so far as to commission a typedesigner to create bespoke (custom tailored)typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design theirpublications, including their typography, toachieve a particular tone or style. For exam-ple, USAToday uses a bold, colorful, andcomparatively modern style through theiruse of a variety of typefaces and colors; typesizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s nameis placed on a colored background. In con-trast, the New York Times use a more tradi-tional approach, with fewer colors, lesstypeface variation, and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapersand on magazine covers, headlines are oftenset in larger display typefaces to attract at-tention, and are placed near the masthead.
8 on 12.9
In traditional typography, text is com-posed to create a readable, coherent, andvisually satisfying whole that works invisi-bly, without the awareness of the reader.Even distribution with a minimum of dis-tractions and anomalies are aimed at pro-ducing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primaryaspect of text typography—prose fiction,non-fiction, editorial, educational, reli-gious, scientific, spiritual and commercialwriting all have differing characteristicsand requirements. For historic material,established text typefaces are frequentlychosen according to a scheme of histori-cal genre acquired by a long process ofaccretion, with considerable overlap be-tween historical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to beset with state-of-the-art seriffed “text ro-mans” or “book romans” with design val-ues echoing present-day design arts,which are closely based on traditionalmodels such as those of Nicolas Jenson,Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who cre-ated the model for Aldine typefaces), andClaude Garamond. With their more spe-cialized requirements, newspapers andmagazines rely on compact, tightly-fittedtext romans specially designed for thetask, which offer maximum flexibility,readability and efficient use of pagespace. Sans serif text fonts are often usedfor introductory paragraphs, incidentaltext and whole short articles. A currentfashion is to pair sans serif type for head-ings with a high-performance seriffed fontof matching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set matter,and the interplay of text with white spaceof the page and other graphic elementscombine to impart a “feel” or “resonance”to the subject matter. With printed mediatypographers are also concerned withbinding margins, paper selection andprinting methods.
Typography is modulated by orthographyand linguistics, word structures, word fre-quencies, morphology, phonetic con-structs and linguistic syntax. Typographyalso is subject to specific cultural conven-tions. For example, in French it is custom-ary to insert a non-breaking space beforea colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence,while in English it is not..Readability and legibility are often con-fused. “Legibility is the quality of the type-face design and readability with thedesign of the printed page. Designers aim
to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible,that is, it should be read without effort.Sometimes legibility is simply a matter oftype size; more often, however, it is a mat-ter of typeface design. Generally speak-ing, typefaces that are true to the basicletterforms are more legible than type-faces that have been condensed, ex-panded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can be-come unreadable through poor settingand placement, just as a less legible type-face can be made more readable throughgood design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined a widerange of factors including type size andtype design. For example, comparing serifvs. sans serif type, italic type vs. romantype, line length, line spacing, color con-trast, the design of right-hand edge (forexample, justification, straight right handedge) vs. ranged left, and whether text ishyphenated.
Legibility research was published fromthe late nineteenth century on, but theoverall finding has been that the readingprocess is remarkably robust, and thatsignificant differences are hard to find. Socomparative studies of seriffed vs. sansserif type, or justified vs. unjustified type,have failed to settle the argument overwhich is best.[citation needed]
Legibility is usually measured throughspeed of reading, with comprehensionscores used to check for effectiveness(that is, not a rushed or careless read).For example, Miles Tinker, who publishednumerous studies from the 1930s to the1960s, used a speed of reading test thatrequired participants to spot incongruouswords as an effectiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends to belimited to critical issues, or the testing ofspecific design solutions (for example,when new typefaces are developed). Ex-amples of critical issues include typefaces(also called fonts) for people with visualimpairment, and typefaces for highwaysigns, or for other conditions where legi-bility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature issomewhat atheoretical — various factorswere tested individually or in combination(inevitably so, as the different factors areinterdependent), but many tests were car-ried out in the absence of a model of read-
ing or visual perception. Some typogra-phers believe that the overall word shape(Bouma) is very important in readability,and that the theory of parallel letterwiserecognition is either wrong, less impor-tant, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Boumarecognition and parallel letterwise recog-nition with regard to how people actuallyrecognize words when they read, have fa-vored parallel letterwise recognition,which is widely accepted by cognitivepsychologists.[citation needed]
Legibility can also be compromised by let-terspacing, word spacing, or leading thatis too tight or too loose. It can be im-proved when generous vertical space sep-arates lines of text, making it easier forthe eye to distinguish one line from thenext, or previous line. Poorly designedfonts and those that are too tightly orloosely fitted can also result in poor legi-bility.
Typography is an element of all printedmaterial. Periodical publications, espe-cially newspapers and magazines, use ty-pographical elements to achieve anattractive, distinctive appearance, to aidreaders in navigating the publication, andin some cases for dramatic effect. By for-mulating a style guide, a periodical stan-dardizes on a relatively small collection oftypefaces, each used for specific ele-ments within the publication, and makesconsistent use of type sizes, italic, bold-face, large and small capital letters, col-ors, and other typographic features. Somepublications, such as The Guardian andThe Economist, go so far as to commis-sion a type designer to create bespoke(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclu-sive use.
Different periodical publications designtheir publications, including their typogra-phy, to achieve a particular tone or style.For example, USAToday uses a bold, col-orful, and comparatively modern stylethrough their use of a variety of typefacesand colors; type sizes vary widely, and thenewspaper’s name is placed on a coloredbackground. In contrast, the New YorkTimes use a more traditional approach,with fewer colors, less typeface variation,and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspa-pers and on magazine covers, headlinesare often set in larger display typefaces toattract attention, and are placed near themasthead.
8.5 on 12.3
In traditional typography, text is com-posed to create a readable, coherent,and visually satisfying whole that worksinvisibly, without the awareness of thereader. Even distribution with a mini-mum of distractions and anomalies areaimed at producing clarity and trans-parency.
Choice of font(s) is perhaps the primaryaspect of text typography—prose fic-tion, non-fiction, editorial, educational,religious, scientific, spiritual and com-mercial writing all have differing char-acteristics and requirements. Forhistoric material, established text type-faces are frequently chosen accordingto a scheme of historical genre ac-quired by a long process of accretion,with considerable overlap between his-torical periods.
Contemporary books are more likely tobe set with state-of-the-art seriffed “textromans” or “book romans” with designvalues echoing present-day design arts,which are closely based on traditionalmodels such as those of Nicolas Jen-son, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutterwho created the model for Aldine type-faces), and Claude Garamond. Withtheir more specialized requirements,newspapers and magazines rely oncompact, tightly-fitted text romans spe-cially designed for the task, which offermaximum flexibility, readability and effi-cient use of page space. Sans serif textfonts are often used for introductoryparagraphs, incidental text and wholeshort articles. A current fashion is topair sans serif type for headings with ahigh-performance seriffed font ofmatching style for the text of an article.
The text layout, tone or color of set mat-ter, and the interplay of text with whitespace of the page and other graphic el-ements combine to impart a “feel” or“resonance” to the subject matter. Withprinted media typographers are alsoconcerned with binding margins, paperselection and printing methods.
Typography is modulated by orthogra-phy and linguistics, word structures,word frequencies, morphology, pho-netic constructs and linguistic syntax.Typography also is subject to specificcultural conventions. For example, inFrench it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) orsemicolon (;) in a sentence, while inEnglish it is not..Readability and legibility are often con-fused. “Legibility is the quality of thetypeface design and readability with thedesign of the printed page. Designers
aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legi-ble, that is, it should be read without ef-fort. Sometimes legibility is simply amatter of type size; more often, how-ever, it is a matter of typeface design.Generally speaking, typefaces that aretrue to the basic letterforms are morelegible than typefaces that have beencondensed, expanded, embellished, orabstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface canbecome unreadable through poor set-ting and placement, just as a less legi-ble typeface can be made morereadable through good design.”[2]
Studies of legibility have examined awide range of factors including typesize and type design. For example,comparing serif vs. sans serif type,italic type vs. roman type, line length,line spacing, color contrast, the designof right-hand edge (for example, justifi-cation, straight right hand edge) vs.ranged left, and whether text is hyphen-ated.
Legibility research was published fromthe late nineteenth century on, but theoverall finding has been that the read-ing process is remarkably robust, andthat significant differences are hard tofind. So comparative studies of seriffedvs. sans serif type, or justified vs. un-justified type, have failed to settle theargument over which is best.[citationneeded]
Legibility is usually measured throughspeed of reading, with comprehensionscores used to check for effectiveness(that is, not a rushed or careless read).For example, Miles Tinker, who pub-lished numerous studies from the1930s to the 1960s, used a speed ofreading test that required participantsto spot incongruous words as an effec-tiveness filter.
These days, legibility research tends tobe limited to critical issues, or the test-ing of specific design solutions (for ex-ample, when new typefaces aredeveloped). Examples of critical issuesinclude typefaces (also called fonts) forpeople with visual impairment, andtypefaces for highway signs, or forother conditions where legibility maymake a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literatureis somewhat atheoretical — various fac-tors were tested individually or in com-bination (inevitably so, as the differentfactors are interdependent), but many
tests were carried out in the absence ofa model of reading or visual perception.Some typographers believe that theoverall word shape (Bouma) is very im-portant in readability, and that the the-ory of parallel letterwise recognition iseither wrong, less important, or not theentire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Boumarecognition and parallel letterwiserecognition with regard to how peopleactually recognize words when theyread, have favored parallel letterwiserecognition, which is widely acceptedby cognitive psychologists.[citationneeded]
Legibility can also be compromised byletterspacing, word spacing, or leadingthat is too tight or too loose. It can beimproved when generous vertical spaceseparates lines of text, making it easierfor the eye to distinguish one line fromthe next, or previous line. Poorly de-signed fonts and those that are tootightly or loosely fitted can also resultin poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printedmaterial. Periodical publications, espe-cially newspapers and magazines, usetypographical elements to achieve anattractive, distinctive appearance, to aidreaders in navigating the publication,and in some cases for dramatic effect.By formulating a style guide, a periodi-cal standardizes on a relatively smallcollection of typefaces, each used forspecific elements within the publica-tion, and makes consistent use of typesizes, italic, boldface, large and smallcapital letters, colors, and other typo-graphic features. Some publications,such as The Guardian and The Econo-mist, go so far as to commission a typedesigner to create bespoke (custom tai-lored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications designtheir publications, including their ty-pography, to achieve a particular toneor style. For example, USAToday uses abold, colorful, and comparatively mod-ern style through their use of a varietyof typefaces and colors; type sizes varywidely, and the newspaper’s name isplaced on a colored background. Incontrast, the New York Times use amore traditional approach, with fewercolors, less typeface variation, andmore columns.
Especially on the front page of newspa-pers and on magazine covers, head-lines are often set in larger displaytypefaces to attract attention, and areplaced near the masthead.
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