Legibility Of Print

Methodology and definitions; Legibility of letters and digits; Kinds of type; Size of type; Width of line; Leading and relationship of leading, type size, and line width; Spatial arrangements of the printed page; Color of print and background; Printing surfaces; Cumulative effect of combining nonoptimal typographical arrangements; Newspaper typography; Formulas and mathematical tables; Special printing situations; Illumination for reading; The hygienic reading situation.

A hugely entertaining and revealing guide to the history of type that asks, What does your favorite font say about you? Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every product we buy. But where do fonts come from, and why do we need so many? Who is responsible for the staid practicality of Times New Roman, the cool anonymity of Arial, or the irritating levity of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)? Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.

This open access book provides a detailed and up-to-date account of the relevant literature on the legibility of different kinds of typefaces, which goes back over 140 years in the case of reading from paper and more than 50 years in the case of reading from screens. It describes the origins of serif and sans serif styles in ancient inscriptions, their adoption in modern printing techniques, and their legibility in different situations and in different populations of readers. It also examines recent research on the legibility of serif and sans serif typefaces when used with internet browsers, smartphones and other hand-held devices. The book investigates the difference in the legibility of serif typefaces and sans serif typefaces when they are used to produce printed material or when they are used to present material on computer monitors or other screens and it explores the differences in readers’ preferences among typefaces. The book’s main focus is on the psychology of reading, but there are clear implications for education and publishing. Indeed, the book can be read with benefit by anyone concerned with communicating with others through written text, whether it is printed on paper or displayed on computer screens.

Written by a leader in the field of low vision research, this book discusses the role of vision in reading, focusing on the reading performance of people with normal, healthy vision and people with impaired vision. The author describes the influence of physical properties of text on reading performance and the implications for information processin